Friday, May 27, 2011

Tutorial: Area 718 TagPads!


Completed Area 718 TagPads


Last month, my Australian artist and designer pal Holly Eva posted a tutorial on her blog about using simple materials to transform notepads into works of art. This week, I decided to do a graffiti fusion spin on the same idea, after my kids came home from Lowe's with another paint inspiration card to add to their collection:




I loved the details, the graphic lines, and the contrast of light and dark, particularly in the middle image.




So, I set to work combing through the previous Sunday's newspaper, looking for interesting images that reminded me of the inspiration card, and adhering them with Aleene's Collage Pauge Instant Decoupage.





I covered a few sections with painter's tape...



...and painted them with acrylic glazes.






Next, I stenciled, blotted the glaze, and removed the painter's tape.




For the next layer, I adhered some old collage scraps left over from other projects and doodled some more.






To cover the backs, and the inside cardboard covers of the TagPads, I used sheets of duct tape in various colors and patterns.


I'd been wanting to mix metal and fiber in a project for some time now, and this seemed like the perfect time. Metal chain + carabiners + fringy fibers and ribbons + charms + shoelaces = textural bling with a cool, urban feel.







Practice your tag. Write random, rambling thoughts. Sketch something, tear it out, and hide it in a library book as guerrilla art. Jot down a shopping list. Use it as a cat toy, even. Pick up an Area 718 TagPad at Art Carnage Saturday night at The Soundry, from 6 p.m. to 12:00 midnight.

4 comments:

JessiVille said...

Hey, the comments are working! Hee, hee, hee... I ADORE these note pads! Very, very cool! A tiny bit of street art and metal and all - love it! I didn't see Holly's tutorial on her notepads - don't know how I missed that one. I'll have to go and check it out.
Jessi xox

JessiVille said...

My again - Ha! Are you going to list these on Etsy? Just wonderin'...

MeUpcycled said...

Hi Jessi! Yeah, I took your suggestion regarding the comment popup, so (hopefully) that issue is fixed. The Blogger problems continue, though, since this week my follower list disappeared, along with my profile photo. Apparently they had this problem a few years back, although I have no idea what the fix is. Have you encountered those issues?

Glad you like the TagPads! Yes, I'd like to list them on Etsy. My shop needs a major overhaul this summer. Most of my sales are from local shows, so I really need to separate out what should be on Etsy v. what will be at the shows.

JessiVille said...

Hi you! The nail polish is called "Tiffany Imposter"! It's by Finger Paints at Sally beauty supply.
I'm finding that most of the blogger issues now are stemming from IE issues. The browser history is never truly deleted so it doesn't get set with the new blogger fixes when you sign in. IE just keeps following the old cookies and files. You have to go into your windows system to change some things. The windows website has the answers! Let me know if this seems to be what's happening with you! Hugs, Jessi