Monday's HandDids at Mollyeworld

Postcard size piece with background of comb textured gesso,chalks,ink,photograph of truck,printed images,stamps and diamond glaze. This got "bumped up" as it was supposed to be way down the post under the Saltine cracker box!!!!!!!!!!!!! Oh it's all about a learning curve on Mondays.

Whoopsie..........I let my cart get ahead of the horse here too. This is the cover of the DVD thingie I made that I am talking about on down. Darn this editing still causes me headache, heartache and frustrations.

ALTER........Now what does that word mean to you? I looked it up and old man Webster says it means to change without making something different. He also said it means to spay or castrate. Ouch! And of course we all know about our "Alter Egos" which is a mighty fine topic for another post.

But as I was busy thinking yesterday (quite a job in itself) I kept thinking about "alterations" and my mind even went waaaaaaaaaaay back in time remembering riding on elevators when there was a "doorman" or lady in the big department stores like Sears Roebuck who called each floor as you approached............. Millinery... Lingerie...Mezzanine...and Alterations. That was the floor where you got your skirts hemmed or took the pants of your fat daddy to have the seat and waist let out a bit. Not in my family of course as my Mother did all the alterations.

And I'm sure this was the beginning of my creative nature in alterations. Being able to "alter" something always came quite naturally. I'm not suggesting many of my projects came out looking like something one would want as a gift or especially to purchase. But to take cast-offs and make something else from it was a way of life during the fifties. I think that's why we have so many mixed media artists today who feature "altered art" that are somewhere close to the same age bracket. Today the term "altering" is fancy smancy and used by those twenty somethings who take classes to know how to do it. tee hee. Dosen't that tickle you?

I began my day of alterations yesterday with this old DVD case and grabbed a once used and scratched dvd to do a little "altering" and made my cover and inserted inside the plastic sleeve. Then I went to work on the DVD itself and made one side pretty over the top but not too much or it wouldn't fit inside.

And on the backside, I just covered it in some pretty paper and lightly inked the edges.

Bra gotten too tight? Well....I guess you could take it somewhere and have it altered to fit. Right? Naw...but throw it away. No way ho-say. So yeppers, I did the only thing I could. I altered it to be a purse. I was lucky those girls were so full and roomy (size 38C) as they made a nice sized pouch to hold many necessities. If anyone wants to make one let me know and I'll find the link or give you a blow-by-blow tutorial.

And as you're throwing boxtops in the trash can, stop right there in mid air and grab that box. Flatten it and store it neatly in your art room, because you never know when the mood will strike or your muse will visit and you just have the NEED to create a card. Postie, ATC, or even something on a grander scale and think "Darn I'm all out of canvassas, what shall I do?" Well don't despair my little cupcake because either side will make do for you.

Sometimes I want to use the backside because it is grainier and I want the "tooth" for whatever medium I'll be using. But in this case, I wanted a more smooth surface so I covered the backside in a nice paper and I gessoed the surface you see here and went from there adding this and that to come up with a composition I was happy with and Voila you have just "altered" something doomed for the dump and made a glitzy little piece of original art.

And what about stuff that you're ditching because its all grungie or yukky nasty like? Easy peasy..like this Rose made from coffee filters. Just wash it and in this case, I knew I didn't want too much of a coffee stain so in the bleach water they went and after they were dried, they were cut in petal shapes and a Rose like none other was created and afterwards the finishing touches of watercolor paint applied and Spring Eternal was born.

So ok. All that stuff is found in the house, but what about taking a little trek around your yard.........I did. (course I did this project some time ago, and not all this in the same day..... yuk-yuk), but don't throw away all the limbs you pick up from your yard. If they have interesting bark or shape you guessed it. "Alter" them. I just have a major thing for houses and I knew right off this would make a wonderful tree house. I mounted the limb with a washer, screw and nut onto a free form cut base of plywood and cut out pretty crudely the three larger houses and made them of twigs, old tin and whatever else was close to my hand and bought the tiny ones from the craft store for probably a dollar each. Then the fun began as holes were drilled up and down the limbs so the leaves could be glued in and moss was draped throughout which is very plentiful here in the bayou state, and all the little miniatures were added to the yard just for cuteability.

And there you have it, just a few things you can make from "nothing". Making do, re-purposing, re-cycling, making from scratch, being creative on a shoestring.

Oh excuse me. There you have my "Altered Art" projects for the day.

Now you go and have yourself a creative start to a fantastic week and be good to someone starting with yourself.