Day 293: More rolled magazine circles.

Day 294: Busy with travelling for the Thanksgiving holiday, I did a super simple project. 

Day 295:  This was first day I've been really sick since I started this yearly project, and on Thanksgiving day!  So, I allowed myself another super simple project.

Day 296:  I saved a bandaid box and used it as the cover for a book.  I filled the book with folded pages from the physics book I used for my project on days 154 and 155, so the pages have writing and numbers on them that go vertical instead of horizontal.  I mostly wanted to try a book making technique that I've never tried before.  When making thick books, you have to make several "signatures" which are sections of folded pages, that then need to be sewed to each other using what is called the coptic stitch.  This book is made of about 10 signatures.  It was fun doing the research and trying this technique out! 

Day 297: I made another magazine collage.  When I make these I feel like I am playing rather than creating a piece of art.  I'm just gluing together pictures that reflect my mood at the moment.  For this one, I was dreaming of dancing, playing, running through sprinklers,and being joyful.

Day 286: I made another magazine page collage.  I was just letting myself play, cutting up a fashion magazine.  I tend to find fashion magazines annoying because most of the styles they contain I don't relate to in the least.  I don't in general like crazy heels, constrictive clothing, ruffles, frills, sparkles, etc. (except on the rare occasion). I do, however, like the men's inspired clothing these girls are wearing and I do like a hint of lace.

Day 287: I glued together all of the circles that I  have been making out of magazine page strips.  I love the result so far!  I want to add onto this piece as well as make several more similar pieces.  They can all hang together to cover a large wall.

Day 288: A friend of mine who is a chef gave me a bunch of unused plastic lids left over from food containers.  I made these flowers by cutting out a flower shape, coloring it with marker and heating it up for a few seconds so that I could shape them. I have to admit that they look a lot better in the photograph than in real life.  Oh well, I guess I'll have to figure something else out for the remaining hundred lids... 

Day 289:  I finished the "freak" definition I was writing out of magazine letters.

Day 290: I was trying to make something different out of pop tabs, and I did: something different and weird.  Despite that it is weird and not knowing what it is, I like it.

Day 291: I made some more magazine page bows.  These ones are a little smaller and cuter. 

Day 292:  I made 33 pop tab bracelets.  I sat down with a big pile of tabs, and didn't stop till I used them all up.

Day 278:  I drew another picture in the book I've been drawing in.  I found this picture from a magazine page.  I think it shows both my lack of skill in drawing and the potential I have to be good if only I put more effort into developing that skill.  I think it's funny that she looks like she has spikey hair on top of her head.

Day 279 and 280:  I made a bag out of magazine pages.  It doesn't have a handle yet and I think it needs some sort of coating to protect it, but I do like the mix of colors. 

Day 281:  I made a cute little basket out of magazine pages.

Day 282:  I had a bunch of magazine strips left over from the day before, so I wove them together.  I'm not sure what this is yet, a mat, a bookcover?  Anyhow, it was fun to make and it looks pretty.

Day 283: I guess I'm on a bit of a magazine page kick.  I made a collage using pictures of a Ford tractor, buildings cut into strips and pieces, and strips of a picture of a lake.  Oh, and a circus girl on a hoop, the most important part of the picture.

Day 284:  I decorated another jar lid.  Oh my.

Day 285: And another jar lid!!!!

Day 268:  I cut up more cardboard tubes for my room divider, but didn't glue them on yet.  Some days this is about all the project I can squeeze in.

Day 269 and 270:  I cut up an entire 80 page catalog into strips on the first day.  The following day I made them into a paper chain.  They went a lot farther than I expected, so I have a fairly long chain and enough strips left over to make several more this length.  I am excited that this chain is going to be part of the holiday decorations at Seconds Eco Store.  I think it's going to look beautiful hanging in the window.

Day 271: One of the things about making something every day is that some days you are going think you have a great idea and get all into it only to find yourself asking yourself the next morning, "What the heck did I make and what am I supposed to do with it?"  I have had quite a few of these interesting objects manifest in the past year and here is another one.  It is a piece of cardboard I painted black, cut out some circles, and stuck film canisters into.  My idea was to either use it to store little things in, or have it be an interactive art piece, where there is an interesting object inside of each canister that the viewer can remove the lid to discover.  At this point though, I am only finding the oddity in it.

Day 275: I made a star out of a tin can.  I punched a design into it using a nail .  I find it somewhat interesting, but being in New Mexico where a lot of fine tin work has been done, I'm not impressed with my own attempt at it.  The edges are still sharp at this point and I should sand them down, that is if I want it to be some sort of decoration, rather than a lethal weapon. 

Day 276:  I took an old children's book, removed all of the pages, and rebound it with some blank art paper.  I kept a few of the story pages and put them in with the blank paper to make it a little more interesting.  I enjoy the process of making a book, cutting out the paper and sewing the pages together by hand.  If I make more of these, I'll have to find some recycled paper for it, but I just used some paper from a sketch pad I already had.  The thing that makes me very happy about this book is that I brought it into the store to try to sell it, and it sold within the first hour.  It made my day!

