Cloth Paper Scissors - March/April 2009 - (Page 13)

One day I was making my family an art quilt with old family pictures. I needed trim, but just couldn’t ﬁnd the right one in my stash. I went to empty the garbage and there it was—the paper seal from a dry dog food bag. When you pull the string to open the bag, it’s the brown paper seal that is stitched into. It just hit me: paint it gold and then take metallic thread and string pearl beads through it. I now have people saving the seals from dog food and horse pellets for me. I grew up with no money for crafts so I was always looking at things I could re-use that were around the house, on the ground, and in the trash. At 55 I still have this type of vision and am teaching it to my grandson. It is too much fun! Theresa Bondurant in Big Bear City, CA I love my box of glue, glue dots, glue sticks, gel medium, adhesive sheets, printed packaging tape, double-sided tape, red liner tape, and Diamond Glaze™. Even with all those adhesives, I accidentally left my glue at home. I was waiting for my son at an activity when I realized I didn’t have any with me. Since the gift I was working on was to be given right after we left his activity, I didn’t have any choice but to ﬁnish it then. I frantically looked all over the car, and the only thing I could ﬁnd was the ﬁrst-aid box. I ended up using the bandages and medical tape to ﬁnish my gift. It looked a little strange, but apparently I was the only one who noticed. Everyone thought the embellishments were supposed to be 3-D (raised)! Katherine Babcock in Centennial, CO Money is always an issue so I try to ﬁnd low-cost ways to expand on the supplies I have and use what I have in new ways. When I ﬁrst started painting, I really wanted to use Golden® paints but couldn’t really afford them. I found that if you mix regular craft paint with a bit of gloss varnish and medium, you will get a paint that’s more translucent and less ﬂat than if just using craft paint alone. Luckily, I found a friend who had bought out someone’s studio and she sold me a ton of paint for a great price. My other tip is to trade with friends and peruse Etsy or eBay for gently used supplies and then you won’t have to improvise as much! Jodi Ohl in Aberdeen, NC I’m always improvising in the studio: Either I’m out of something (I live 45 minutes from the nearest supply store) or I’ve lost it! For a small screen-printed design: polyester fabric stretched tight in an embroidery hoop with a paper, tape, or contact-paper stencil. For a small squeegee for printing: credit card or gift card (expired or fake), Bondo (putty) scraper from the automotive aisle, or a bread dough scraper from the kitchen. For dye or paint thickener (sometimes works; sometimes doesn’t): shaving cream, preferably unscented! For a “palette” for different paint colors too liquid to go on a traditional palette or plate: egg carton or old mufﬁn tin. For a thick stitching thread for beads or embellishments: dental ﬂoss. Susie Monday in Pipe Creek, TX Several months ago I desperately wanted to try the fabric paper recipe you posted in the CLOTH PAPER SCISSORS e-newsletter, Embellishments. Well, when I ﬁnally got a free afternoon to give it a go, I found that I didn’t have the muslin that was called for in the instructions. I didn’t want to waste time running across town to the fabric store, so I substituted nappy (diaper) liners for the muslin. It worked brilliantly! The result was a much lighter “fabric” that I’ve been able to incorporate into my ﬁne art jewelry. Liz Funderburk in Rock Hill, SC I was reading Issue 32 [April/May 2008] of QUILTING ARTS MAGAZINE when I saw Judy Coates Perez’s article on the mixed-media quilt using tea bags. I didn’t drink tea (at that time) and happened to be standing in my kitchen while pondering the age-old question of “what to use, what to use ” My eyes landed on a box of Kimwipes® (low-lint industrial wipes). My husband had brought home a damaged box for us to use around the house. The (internal) lightbulb went off and I thought, “Hey, I’ll try them instead of tea bags!” So I began experimenting with them and I now use them in quite a few applications. Carol Sloan in Piedmont, SC Several years ago I took a class with Carol Owen where she taught us how to make her fabulous Spirit Houses. Cutting and gluing that foam board into a house was so much fun, and since then I’ve used foam board for many projects. I wanted a nine-foot cornice box for my bedroom and I was determined not to ask my husband to build it for me. After some thinking, Carol’s class came to mind…hmm…can I make a cornice box out of foam board? You bet! I glued and duct-taped pieces of foam board to make the box, covered it with batting and fabric (using more duct tape), added a little trim with hot glue, and it’s beautiful. The best part is, it’s lightweight. I don’t need a heavy-duty securing system to hang it. I just nailed two L-brackets into the wall and hung the box on them. No other fastening needed. I’ve since done four more for my living room. You can make anything with this stuff! Jo Crabtree in Durham, NC I have used slices from a foam swimming noodle to print full circles with a small hole in the middle—to offset the narrow circles with the large hole in the middle that I get from other objects. I have also used the round outside of a slice of a swimming noodle to roll paint stripes; the width of the stripe is determined by the size of the slice. I like the effect, and the noodles are very inexpensive, as well as long enough to give you many slices. I have also painted with foam packing peanuts that come in a zigzag shape like a funky “Z.” Also very effective, and I love the shape. Bonnie Srnick in Jacksonville, FL C P S

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Cloth Paper Scissors - March/April 2009

Cloth Paper Scissors - March/April 2009 Musings Contents Now Read This The In-box Who Did This? Popping the Question Muse Flash The Workshop: Modeling Paste “Recycled Circles” Artist Profile: Sara Lechner Fickle Flowers “Skeletons in your Closet” Reader Challenge Printable Cotton Collage Stop! Look! Listen! Revisionary Journals Creating Custom Paper for Collage Metal Magic Artist to Artist with Martha Lent An Apron as Personal Armor I Made This: "Gypsy Cats" Versatile Identities Marketplace Classifieds and Ad Index Portrait of the Artist as a Young Woman Homework

Cloth Paper Scissors - March/April 2009

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