The 12 Days of Christmas - Day 3

Shop till ya drop...

Hubby caught me "laundering" money one morning a couple of years ago!  Yes, you read that right.  I was laundering dollar bills and when they were dry, giving them a squirt of spray starch and ironing them smooth.  He laughed so hard when he saw me doing this, I thought he would burst an artery.  Upon reflection, I guess to an outsider it looked pretty funny alright.

But it was for an "arty" cause.  Traveling around the internet, I had come across the "art" of money origami.  It's pretty cool what you can create out of an American dollar bill or a Canadian five dollar bill... shirts, bow ties, valentines, gift boxes, dresses, rings, even eyeglasses... just a few of many.  I had to try it!!

Now, one of the first things the instructions say is to have clean, crisp dollar bills! Well hello, I live in Canada and getting a crisp, clean American dollar bill without going over the border to the nearest bank is about next to impossible. I had the dollar bills but they weren't crisp nor were they particularly clean.  So what's a gal to do in the name of art... wash them and iron them of course!

Following the instructions, I made a little shirt out of one of the bills.  It was cute.  I made another one.  Now I had a matching pair.  So what do you do with two matching dollar bill shirts?  You make earrings to wear on your next shop 'till you drop trip.  Cause, you see, that way if you are short a few bucks, you can just whip your earrings off, unfold the bills and pay the lady!

One of my "shop till you drop" friends got a pair of my innovative earrings in her Christmas card that year and laughed herself silly.  The first time she wore them she kept looking over her shoulder hoping she didn't get mugged!  She didn't.  She's worn them many times since and according to her it still amazes her that people don't clue into the fact that they are made from "real" dollar bills until she tells them.  Most times they either don't recognize them as dollar bills or if they do, they think they are fake! 

So...here's the link for the shirt and here's the link  for other wonderful creations.

Now you could make your own shirt out of real dollars or if you can get an image of the back of an American dollar (cause it's the "greenback" that creates the pattern) or the back of an older Canadian five dollar bill (laugh my fellow Canucks... you'll get a "hockey" shirt) you can make some that look "real" but aren't!  The "fake" shirts made from paper could also be "painted" with Modge Podge to strengthen them.    Bet you've got a friend who'd get a big bang out of finding a pair in her Christmas stocking!  OR....

Attach a key ring (like I did with the $5.00 Canadian bill hockey shirt) and voila... instant money chain!

ENTER TO WIN... my "Shop 'till you drop" shirt earrings to wear to all the Christmas sales!! I have two pairs of American greenbacks to give away. They aren't real, but boy won't they be fun to wear on your next trip through the mall?

So just leave a comment on this post before 9 PM tonight in your time zone telling me what you want most for Christmas this year!  I'll pick two names from all of the comments left.  Check in to see if you have won and if you see your name, send me an email before Monday evening at 9 PM with your snail mail address so I can get your earrings into the mail in time for your next shopping trip.   What a deal huh??? Good luck!

Sharon

The Card Winner & Little Dresses

Thanks to all of you who "played" and entered the card contest last week! It was very helpful for me and I thank you. Here are the results:

1st Place #1 Asian Blossom

Both #10 (Tea Party) and #4 (Poppies) were also quite popular as #1 pick!

2nd Place - Swan on the Lagoon

3rd Place - The Tea Party

And the winner of their favourite card is GALE! She choose #10, The Tea Party as her favourite. Please get in touch with me Gale with your mailing address so I can get your card off to you!


Little Dresses for a Sweet Granddaughter



I had a busy weekend. When I was in Toronto last month visiting with our daughter and granddaughter, my granddaughter asked me if I would make her a yellow dress. Well what gramma who loves to sew could say no to that kind of request?

When she was a baby and a toddler I made a gazillion dresses for her. She was the best dressed kid on the block. Well now that she is "four and five fourths" (her words... she will be 5 in September) I thought she wasn't too interested in having gramma make her dresses. Well, I was wrong... she sure set me straight (chuckle) in no short order.

So gramma went shopping for material last week and had a sewing marathon over the weekend. From the chaos of material, thread, buttons and zippers in my sewing room, four dresses for our sweet pumpkin emerged. They are simple, but cute and will keep her cool over the warm summer days yet to come!

