Country Roads

I'm taking a chance here, going in a bit of a new direction. This is not a card and not a scrapbook page. I guess it could be a combination of some of the elements of both. It's done on a 12x12" cardstock paper so in that respect, it is similar to a scrapbook page, but it is not set up to add photos to or to journal on. My thought was that it could be used as wall art, either put in a 12x12 shadowbox frame or otherwise framed/hung. A paper artists' group I am part of had a challenge this week. We were to make something "green" in celebration of Earth Day. It could literally be green or could be a green theme or could just use recycled, repurposed materials. Well, I had this Lucky Brand tag that I thought was cool (I snagged it off a pair of jeans my daughter bought while she was home from college over the Christmas break). Plus I had a pair of jean shorts that don't fit that I have been cutting bits and pieces off for various projects. So the jeans theme popped into my head. Plus I had this awesome stamp set from Artistic Outpost called Home that hadn't seen ink yet. So I was off and running. But I had so many ideas of what I wanted to include that I just couldn't fit everything on a 5.5x5.5" card. I simply needed a bigger "canvas". So I went to the 12x12 scrapbook size paper and it was the perfect size.

What else is recycled? I cut up a blue and white bandana left over from Caitlin's girl scout camping days and found some country look fabric in a box at the back of the closet - must be 30 years old if it is a day! I cut them into small squares and quilted them together with my machine to create the strip running up through the center. I also ripped off strips to hold two little silver charms that say "follow your heart" and "laugh often". There is a button and a silver washer I dug out of a drawer, a piece of denim I cut with the Sizzex Top Note die. Oh, and the natural crochet thread is from my Grandmother's sewing basket that I inherited when she passed away 15 years ago. I have no idea how old it actually is.

So, while this piece is not a card, there is plenty of stamping and other cardmaking techniques used here...and it's certainly funky!!

What do you think? Leave me a comment on what you think I could do with this piece of "art".

Happy Earth Day!