Eroded Teddy

Remember back in January when I hung an unsuspecting Teddy out in the weathered elements, wired to a bundle of miscellaneous this'n'that, where they hung through snow, sleet, snow, wind, snow, rain, snow, sun, and more snow???

Teddy was actually part of an Erosion Art Bundle Project which I had participated in with my fellow Altered Art Divas. if you want to read the specifics in more detail, see the first post explaining the project and what hung in my bundle...but long story short...we were to hang a bundle of erosion-friendly items outside from January (see Teddy in the snow) through April, from snow and ice through sun and wind, at which time we would retrieve the (hopefully) disgustingly eroded bits'n'pieces that were left and make a collaborative art project that we passed from artist to artist.

The final piece was presented to one lucky Diva in a drawing.

The remaining pieces of delightfully disgustingly eroded bits'n'pieces were to be made into an art piece of our own choosing - one we can KEEP! So I spread out the lovely weathered pieces and chose what would go into my own eroded art.

And Eroded Teddy was born! With a couple of exceptions (my muse needed a couple of random additional items), all the pieces came from my eroded bundle. I was actually stunned at well Teddy, himself, had come through from his "hanging out" in my backyard for those four months!

And now I am all excited about doing another erosion bundle! Already I am collecting this'n'thats'n'everythin'else to hang outside. Only this time I am taking more care to find items that are more easily erodable! :-)

An Altered Tin Vignette

In one of my cleaning jags in that gawdawful closet under the stairs where I stuff my art supplies, I came across some of the many Altoid tins I bought a few years ago (full of Altoids candies that I couldn't hardly give away!!). I loved working with these little tins. There are so many possibilities! So I sat down and Googled for some ideas and really liked the images where artists had removed the lids and repositioned them, or made little vingnettes. (Sorry, no links, I didn't think to save any...)

So I pulled out one of my tins, ripppped the lid off, and just rummaging around for items to add to it, starting with an ink pad to color the silvered tin. I found the broken plate out of my good dishes that I couldn't bear to throw away because I loved the colors in it! I pulled some fibers out of their tub. I found a teeny tiny bench that was left over from some miniature project I never completed. :-) I grabbed some baggies of beads (I love beads...;) And I raided my miniature house in the entryway and "stole" a book to alter! LOL! While I was there, I pilfered three tiles that used to be the house's sidewalk (I'm replacing it with old mini-tiles...)

It took about an hour to pull all my "stuff" together. And than another hour to actually put this little creation together! I had NO idea what I was doing, or where I was going with it, but it turned out just perfect! The "altered book" on the garden bench takes me back to the original inspiration that pulled me back into my art. And it's purple-ish! How more perfect could it get!! :-)

Hey, Hey, Hey...it's a Picnic Basket, Boo-Boo!

I've had this old picnic basket for years, having found it at a garage sale eons ago, and we had literally used the life out of it. When some paint got spilled on the top of it, making it look a little more gross than usual, I stuck it in the basement (first mistake) with plans of "fixing it up." LOL! Imagine if you will...a black hole. Well, yeah, that's my basement...!

Fast-forward (at least) ten years:

I'm in my basement trying to dig through the carp that has accumulated over the years. In one of my digs, I refound my picnic basket! Yay!! So I dragged it upstairs and finally "fixed it up"...:-)

Since I forgot to take a picture of it in its original gross stage, I started just after painting the top and bottom trim, and top of the basket white...

 I wasn't sure what to do with it, exactly, until a friend of mine (Jody!), mentioned Yogi! I LOVE Yogi and Boo Boo Bear! So went with that theme!

And what's a Yogi themed picnic basket without the Master, Himself! :-)

(Now you see why I had to go with Yogi....)

BTW...when looking for something specific (such as: red picnic-checkered napkins) that you think you'd seen somewhere, always go with your first instinct and look there first! Instead of wasting your time making other stops because they were close by and...;)

Weathered Teddy

Okay, so now I feel a little bit guilty about relegating poor little Teddy to the windy, wild, winter weather. It looks like his tears have frozen to his face!! :-O

On the Plus Side!....the book is becoming nicely discolored from the wrappings I used to hold my bundle all together! :-)

Snippets from the Past

Years ago when my mother, aunt, daughter and I were cleaning out my grandmother's house we came across boxes (and boxes) of neatly bundled cards and letters that she had kept since moving into the house in 1949 (the current year was then 1997). Not being able to bear to toss them, I took the lot home with me where they have been stored, waiting for me to figure out what to do with them.

Some of them I had used in Christmas ornaments. Some I used in altered tins that I gave to my family. The leftovers from those projects were still sitting around so I decided to go through the rest of the cards and letters to see if there were any that needed to be saved to other locations.

I came across a couple of birthday cards/letters written by my sister to my grandmother, from 1987 and 1986. In these letters she talked about her young children, the youngest being a new baby in 1986. Sweet little snippets in life. Written snapshots.

I knew immediately that I had to return these to my sister so I set them aside.

Fast forward a couple of days and I'm thinking that just handing them to her sounded so...boring...LOL! So started to think of a more proper "presentation."

This is what I came up with....the envelope is a sturdy double-sided design scrapbooking paper. The image on the envelope came from the card that accompanied one of the letters.The postmarks are from the original envelopes.

I edged the sides of the envelope with Distress Ink,

and the text on the back came from the inside of the same card.

Then, to identify the letters, I stamped the years they were

written on the letters themselves and slipped them in the

hand-made envelope. She loved them, by the way....:-)

 

First Snow

Not the first snow of the season (not by a long shot), though it may be the first snow of the New Year, but seeing how it's only the 3rd of January... But it is the first snow on my Erosion Bundle and Teddy is covered with it!! :-)

Erosion Art Bundle 2010 :-)

Who knew that gathering and bundling and hanging “stuff” outside for a few months could be so much fun! I am participating in the Erosion Bundle Project for 2010, which entails gathering items from the house/garage/art supplies/wherever you can find them, and bundling them together to hang outside to let the elements do what they will with them, and then creating an art project with the “remains” of whatever Mother Nature left for you!

We are supposed to hang them out starting January 1, 2010 and retrieve them on April 15, 2010, and have a finished art piece by August 1^st.

My “stuff” included in my bundle:

Jute, blue and natural colored

Plumber’s strap

Silk leaves

Green macramé yarn

Rolled paper, green and natural

Leather piece

Metal heart

Blue/yellow/purple fluffy yarn

Lace, cream and white

Blue/green/purple material

Red/purple/yellow “point cards” from work (aka cardstock)

Denim pocket

Raffia

Copper wire

6 strips of homemade papers

Christmas wrap from Diva swap

Bingo cards

Puzzle pieces

Book

Mini Teddy Bear

And as an afterthought:

Canning lid ring

A different copper wire

Plain ol’ wire

Paint brush

Mat frame

I wrapped everything in and around the book with the yarns, and wires (hope I can get it off again!).

A close-up...

 

(Mini-Teddy looks kinda scared...LOL!)

And the top and bottom of the bundle...

   

Then I hung my bundle on the birdfeeder stand on the north side of our house. This’ll be great as I can see it from my kitchen window when it gets snowed on, rained on, and blown around! The sun may even hit it late in the afternoons.

 

So have at it, Mother Nature! And let’s make art come April!