Yellow pinstripe and yellow floral bottom

Pale green, blue and yellow dots cotton

She'll love this one ... it has turtles, hearts, butterflies, the sun, flowers and a hummingbird in the pattern!

Ice cream cones, ice cream cones and more ice cream cones. This might be her favourite! I wish I was four and could make one of these for me! (GRIN)

She loves getting parcels in the mail. Grandpa mailed all her new little dresses off to her today along with a couple goodies for mommy! I can hardly wait to get the phone call... she gets so excited when she gets a parcel... she'll be tripping over her tongue!

Have a great week everyone...

Sharon

Pick Your Favourite! Win that Card!

I've been on an art card making frenzy this past couple of weeks! There are a couple of summer art shows coming up and I want to be ready this year... none of that 'last minute' rush like most years to make a bunch of cards for the 'art card gift shop' many of them have these days.

But I am in a real tizzy! It seems that every card I make becomes my new favourite! Some cards were my super favourites right from the 'get-go' and I made more of those. But I can't seem to make up my mind about some other ones I really like! I need to make a bunch more and just can't seem to decide which ones to pick!

I had a brain'fart' about 2 a.m. this morning. Bang! I woke up with a start. I was in the middle of a dream... talking to someone (who knows who it was) and I said: "Well, I'll just ask all the lovely ladies (because most visitors to my blog are female) who visit myStoryART if they will help me!" DUH!! Of course!! That would be fun!

So, are you willing to take a few minutes to help me choose which cards to make more of? If yes, then read on...

Below you will see 10 cards all with numbers underneath, Take a look at the cards and pick your favourite top 3. Leave a comment on this post telling me your top three (just put the numbers in, i.e. "my favourites are #3, #8 and #10). Make sure your name is on your entry.

If you like, tell me what it is that you like about your choices the most. It's not necessary but I always find it interesting to hear what it is that attracts people to a particular card and not to others!

As a thank you for participating, on Monday (June 22), I will put all the names of those who leave a comment in a hat and draw a lucky winner. I'll announce the winner's name on the blog next week Tuesday, June 23!

You must claim your prize by sending me an email with your name and mailing address (sharonhouse@mystoryart.com) before Thursday, June 25, so make sure you check in next week to see if you have won. If I don't hear from the first winner by Thursday, I will pick another name.

Your prize: I'll mail you your favourite #1 card on your entry that you can then send to a friend, relative or someone special. Good luck and thanks for helping me out!

P.S. It has come to my attention that there are some folks who have copied images from my blog to use in their art. I do not want to have to start putting watermarks all over my images just to protect them. A gentle reminder: please remember that these images are copyright. Do not copy nor use without written permission from me.

Number #1

Number #2

Number # 3

Number #4

Number #5

Number #6

Number #7

Number #8

Number #9

Number #10

Hope looking through all these cards was fun for you... maybe even gave you some inspiration. I'm really looking forward to the results (which I will post once I have it all "tabulated")!

Thanks for "playing". I appreciate your comments, insights and 'eye' for art a lot!

Cheers,

Sharon

Playtime – A ReCycling Brainstorming Game - Win a Mini Shopping Spree

Two of my biggest pet peeves used to be the “over packaging” of consumer goods (a tiny bottle in a large box) and “blister” packaging (everything from beads to high end headphones). Then I discovered mixed media art and those pet peeves turned into “yippee… more stuff I can use and it’s FREE”.

Now, mind you, when I received a whole box of fruit packaging trays from a neighbour (I had asked her to save those kind of trays for me), it was just a tad bit of recycling “overkill”! A couple would have sufficed… but 20? I don’t think so!

We mixed media types are the self appointed “queens (and kings)” of recycling! We’ll find a way to use just about anything that we can find in our own (and our neighbour’s) recycling box!

Now I don’t know about your neighbourhood but in mine the majority of recycling boxes are filled to the brim with all sorts of goodies like egg cartons, cardboard, juice boxes, plastic blister wrap and cereal boxes. Some folks even have two or three recycling boxes. I just have to close my eyes and keep on truckin’ when I go past them on recycling day. I think of all that potential FREE “art material” going to the landfill and I have to wipe a tiny tear from the corner of my thrifty eye!

