Art Post 2
I've been having fun making art paper using a variety of methods, but until recently I couldn't think of anything to do with some of them, especially the ones that didn't turn out as well as I'd have liked.
I was hanging out with my daughter, watching her clear out one of her junk boxes, when she came across a little Chinese takeout gift box. She couldn't reuse it because the gifter had doodled on it, so she was going to recycle it. I took it and decided to make my own takeout box using hers as a pattern.
Wee takeout box:
I didn't really like what I'd done with this piece of watercolor paper. I painted a green wash on it, which was pretty but plain, but then I wrecked it by smearing some blue and purple paint on it. I should have known the colors would turn muddy. Then I tried to rescue it by panting it with Mod Podge and sprinkling glitter on it, but that just heightened its weirdness. I didn't throw it away, however, because many mix-media artists say even papers we don't like could have a use some day. They're right!
Here's my icky paper:
I took the takeout box apart and cut some slits along a couple of seams. I traced around the whole thing and then used a ruler and pencil to mark the fold lines and the holes where the handle would be. Then I folded on the lines, matching the way the original box was folded. A bone folder does a great job making sharp folds, but if you don't have one, use a a credit card. Getting the little wire hanger back in was a bit tricky. My spouse had a variety of awls, but even the smallest one was a little too big. I made it work, but I'm going to be on the lookout for a smaller one. Also, I want my own pair of pliers. He has a huge number of those, too, but they're kind of grimy and made tiny marks on the inside of the box.
The box and pattern:
And now I have another gift box, all ready to use.
*Crossposted from Dreamwidth*