Stash Busting- Art Roll

With our upcoming move, I realized I needed to get rid of a large portion of my craft stuff. Quickly. The movers come to pack up our stuff in less then a month.

Yikes and Yeah!

So, last night I went through my fabric stash. I have a small milk crate of actual fabric and a small suitcase of clothes for upcycling.

While sorting through my stash, I found the collar I had taken off of a jacket thing last week. The collar was HUGE and ugly and I thought I might actually wear the jacket thing if I took the collar off (turns out the coat is still ugly).

Anyway, when I was trying to decide what to do with the collar, the light bulb went on.

An art roll!

Completely from stash clothing, the art roll has 22 compartments. I filled it with sharpies because that is what Emma prefers to work with. I made a few smaller compartments for smaller sharpies, pens or pencils.

I have also been going through my mother-in-laws stash as well. I found a pack of 10 blank note cards with envelopes still in it's package. I originally thought I might use them for watercolors, but decided I really wanted to stitch on them instead.

The first five are paper stitched on paper.

The last five are fabric stitched on paper.

Well, I hope you have been inspired to make something creative!

Teaching a Workshop!

I am super excited to be teaching my first workshop! I will be teaching people how to create a junk journal (and another example). Nothing to hard, but for some people (like me) it really helps to have someone explain (with visual aids) something like this.

Here are a few pictures. For more, check out the links above.

If you are interested in attending the workshop, here is the info:

Junk Journals Workshop

September 15th, 6:30-8:30p

1037 8th St, Nevada, IA

Cost: $10 per person (12+ only please)

- Do you have piles of neglected, but useful paper? Do you collect cool papers, but don't really know what to do with them? Are you a closet paper hoarder that needs a productive outlet for your "problem"? Stop by the Nevada Community resource Center and let Tina, a.k.a KaoticKrafter, show you how to turn those papers into a fun junk journal. You can use your junk journal for so many different purposes- leave it plain to just show off your interesting papers, use it as an actual journal and jot down your thoughts, turn it into a mini scrapbook or brag book, or come up with something entirely different!

Items provided- Binder rings, cover materials, cutting devices, plenty of paper, lots of odds and ends, paint, markers, pencils, stamps, and lots of ideas!

Items to bring (optional)- Papers that you would love to keep but have no idea how to use it, any pictures or other odds and ends that inspire you and that you would like to include.

Paper ideas- graph paper, copy paper printed on one side, ledger paper, receipts, recipes, old school notes, old dictionary pages, stationary, scrapbook paper, writing paper, watercolor paper, magazine pages, maps, atlas pages, comics, announcements, greeting cards, etc.  The papers do not have to be blank, or plain. Stains, writing, pictures, etc. are just fine.

To sign up, e-mail Tina at kaotickrafter@hotmail.com or visit her website at www.kaotickrafter.com

Class size is limited to 10 people and signups will end one week prior to the class start date (September 8^th). Don’t delay, sign up today!

Tutorial- My version of an Art Journal

(Wow, 2 posts in 2 days!)

Ok, so if you are not aware of my latest obsession, you may want to read up a bit here.

So, now it is my job to get you hooked as well :)

Here we go!

Materials Needed:

-Corrugated cardboard

-Ruler

-Rotary cutter (or scissors)

-Cutting mat (if using rotary cutter)

-Book rings (or ribbon will work as well, just a little more of a pain to add pages)

-Paper (printer paper, tracing paper, wrapping paper, newspaper, scrapbook paper, brown paper bags, packaging paper, graph paper, maps... I think you get the idea)

-Hole Punch (not shown- adjustable 3 hole punch or a single punch. You may be able to get a fixed 3 hole punch to work)

-Other fun and random items to to put into your journal. (envelopes, cards, pictures, fabric, dried flowers, beads, trinkets, whatever!)

-Writing implements.

-Glue, tape, stapler, staples.

Oh, and  box. I like to find a shoe box (or a papa johns chicken strips box in this case) to hold all the items that I think I might want to add to my journal. I usually try to keep at least a glue stick in there also.

Step 1.
-Decide what size you want your journal to be. I typically like 5.5 inches by 5.5 inches. Having it a square makes it a bit easier to get the pages lined up.

However, for this black and white journal I went with what I had for white paper which ended up being 4 inches by 6 inches.

-Cut 2 pieces of cardboard slightly larger on 3 sides then your paper.
-Cut a lot of random paper to to the size you would like. You do not need to get them perfect.

Step 2.
-Set up your adjustable 3 hole punch so that 2 of the punches are where you would like your rings or ribbons. I suppose you could also have 3 holes. Or 4 for that matter. How ever many you want :)
-Punch holes on one side of all of your paper and the cardboard. *Make sure that the paper is pushed all the way to the back of the hole punch (or you will get partially punched holes). It may make it easier if you make a mark on the hole punch so you know where to like all you paper up so that the holes line up nicely.

Or not, it is up to you :) the beauty of the book rings or ribbon is that as long as the holes mostly line up, you should be good to go.

Step 3.
-Here is where the fun comes in. Take your cardboard and poke a pencil under the top layer of paper.

Peal it off slowly until your get the look you are going for. Do one side of each piece of cardboard.

Step 4
Sew things to other things :) This is of course an optional step, but I really like this part, so I expect that all of my covers will have some sewing on them.  Not super happy with the back cover but I can fix it as I go.

-If you plan to add anything that will hang off or add any odd bulk, wait until your are about finished with your journal. Or add it now and take out the pages you want to work as you go :)

Step 4.
-Ok this part is pretty fun too. Put everything together. Play with the lay out. Then do what you will with it :) Draw, paint, collage, staple and have a blast!

Don't mind the green ring. I just ordered more silver, but I had to make do :)

Here are a few examples of what I have done with my journal so far.

Bits of left over thread from the covers.

Envelope holding a sticker to be added.

Stamped paint chip weaving. 

Months of the year. Just 'cause. 

We really love horses :)

If you have any questions, or need something clarified, please leave me a message or send me an e-mail. I am happy to help!

I would love to see what you make. If you write a blog post about it, leave me a comment with the link and I will stop by and check it out!

Happy Crafting!


p.s. I plan to add photos of my pages as I add to the journal. Thanks for stopping by!