Thrifty Artists UNITE…

Your mission this week, should you choose to accept it, …BIG GRIN… is to do some brainstorming about how you can re-use the mountains of FREE "packaging" material that comes into your neighbourhood every week.

No, no, you don’t have to go pawing through your neighbour’s recycling box and embarrass the heck out of your kids or your family. Just take a sideways peek at it as you drive by on recycling day or drop by for a neighbourly visit and tell them you are on a scavenger hunt (well you are kinda…) and oh, while you are at it, take a good long look at your own box in the garage. Now think about how you could re-purpose some of that lovely “stuff” into your art.

Below are 20 sentence finishing prompts to get your “recycling” wheels a movin’ and shakin’… They don’t have to all be filled in but the more you can complete with one or more of your ideas, the higher the probability of you winning the contest!

1. Save those envelopes and …
2. Save those plastic drink bottles and
3. Save those meat/fruit trays and
4. Save those egg cartons and
5. Save those cardboard inserts and
6. Save those flat styrofoam pieces and
7. Save those bottle caps and
8. Save that clear plastic blister packaging and
9. Save those canning lid inserts and
10. Save those old business cards and
11. Save those tags on new, store bought clothes and
12. Save those plastic shopping bags and
13. Save those brown paper grocery bags and
14. Save those small juice boxes and
15. Save those gift bags and
16. Save those elastic bands and
17. Save those cereal boxes and
18. Save those small plastic starter plant pots and
19. Save those soft drink pull tabs and
20. Save those tea bags and

How to Enter This “Re-cycling Brainstorming Game” Contest

Copy and paste the above prompts into an email . Finish the sentence fragments with as many ART uses or ART re-purposing ideas that you can think of as quickly as you can.

Now go have a cup of coffee or tea, read a book or do something else for 10 minutes. I’m betting that more ideas pop into your head for those sentence fragments that you missed. Add these new ideas to your “list”.

Get your kids, grandkids, nieces and nephews involved. Ask your neighbours. Call your mother. Brainstorm with your best friend. The whole idea is to have fun coming up with lots and lots of practical and useable ideas. You are guaranteed a few good smiles along the way! If you really get into this, you’ll likely stumble across some bizarre or downright strange ideas that make you laugh!

When you are ready to submit your entry, count up the number of "ideas" you have come up with, put that total IN THE SUBJECT of your email along with your name. Please remember to include your email address somewhere in your email. Click send, then cross your fingers that you win!

The Best Part is here… WIN a Mini Shopping Spree!

The more ideas you can think up, the better BECAUSE the person with the highest number of ideas WINS the Recycling Brainstorming Game Contest! In the event of a tie, the “timestamp” of the received email will determine the winner.

If you are the lucky winner, Linda Hanson of After Midnight Art Stamps has very generously offered to award YOU with a $10.00 gift certificate for a mini shopping spree in her online store! Wander on over to her site and check out some of the cool stuff that this lovely lady has to offer in her “shop”. Lately I have had my sights set on some Radiant Rain daubers, some more Midnight Art Glass and the teapot stamp to add to my “studio spot” drawers!

The contest closes at midnight (your time zone) on Sunday, September 7, 2008. I will announce the winner in the September 9th posting of Thrifty Tuesday Art Tips. So make sure you check back to see if you are the winner!

All practical and useable ideas I receive from participants in the contest will be sorted, compiled and shared with blog readers in upcoming editions of Thrifty Tuesday Art Tips.

Please take a minute to add a comment to the comment section of this posting! I’d love to know what you think of this contest idea and the chance for you to win a prize!

See you Friday! Get those thinking caps on….LOL

Sharon

P.S. Please note that I am not affiliated in any way with After Midnight Art Stamps nor will I receive any monetary compensation from them for this contest. This is strictly a generous offer made by Linda because she loved the idea when I told her about it! Your email address will be kept confidential and not shared by me or Linda with anyone without your prior consent.

Copyright 2008 Dr. Sharon House http://www.mystoryart.com/