What Was I Thinking? Truth Is I wasn't

I'm not sure what I was thinking with this latest project. It ended up more than just a little bit bonkers.

For some bizarre reason I decided to see what I could do with some cardboard scraps which any sane person would surely have thrown away.

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Some years ago, for my partner's birthday party, I made some bunting which included a line of cycling shirts, a line of kayakers and a line of bicycles.

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I cut out the shapes on my silhouette machine, which you can see in the top of this picture, and strung them onto lines.

I couldn't find a photo of the completed project but you can get an idea of it from this picture I took more recently.

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After cutting out the shapes I was left with the bits of cardboard from which they'd been cut. I have no idea why I kept them but when I came across them recently I decided to see if I could do something creative with them. Wanting to utilise every last bit I used a paper punch to cut out some flowers and Christmas trees where there was space enough to do so.

Then I stuck them with washi tape onto some book pages, wondering what texture they would create if I layered papers on top of them.

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To give me a more even substrate on which to work I painted over the sheet with white gesso.

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Next I glued on 3 pieces of sewing pattern. Don't ask me why I just did. OK?

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I dripped on a variety of alcohol inks, thinking they would soak into the paper and spread but I think, unlike regular tissue paper, sewing patterns must have some sort of coating on them probably to strengthen them. As a result the ink didn't really sink in. Oh well. Lesson learned.

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Next I scribbled on oil pastels in between the ink blotches. I thought they might pick up the texture from the cut outs in the cardboard but, except for in a couple of places, this didn't happen.

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To make the cutouts a bit more prominent I used a black market to highlight some of them. Then I drew on some stems and leaves and added white spots to some of the leaves. And I'm left with this.

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I've no idea what I'll do with it, if anything. Ironically, the thing that started it all, the cut out cardboard, makes it a bit unstable to use in other projects. There's a possibility I could make it into a journal cover if I strengthened it but it's more likely to end up in the bin.

I took pleasure however, from treating it as an instant stained glass window by holding it up to the attic dormer. Ah the little things.

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What ever you're doing today, may you have fun doing it. 💜

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Joy of allowing our creative minds simply flow on the go, it looks and sounds like you had a lot of fun, simple pieces coming together, why not?

!LUV
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Why not indeed? Although this one seemed a bit random even for me. 😂

"Don't ask me why I just did. OK?"..... yes... I laughed.....

It is funny how some things don't go in the directions you might guess. Definitely the way we learn sometimes.

Since it is colorful and interesting when held up to the light, maybe that's what it should be, window art! Wouldn't some of that on the upper windows add color to winter months? Maybe it could also become a cylinder or other shape and become a lantern, with a cool temp light inside it of course.

A lantern's a great idea Jacey but I think everytime I looked at it it would annoy me rather than bring me joy. Not sure why but there is just something I find irritating about it. 😂

LOL.... well....you have to do what pleases you. I just thought with the bright colors lit up in dimmer room light, they might become a bit joyful.

I was surprised I thought of it and I am not sure how to make a lantern, but it kind of made me want to try to make one. I have thought of painting on a paper lantern before, but not actually making one from scratch or looking to see if there is some sort of lantern kit to cover. Maybe one day I'll research that.

Sounds fun. Years ago when I was in Nepal I bought a couple of hand-made paper lanterns for the kids. They had cardboard frames that were sewn together to make a 4-sided frame. Then they had cream handmade paper stuck on the frames and coloured paper animals stuck on the cream paper. A simple but effective design.

I also like experimenting, although I haven't had time for such activity for a long time.

I love the outcome, if you use it as stained glass, which I love. You did well Gillian!

Thank you Erikah. It's a shame you don't have time for experimenting these days. Hopefully you'll find time soon. 😍

I hope so too, but with things starting to wild in crypto, chances are it's not going to happen till the end of the year.

Ah yes. I forgot how active you are in the crypto space. Good luck with it all. 😍🤑

Thank you, good luck to you too with the creative projects 🤗

 9 hours ago  

Before you add the black mark, I thought it was Praetoria map🤦 look at me, I was easily distracted by splinterlands while I read your creativity process seriously😁 don't mind my weird perspective, it's not accountable at all.

Ooh I like the finished project, even though I don't know what to do with it. I probably give it a frame and hang it on the porch's wall. It's better than my 5 old helmets.

😂 You're Splinterlands mad you are. No way it's going in a frame. I've got plenty of other stuff I actually like that hasn't gone on my wall yet!

What are these 5 old helmets you speak of? 🤔

I would say don't throw it away. I love the result. And the best part is that you have fun in the process and for that alone it's worth keeping.

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