Recycled 100 Percent

Hello everyone! I apologize for the false start earlier! I was posting away, and my Internet was not saving my work. I accidentally hit the publish button WAY before my post was ready to be published. Onto my project, a wall hanging made completely out of trash!

Suzz at Frilly and Funkie  and Autumn at Stamps and Stencils would like us to use recycled materials to make an art project to celebrate Earth Day or to just see what we can create  giving materials a second life.  I took them literally for their challenges and made my wall hanging entirely out of things headed for the trash, and some I actually pulled out of the trash can!  I will have a few process shots at the end of this post if you are interested in seeing how I took this trash to treasure! I challenged myself to use only what I had in my pile of trash, but in the end, I had to use some other trash-worthy flowers, because the ones in my pile were too large.

 

I have lots of photos to share, because this is a fairly large piece--10 inches

    in diameter--with lots of details.

If you remember my trip to my neighbor- Hilda's- house last month, you'll recall I picked up a few crafting goodies that were getting ready for a heave hoe into a giant dumpster, as the junk men came to clear out her house. I picked up a box of keys and a few metal pieces--one looks like a drawer pull back plate and another is a charm with a gold colored "gem" in the center. I thought these would add interest to my piece.

The crusty, well-loved paint brushes were some I found in a can of paints and related materials given to me by a friend a few weeks ago. The caked on paint and the black handles were what inspired my color scheme.The rusted lid of that can, by the way, is my "canvas". I thought the brushes were just so pretty just as they were, so I didn't do anything but wrap them up with that piece of stray raffia, bound first by the wire "vein" of one of those lacy green leaves you see in my pile of trash. The gaskets came from my friend's dearly departed father's tool shed. I purchased one of his tool boxes from his estate sale last fall to remember him by. There's lots more where they came from...seems he liked to save trash, too! You never know when you might need just the right sized do-hickey!

Those girls are just adorable, aren't they? This is a photo from a Jones soda carton like the one pictured above--my son's beverage of choice. I just found 3 empty 4 packs in my secret stash! Hmmmm....I wonder if he's on to my hiding spot? Since he's the only soda drinker in the house, I think it's safe to point the finger at him!

Of course, I had to add some RUST! I found this piece of very badly rusted metal in our driveway.  I think it fell off the trailer my husband borrowed from a friend. I hope he doesn't want it back; the rust, I mean.

I painted a little Bubblegum Pink Dylusions spray on the originally gold colored gem to balance the pink flower petal pieces I added from my stash  trashcan (not in the original pile of junk).  I was actually going through my stash the other day looking for things to THROW OUT and had tossed these and those blue ones! (Believe it or not!)

The following shot shows stenciling done with texture paste and a TCW stencil, followed by black gesso and DecoArt Weathered Wood, and a final coat of white gesso.

 And to provide balance and add contrast, a Tim Holtz Mixed Media die cut from my "maybe I'll use it later" box placed on the opposite side. In the recesses I added white paint, Weathered Wood and then Black Soot Distress paint, drying between layers. I love how the Harlequin echos the diamond cut of the piece of ribbon I adhered nearby. More stencil work and Crackle paste with another TCW stencil--"Art Is" and a Tim Holtz Speckles Layering Stencil.

 Here's that metal drawer pull backer--(quite coincidentally)--with more of that diamond pattern at the center! Lucky me! I found three of these!

Some stamping on the key--appropriate words from the Stampers Anonymous Classics #12 set. I had to do some finagling to get it to fit right on the key.

And now for the ugly technicals:

All that great rust on the lid! I sealed it with a yard sale bottle of Folk Art Outdoor sealer. My initial thought was to save the rust to be a part of my design, but that didn't work as planned. I sealed the rusted metal piece, too.

 

I can't believe I had the foresight to add a hanger on the back before starting! This was a piece from that pile of junk adhered with 527.

After adding the hanger and sealing my lid and rust piece, I gave it a coat of black gesso, dried, adhered some background trash, and added stenciling. My background pieces: at the top a leftover piece of card which I had embossed with an embossing folder, fussy cut and tested embossing powders on (reverse side)   a piece of burlap I was testing paints on, and a piece of mesh ribbon. Front and center- a negative from the Postage Stamp die cut, a ring from a mayonnaise jar, and two pieces of corrugate board--the one of the left a test piece and the tiny square on the right from one of my latest projects. Down the left that metal piece from Hilda's and a piece of a lacy leaf from a yard sale  flower stem (I cut off the flowers, and threw the leaf in the trash can.) Behind it all a strip from the top of a spiral bound watercolor page. Thanks to my blog friend Autumn of Sew Paper Paint for that little tip!  You should make time to visit her blog for some awesome inspiration! More lacy leaf cuts and my special charm I found at Hilda's house adorn the bottom.  This looks horrible here, and I really started questioning my sanity at this point in the process, and gave up taking photos.

I gave it a coat of white gesso, after laying down some Weathered Wood on the diamonds and within the mayo ring, and it looked much better. I spritzed with Dylusions Vibrant Turquoise and water to blend and push around the color I splattered more Turquoise straight off the hose removed from the bottle and flicked on watered down Black Soot Distress paint. Some stamping and Remnant Rubs finish the background. Those grunge board flower petals were colored with gesso and Turquiose spray and adhered. I thought it best to quite there and call it found art.

I would like to enter my junk wall hanging into the following inspiring challenges:

Frilly and Funkie It's Not Easy Being Green

Stamps and Stencils April Challenge Trash to Treasure "Found Object" stamp, TCW and Tim Holtz stencils

Emerald Creek Dares It's a Charmed Life!

Our Creative Corner Gypsy Fayre colors: turquiose and pink and purple, yellow, and green ( on brushes) I was also inspired by the large amount of goodies the Gypsies carried aboard their caravan.

Creative Artiste Challenge #13 Anything Goes Option of Chipboard, Stencils or Flowers I used chipboard (the girl's image is chipboard), stencils and flowers.

Paperminutes #431 Pastel Colors

Mixed Media Place April Challenge Creative Gym #18 Be Patient. The Best Things Happen Unexpectedly. I was regretting making this before the final coat of gesso and sprays went on. Then, it turned into one of my favorite mixed media pieces!

Southern Ridge Trading Company Anything Spring (I think my colors are spring-like, and the girls look like they are enjoying a beautiful spring day outdoors!

Country View April Challenge Spring (Same as above)

Creative Inspirations Challenge 249 Your Favorite Things RUST, gesso, texture are three of my favorite things.

Thank you for stopping by today and for all your amazing comments! I read and appreciate each and every one of them! If you have any questions, please just ask.

Hugs and Blessings!

Sara Emily