Today's ATc is an angelina heart. The fused angelina was ironed to fusible web and cut out then fused to the fabric. Small stipple quiilting in the background, with a glue and gold leaf edge.
I have been collecting...
Toilet paper rolls in my recycling stash for mixed media work. A few months ago, I thought "what if" I flatten them to make little album pages. So I did.
Here is a batch that were pressed under a brick for a week or so.
Imagine my surprise, when I was looking at youtube videos the other day, that a video about "Toilet paper roll mini albums" was on the sidebar.
When I searched for "Toilet paper roll mini albums", there were lots and lots of videos by scrapbookers.
Just goes to show there is nothing new under the sun.
One thing I have found, though, is that these little pages are the perfect size for an ATC (so long as it is not too dimensional) So, if, unlike me you have a small number of ATCs or a set from a group, these albums are the perfect low cost way of storing them and playing with embellishments at the same time.
Basically, you just cover each flattened roll (these ones are covered with scrapbooking paper, but you could use anything you want)
Punch holes and set eyelets for a ribbon binding, or you could use strips of fabric to join pairs and bind them like a book.
One thing to watch out for is that some brands have different sized rolls. It's probably easier not to mix sizes.
This two page sample above was made from the thinner rolls, and only a very flat ATC fits.
This is my finished sample. As you can see, the ATC fits very neatly, in fact so neatly, that it is important to remember to add a piece of cord or ribbon as a pull in order to get it out.
Some ideas I have come up with are
- use one page as a mailer for fragile atcs
- decorate an atc and both sides to make a three sided atc
- bind a set of atc holders for a series of atcs on a theme
I'm sure there are a lot more ways to use these and I know there are as many ways to decorate them as people in the world multiplied by the number of ideas they can come up with. Every one would be individual, just like ATCs.
Perhaps the main difference between artists and those who don't consider themselves artists, is that artists make things just for their beauty and don't neccesarily need them to be useful.
A friend asked me today what I was going to DO with 365 ATCs and I think that above is my answer.
If art had to be useful (other than in lifting our spirits), then this would be a serious limit to creativity.
