The Art Abandonment Project and Just For Mom

I have been reading about the Art Abandonment Project, a project where artists "create and share random acts of art." I know there's a book about it out there and Facebook group devoted to this, neither of which I have investigated yet, however, I did, in the process of making a bunch of mail art recently, set some aside just for abandoning. This week I did abandon five pieces of art, using those advertisement post cards often seen in the mail in various sizes. You know the ones I mean- those that get tossed in the garbage or recycling bin. I worked on about 8 cards, used three for mail art and on my way home from work this week, while running errands, I discreetly left the rest of them in public places. Leaving them in public places discreetly was like I imagine playing spy at the airport. I had to find an area or aisle where no one was around to place it in a spot. Several times I stood at the end of an aisle or nearby to see if I could spy someone spying the card, but no one did. I was too tired to wait around. Placing it and then quickly photographing it without someone seeing me added to the feeling of playing spy. On the back of each card I had written the following: Hello! If you have found this card it's your lucky day. If you don't want it please pass it on to someone who might like it or need some kindness today. It was created by an artist who wanted to share it for free. Taking a quick, clear photograph was not always easy. I intend to make more. IN fact I intend to make it happen often. This idea came to me as I was experimenting with new colors and design for something I wanted to do for my Mother. Before she moved to her new home in CT she mentioned something about wanting to change the color scheme in her bathroom. Like maybe a new shower curtain. Something maybe with turquoise she had said. No problem, I thought. I love turquoise. In fact it's one of my favorite colors. So a new shower curtain was born!!! I snapped this picture on my Iphone as it's shown on Society6 so it's not very good. You cans go here and view it much better. I also thought it looked pretty awesome here. Again, you can see more of this design and others I have created by going here By following me or liking me on Society6 would be greatly appreciated. Or perhaps you might be in the market for a new shower curtain or pillow? Either way, I am pretty tickled with the way it looks and even more tickled that my Mother really likes it and will be redecorating soon. Thanks for stopping by and for your support and kind comments. Happy Paint Party Friday!! I hope you have a great weekend.

A New Journal

I was cleaning out some closets recently and came across this old photo album. I could've tossed it in the trash or put it in the "garage sale" pile but I saw something else. I took a bunch of the pages out, removed the plastic and started playing. There's a good amount of pages in this photo album so this will become a fat new journal for playing in. I am working on laying down a bunch of backgrounds for now so it's easier to come back to a page that already has something on it. I also like that I can take pages out and work on them without having to lug the entire book around. We are in the midst of a snow/ice storm here. I hope wherever you are that you are safe and warm. Tomorrow I will show you the 52 card project I've been working on but haven't had a chance to show you since I've been involved with Lifebook 2014 (which I am behind in) and then jumped in to the 29 faces challenge at the last minute. Thanks for visiting................ jo

One Dollar

I hope you had a good weekend. A creative weekend. I spent a good amount of time playing. I started with this ****************Painted them.************They became this. I might add some wings to the backs of them. I might see how they look slid over a red candle. I can see them on a mantle or on a Christmas tree. I also finished the front and back covers of my children's board book from The Dollar Store which I've been showing you the last several posts. Tell me what you think? You can view the other pages in previous posts. At least I can say I have finished something. Yay!! One last thing. I was delighted to view Balzer Designs post on Friday to find Julie had "featured" one of the pages of my Dollar Store book on her website for her Art Journal Everyday. Caught me by surprise.......... Thanks for visiting. Do come again....................jo

Something New

I found some plain, manila file folders at the dollar store recently, just perfect for art, I think. In my quest for using up lots of paper scraps I thought about collaging on file folders. But wait! I got side tracked again. My old sewing machine that is just a wee bit temperamental has been calling to me. I found some paper scraps, some of my own strips and some from some pretty paper I had begun to collect years ago and tore them in long strips. I sewed them onto the file folder. I even sewed tissue paper. This took a lot of patience for me and my temperamental machine, but I managed to do it without a bunch of expletives. Here is one side of a folder I did. And here are a couple of close ups. I will have to do some more. I think I'll try strips from the gelli plate prints. I'll let you know how these end up. I'm thinking they would make some very cool mail art as well...................... I have spent the morning housecleaning and cooking. The rest of the day is mine for playing before work tomorrow. Hope you're having a relaxing day. Thanks for stopping in..............................................jo

Sticky Fingers and Mail Art

I've been showing you the mail art I've been making as I've been using up the art scraps of my own art. It's taken me most of this week to finally get them done and ready for mailing. I made the mistake of requesting 6 persons in which to send postcards to PostCrossing. I was wanting to get a country I hadn't yet sent anything to so I just kept requesting and at 6 had to stop, not realizing I had just signed up for 6 more. Silly me. So there is now mail art going to Russia, Singapore, Switzerland and Germany. I'm not big on sending ordinary postcards, (especially not from where I now reside) so I send mail art. Won't they be surprised! The response in the past is that they don't quite know what to make of it. And here is another one that hasn't been finished or cut up into mail art yet. The watercolor paper is warped so the pic is not flat. I apologize for the poor picture. Again, this is all scraps of my own art. I am linking this to Amy over in Artsyville who's having a Glue It Tuesday part. This is ironic that I stumbled upon her post this week given all the tearing and pasting I've been doing. I'm glad there are so many others who enjoy sticky fingers as I do. ...................... Thank you for spending a few minutes with me. I am off from work today so I am going to play..................................jo

Becoming Mail Art

I've been using up paper scraps of my art, and there is a lot. It's not that I think I should save every little darn piece.......... Gluing random pieces of paper down is pretty mindless- watching- Netflix- kind- of-stuff. Since my dog Buddy can no longer climb the stairs, given that he is old and very visually impaired, I have been spending my evening art time downstairs on the lounge with a breakfast tray, so I can keep him company. My intention is that this will all become mail art. I started with this. and it has become this. And here's another one. I used scraps of painted on wax paper, markings from trying out my homemade stamps, merchandise labels, pieces of gold doilies from the dollar store,and cut up pieces from my Gelli Plate prints. I want to finish putting the final touches on with markers and pens etc. Here a couple of close ups. I have made copies of much of my art so I can use them again and again. The people know me pretty well at KINKOS. My intent is to have these chopped up into 4x6s today so I can mail them out. I'll show you what they look like at the mailing stage later. Then I need to work on getting my taxes done. Yuck! I hope you have a good day. Thanks for sharing a moment here............................................. jo

The Discoverer Journal is Finished

Intermittently, I've been showing you pages of the Discoverer Journal. It is an upcycled, recycled journal made by a person who gifted this to me. She planted the seeds, they rooted, and I have filled it. It has blossomed. I thought I would show you the journal from front to back. Thanks for letting me share this journal and journey with you. Wishing you peace. Thanks for visiting here.........................................jo