Recycle and make art day! New tutorial

New tutorial showing you how I recycle stuff from around my home, 

things I used to throw away all the time without even thinking

about it, I am sure it´s the same for everyone and it´s my hope 

this blog inspire you to see materials as just that, materials that

can be re used and transformed into something new, for me,

it applies in the crafts and arts area because this is what I do

but I am sure it can apply to many other areas, just be creative!

Teach the kids to think this way and the 

world will be different in a few years

Does your tea bags come inside another bag?  Some of my 

favorite teas do and I´ve been saving them for a while but 

they had their turn today!  I used them in an altered book

if you are new about altered books, there is an introductory 

tutorial here about it. 

For those who are already altering books I have to share 

that I now simply use a masking tape to go around the corners 

of various pages to put them together, fast and easy just 

don´t use much watery mediums or the pages will have air

 bubbles in the center for it is not glued.

Here are the empty bags of two different teas I love, 

coincidentally the colors match and I used that same color 

palette for the  background colors and design of the page, I 

used squares for it was the same shape of the bags...

The page had some Mexican pottery or silver pieces so I used 

those shapes as a sketch and painted over them...

I painted the bags with guesso and then the same chosen

colors using the same design as the background...

I painted some paper and used a tag punch, some matching 

ribbons and used that tool for making a hole going through

all of the pieces and attached it with a tiny brad...

Now all is left is some embellishing, I used stamps and

a black pen, I wrote in each bag one wish and symbolically

represented it on the front of the bag...

Bonus project!

Why not use the same idea for other stuff like

these cute cards! Put inside a beautiful note attached

to a ribbon as well so it´s easy to pull out or

add cut shapes like this heart! Know anyone who would 

enjoy this?

I hope you are inspired to recycle and create! This will also help your creativity expand!

Much love to you!

Recycle cardstock to make sweet little books!

I´ve been thinking about these for a while, they can be good for many things,

I could use them for storage in the studio somehow, I´ll think about it, hehehe!

Today i used them for making sweet books, they could be a cute present or

for art journaling miniatures!  Next I´ll show you how I made them super easy!

You will need:

Recycled cardstock

Gummed paper

(Mine is made in Mexico 

and has an organic glue!)

heavy gel medium or glue

beautiful papers

bone folder 

Scissors  

Studio helper ;)

Instructions:

Cut the cardboard to fit your desired size

Attach the pieces with the tape

and form your book, mine is made of six

pages each but you can try adding more

Add three pieces of the gummed tape

embracing the book as shown bellow

you,ve made a book!

Now it´s time to embellish it how you like best,

I used scrapbook papers for the cover and back

first added a matching ribbon so I could close them

and glued it with medium as well as the papers

Voila! A finished cute little book to give away

perhaps even sell them!  You can make larger ones too!

Check the bonus recycling tutorial bellow! :)

Bonus little recycling idea!

These little chips bottles are so cute I always felt it was a shame 

to throw them away but not anymore!  This very easy way to 

transform them will make you save them too!  Simple wrap 

around decorated tape around it and it´s ready to use in your

home or studio or to use them to bring food to work or school

transpor art supplies, etc., 

I hope you enjoy recycling and making wonders with the

materials once were thought as waste, save money, help the planet

and enjoy of creativity while it, everybody wins! 

***

I'm really interested in how you create a whole new economy of recycling. 

It's literally the 'underground economy.' All this stuff that on the surface 

creates growth and profit, ends up with waste, 

junk, and CO2. So how do you make it economic to 

bring new players into the ball game?

                                                                                                               Peter Senge

Thank you for being here! 

Silent heart /a new art journal class

I have been quiet...  I am a wild forest trying to become civilization, some branches and trunks are harder to remove and there are days when the rain is so intense,  I forget there is a sun above it all, drowning the foundations of my castle.  It´s hard to see your castle, you are building it from the inside out, it morphs as you evolve.  There is no other way to go through life but through change and change brings doubt and excitement, hope and uncertainty, gain and loss but is harder to stay in the same place, it´s actually, impossible for our nature is to evolve.

Art is my boat, were I hide and unfold, my discipline and playground, were I become, were I get lost and also were I am found.  I am so thankful I found this path or better said, my true self. For some is as if they already know since birth who they are, for me, it has been a struggle to shape my self but at the end, I am always satisfied with who I´ve become, I just know there is more.

Let us be guided by the wisdom of reason and by 

the truth of the heart towards our best possibility. 

Now let´s move on to the fun part of this post!

I am sharing a new art journal tutorial with you, I hope you 

enjoy the fun tips I have discovered in my studio, this page is 

very simple, just as I am and want to become even more, learn

to appreciate the simple is important to me, it helps me develop

humility which is the path to love.

First tip!  I am starting to use one or two colors mixed with guesso 

to start my pages, you can add textures with the guesso if wanted

and be aware of the white of the guesso to achieve your desired color.

Then I drew very thin lines of my design with a vegetable charcoal, 

to be covered with paint, I didn´t used fixative but you could!

I started to paint my negative with some contrasting color, the 

negative is the opposite of your subject, let´s say the background and all that

that surrounds your subject and the positive is your actual object, notice I am

doodling with the paint, another discovery for me!  Instead of covering all, this way

you will have lots of texture!

Now, here is another fun tip for your studio!  Make a scrapper brush

out of recycle items!

I love scrapers and I know I can buy them in all kinds of shapes but

I also love recycling and all that has to do with DIY, (do it your self!) Yeeey! ;)

Check the photos to make it easier to understand!

Here is what I did to make my own scraper brush:

1. Removed the hairs from an old, cheap brush
2. Recycle or not an old cleaning scraper and cut it to size to fit the brush
3. Stick it inside the brush and close tightly
4. Practice with it to see how it works
5. Use to write cool, unique words with paint
6. Use to paint
7. Make more in different sizes
8. Add marks and cuts to the scrapper to have more possibilities, teeth, squares, etc.

Now, that is one way to paint words and it´s a lot of fun,

the writing bellow was made with an old "useless" brush, you know, 

the kind you left there, all covered in paint and forgot about it

´til the next day?  Well, I saved them and waited for an idea 

for them and today, I used one to paint letters just as with the scrapper but the

hairs are so hard they leave texture all around the letters, I love it!

Quick video writing the words!

To end, I added more paint around the letters, again, working

the negative of the work, the same was done in the other page

but with different colors, both pages have the same colors, 

only, they are used differently on each page, changing the negative

and positive, one great way to work on two pages at the same time, 

something I love to do but is a little challenging.

I hope you enjoyed the tips and tutorial

shared with you with much love!

* Inspiration *

Sneak a peek into my art journal 

work!

Photos of my students work in class!  Slowly, making progress, it´s

awesome to be able to share in a live class, we all learn so much! 

I am gaining a better understanding of your need and doubts, how to share

and how everyone is different and understands differently!

Just one more thing has to be said...

it´s ok to grab my ideas and share them on your own sites but 

please understand,  this are my own creation and I hope you 

acknowledge that when you share them! I know this

 it´s hard to control and actually I don´t want to,

all I ask is for you to put your self in my shoes for a minute and try to 

understand that I am also trying to make something with all this and I am 

doing the best I can and it takes a lot of work and effort to do all this, please

be wiser,

and bigger, 

make your self and

the world better!

It is true that integrity alone won't make you a leader, but without integrity you will never be one.

                                                                                        Zig Ziglar