More Rolodex Collages

I'm back to the small "canvas" of Rolodex cards for my collages, and I feel like the whole process has finally "clicked" for me.

It's getting easier not to agonize over every little word and image choice.

It's getting easier not to worry about "too much" or "too little" on a card.

It's getting more and more fun to watch colors and images and themes fall together among the scraps on my table.

It's getting easier to "get over" the cards I don't end up liking as much.

And, as always, I value a project that lets me use all of the bits and scraps that I can't resist saving from catalogs and magazines.

I keep saying I'm *almost* ready to join in on the Rolodex swapping craze going on out there.

Now, I think I really am!

If you like to alter Rolodex cards, too, and would be interested in swapping, please send me an email at aleakaskey@yahoo.com, and we can make arrangements!

Another place to swap is over at Artist April Cole's website for Rolodex card trading.

I see that Swap-bot has several groups set up for Rolodex card swapping, but I haven't quite figured out how to navigate the site to see if there is anything going on currently.  I found most of their old swaps by searching "Rolodex swap" in Yahoo.

A very inspiring place to visit to learn more about altering Rolodex cards is Patty van Dorin's web site.

If you click on "Scrapodex" in the left-hand column under "Categories" on Patty's page, you can see all the entries she has written about the Rolodex cards she has both created and received. 

Something I noticed about Patty's cards:  Rather than creating whole collages on each card, she truly does make it a showcase for pretty scraps.  A card might contain one pretty image or a few attractive scraps, quite often stitched.  There is great appeal in approaching the Rolodex project like that, instead of feeling any "requirement" that each card hold its own complete collage.  Just something to consider!

Happy Rolodex scrapping! 

Clothespin Confession

Is it weird that I like clothespins so much? 

(And it has nothing to do with laundry, I can assure you!)

Is it weird that I own clothespins in four different sizes?  (The very biggest--six inches--are missing from this photo, but can be seen above.)

Is it weird that I spend time with them, decorating them and making them look pretty?

Is it weird that I take photos of my clothespins to share with you?

Well, confessing my "weird" is my clothespin confession!

Now it's your turn:  What weird little object fascinates you?

A Nod to Organization

This week, Julie Balzer has been featuring blog posts about organizing art and crafting spaces.  She has shared her strategies, featured guest posters, and offered some questions and assignments to get the rest of us thinking about our own systems.

I shared a few of my organizational strategies when I blogged about my new craft room, dubbed Studio 791.

My latest "nod to organization" is a decorated box to use for storing my slowly but steadily growing collection of decorative tapes.

Did you see the awesome boxes Anthropologie was giving out during Christmas 2010?  Well, it only took me a year to finally do what I intended to do the moment I laid eyes on that box:  I made an artful playdate out of embellishing the heck out of it, with paints, rub-ons, image transfers, catalog images, postcards, and tapes.

I will be the first to admit that it turned out a bit "busy," but it's fun and colorful, and covered in interesting things to look at, so it makes an artful addition to my creative workspace.

And it offers me plenty of tape storage:

At least for now!

Here's hoping that your Friday the 13th didn't live up to the hype!  Have a blessed and creative weekend.