 Day 277:  I made a few tags out of a Annie's mac and cheese box, for my books and my milk carton photo album.  I felt as though making a tag with my name on it is showing more pride in my work than I have done in the past.  I often just put a price tag on my crafts without any mention of myself as the artist.  I was hoping that this would help to elevate them, because I think people see more value in things that are presented as if they have value, rather than dismissing the hard work and love that went into them.

Days 264-267:  I stayed up late working on my Halloween costume four nights in a row.  I made the arms out of cereal and cracker boxes that I rolled into tubes, tapered the ends of, and wrapped up with duct tape.  I then painted them mostly gold (I wanted the print on the boxes to show through slightly), and strung them together with string.  I wore this to a Halloween party and won the prize for the best costume.  I've never won a costume contest before!  Here I am wearing it for trick or treating with my daughter (and having a blast). 

At this point I have just under a hundred days left till the year of making things is over, which is pretty exciting for me.  What an adventure it has been!  (Also check out the new photo I added on the "friends who inspire me" page.  I haven't posted about friend's art nearly as much as I would have liked to, but this photo is worth checking out!)

Day 257 and 258: I worked on the quilt that I have been slowly covering up with patches for the last couple of years.  This was also my project on days 114 and 115.  When I worked on it before, I mostly worked on one side of it.  This time, I almost finished covering up the other side.  Here is a close up photo so you can see all the little stitches from sewing them on by hand.

Day 259:  I made some more magnets from bottle caps.  I got this idea from a photo I saw on recyclart.  Check these out, here is the link! http://www.recyclart.org/2011/10/magnetic-bottle-caps/ (I like theirs better, to be honest, cause they have cute little pictures actually drawn on them.)  I used cut out pictures and words from magazines to decorate mine.  I like how they turned out, and I like that these are a simpler, less stinky version than the resin ones I made before.  (That resin stuff is really strong!)

Day 260:  I made a gift box out of a cereal box for a gift I bought.

Day 261:  I decorated a little box a friend gave me with a few magazine pictures.

Day 262:  I spent the day baking for my girl friend's birthday party.  I made a banana cream pie for the first time and it turned out really yummy!  I re-used an aluminum pie tin, as many of us do for pies.  This happens to be my project for the day, because I did make it, and it involved recyling!  I wasn't able to take a picture of it before it got eaten though.

Day 263: I started working on my Halloween costume.  I decided to be an imaginary insect, perhaps a robotic insect, if I end up looking metallic and engineered enough.  So far, I have a hat, and a shell to wear on my back.  I used the egg carton helmet I made on day 118.  I'm glad it finally has a real purpose.  I used egg cartons to decorate the shell too.

 Day 251:  I wanted to frame this picture I was given, but instead of getting a matt board, I used a piece of cardboard covered in foil.  I think it turned out well. 

Day 252:  I started another cardboard tube structure.  This is going to be another table eventually. 

Day 253:  I worked on my "freak" picture again.  It is almost finished!

Day 254:  I worked on a magazine collage that I started a long time ago.  I mostly just added the scraps of the black and white magazine pages.  It really made the whole thing look more finished and tied together.   

Day 255: I decorated another bottle lid.  One of these days, I'm gonna do another resin pour, and turn all these lids I've made into magnets.

Day 256:  I made some "drawers" for my daughter's cardboard shelf out of some pizza and cereal boxes.  She decorated the front of them.  I hope to make one for each space eventually.  Her room needs some serious organizing.

Day 241 and 242:  I make a bunch of these for the store where I work, but this particular bunch I am counting as my project on these two days.  I also spent several hours at the recycling center gathering tabs, and ended up having more tabs then ever before, because I had help gathering.  It was my first ever "date" at the recyling center, and it was a blast.  We were racing to see who could gather the most.  It didn't take long to lose track, but we had a lot of fun trying. 

Day 243: My weekly bunch of rolled magazine circles. 

Day 244:  Lately I have been looking up descriptive words that I sometimes get called or call myself.  So if I get called a nerd, for example, I'll go and get the dictionary and see if the definition really matches up.  I have an older dictionary, from the seventies I think, so newer definitons of words are lacking, which makes it fun.  I looked up "geek" and found out that it used to mean a carnival performer who would bite off the heads of chickens or snakes.  Then I looked up "freak" and decided that I most definitely am a freak.  So I decided to make some art honoring such a great word.  I painted over an old painting with black paint, and spelled the word "freak" out of magazine pages.

Day 245: Adding to the project from the day before, I am writing out the definition of "freak" with letters from magazine pages.

Day 246: I redecorated a card that someone gave to me.  It is a birthday card for someone I adore.

I did just the outside of the card so far.  I completely covered up the front of the card with magazine images and scraps of color.

Day 247:  I made the inside of the card.

Day 248:  I drew inside an old text book of mine called "Issues in Feminist Film Criticism."  What, did I think I would read it again someday?  Even though it does interest me to think about and dialogue about women's roles in media and pop culture, I barely made it through the book once before.  I found it very scholarly and dry.  So, it's now my sketch book.  My first drawing in it is a picture of a big white Ford that I was parked next to.  The really sweet thing about this is that I haven't sketched much in the past couple years.  It was fun to draw something again.

Day 249:  I drew another picture in my book.  This one is far less interesting to me, and didn't turn out as well. 

Day 250: I glued some magazine scraps inside my sketch book.  Don't know if any thing else will ever become of it, but I do like these two colors together.