Sunday, April 3, 2011

trash to treasure

Something a little different!! This is my contribution to the wonderful "Trash to Treasure" swap that Diane is holding over at the Cloth Paper Studios Yahoo group. We were instructed to make journal covers out of scrap cardboard and then design and decorate with things that would otherwise go to waste and be thrown in the bin. Think of it as our little contribution to the environment! Of course, both the front and back of mine could be used as front covers, but I'll leave that choice up to our creative swap hostess.

Front Cover:



-Two layers of cereal box cardboard for the base
-Used tissue paper. Wrinkled up and attached with matte medium and then painted with copper acrylic paint
-Scrap of citrasolve treated national geographic, left over from my shadow box auction piece
-shredded paper stitched onto watersoluble, and then dissolved
-strips of shredded paper stitched onto an end scrap of fabric (cut off to straighten the edges when making the bee block)
-Flower - underlayer is a circle of the inside of a President's Choice 100% Sparkling Fruit Juice can (Kiwi Berry flavour if I remember correctly). The metal was cut with heavy duty scissors, pounded with a jewelry hammer and shaped into a shallow cup form. Then three layers of scrap organza (from another project), cut into circles, freemotion stitched and then held upside down over a candle flame to shape (just touched by the heat, not the fire except when I screwed up). I used tweezers to save my fingers. Note: Make sure that you do this outside, or in an area with extremely good ventilation. Use your respirator to protect your lungs as this stuff is toxic! I do it outside, wearing a respirator and with a big bowl of water beside me to douse runaway flames.
-Little balls of gold foil chocolate wrappers
-Leaf - gold, silver and bronze foil chocolate wrapper pieces, laid onto a scrap of tulle, encased in watersoluble stabilizer, freemotion stitched and then dissolved.

Detail:



Back Cover:




-Two layers of cereal box cardboard for the base
-Collaged chocolate wrappers, attached with matte medium
-Used felt pads from my last alcohol ink domino session at Deb's. Heat distressed! Edges accented with copper acrylic paint.
-Metal squares cut from the inside of a President's Choice 100% Sparkling Fruit Juice can. Spirals stitched s l o w l y on my sewing machine. No thread in the needle!! Pounded with a jewelry hammer and shaped.
-The foil chocolate wrappers (Ferrero Rocher, yummmm....) were accented with red oil pastels -- not a good choice as they didn't dry on that surface and needed a couple of coast of Krylon Workable Fixative

BTW, those metal squares really aren't all that comfortable to hold in your hands, so they should probably be kept away from little fingers.

Detail:



The flip side:



Top - the back of the front cover

-Collage of old book pages (they're fair game as the cover is falling off)
-Leftover copper paint from the front cover, shaped and dried on the freezer paper I was using to protect my work surface. I cut out the shape (paper and all) and then used matte medium to attach to the base
-a flyer from the "Sketch" program, that was left at my last quilt guild meeting
-More chocolate wrappers
-Bits of gold leaf left over from other projects. Flecks, really....left on the backing paper. I just never got around to throwing them away!
-Paint, gesso & teabag drippings
-a thin coat and polish of Renaissance Wax

Bottom - the back of the back cover

-Collage of old book pages (from the same book)
-Thread bits under a layer of Godiva tissue paper (left in a bag that someone gave me). Fixed with matte medium
-Walnut ink spray that didn't dry (probably because I was in a hurry and the matte medium wasn't absorbant), so had to be blotted and sprayed a few times to get some colour
-More chocolate wrappers
-Bits of gold leaf left over from other projects
-a thin coat and polish of Renaissance Wax

This was quite a fun process and they are my first EVER book covers!! I'll probably have separation anxiety when I give them away, but I expect that I'll be making more in the future. I've actually never made a book and I'm not sure that I left enough room for binding, but I'm hoping for the best!! So, what do you think?

10 comments:

Sue said...

Oh my... these are phenomenal! I may have to go back to ye olde drawing board :)

Rachel Murphree said...

Wow, Anne Marie, these are over the top but done with your typical attention to detail and finesse!

Anne Marie - Toronto said...

Thanks to the two of you!! It means a lot!

Sue, no need to do that! Yours are lovely! Ours are just different and that what makes swapping so special. You never know what people will come up with!

Rachel,

Do you ever know me to do anything that's not "over-the-top" with details? Especially when I'm squeezing in the creativity between heavy day job workloads. It's my escape and safety valve!!!

Beth@IHaveANotion.com said...

I knew it would be worth waiting to see. Asolutely amazing. I don't think I have the imagination to do something like this. I'm still stuck in 'needle and thread' mode.
Great piece!!!

kaiteM said...

i really like the contrast of the beautiful leaf and rose growing up out of the shredded paper trash. and those little nests with holey metal eggshells in them are wonderful, love them the best.
but you're so funny about the organza singeing, did you notify the fire brigade as well, just to make sure?

Magpie's Mumblings said...

I'm sitting here looking for a perfect word to describe what I'm seeing in these covers (and even the thesaurus isn't helping). Suffice to say - I'm bowled over by the minute little details. Thank you for providing a list of the 'ingredients' that went into each, because it makes you appreciate them even more. Great job!

Judy Ferguson said...

Some very interesting ideas here. Trying to figure out how NOT to eat the candy in the wrappers. But...then again. Very unique.

gerfiles said...

The transformation of mundane + casual + everyday bits into something special - that´s rather wonderful...

Anne Marie - Toronto said...

Thanks to Beth, Kaite, MA, Judy and Ger!

Judy, I confess that I did eat much of the candy, but I've been saving the gold wrappers for a couple of years, so I don't feel so bad.

Kaite, no I didn't have the fire department on call, but I should have because those firemen are mighty appealing!!!

Beth, your photos speak for themselves and your work is more than just needle and thread. Don't underestimate yourself!!

MA - it's enough that you just appreciate my work. Thank you again for that.

Ger, thanks for visiting from so far away and I'm glad that you like my little pieces. I loved transforming all the odd little bits from the bin .....it's like a puzzle to me and I do so love solving puzzles.

Ann said...

FABULOUS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!