a teeny confession

I have a confession to make. No, no its nothing really sinister, such as perhaps, a former life as a can-can dancer (which I have been, ahem) or a clanking family skeleton hiding from the light of day (which I'm not aware of). Nothing like that. Really. None the less, this secret that I try to keep from friends and family (less successfully from family, I might add!) is an ever growing dilemma…..and its threatening to become a chronic illness. 

Come closer. Im going to whisper to you now, ok?

I'm a hoarder.   

Right. So you didn't hear me? I'll say it louder then - I'M A HOARDER! Yes, yes I am indeed! There, I feel better now having got that off my chest! So, are you still my friend? 

But hang on, let me explain. I'm not as bad as those poor people from that TV show which I can't remember the name of right now - you know, the one with the nice Greek psychologist who says,  "Theres a little hoarder inside all of us". I only hoard most things useful stuff and I sometimes mostly use it. For example, look at that photo above. I collate an order for bulk whole foods every two months, and there, see what comes wrapped around the shampoo bottles? Long lengths of paper towels. Ooh, can't throw that away because I have the perfect use for it and anyway, what a waste - lets repurpose that. 

And then there are the toilet rolls and the longer cardboard rolls from inside waxed lunch wrap….and the odd bottle top (just the occasional one, I do not have boxes of them stashed under my bed, just for the sake of keeping them, alright?) They both make great circles when dipped in paint and applied to journal pages. Old paint chips come in handy for adding a pop of colour and the thicker type of junk mail make great paint palettes. Bubble wrap for making pattern, gyprocking tape for added texture, used gift wrap, old paper dress patterns, styrofoam trays, old credit cards for spreading paint and the list goes on…..

Then theres the lovely array of mini mags that come inside the slightly more useful magazines I buy or pick up second hand. Some of them are small and cute and have nice thick pages and, if I don't cut out the nice images, I use them to make a quick, small journal……its far easier to paint over an image or bit of writing thats already there on a piece of junk mail, than it is to face a blank white page in an expensive journal! It matters not if I make a mess!

Heres an example of a mini mag journal. I think it was from a furniture shop called Domayne? Not sure, but I do like it a whole lot better now!

How about old book pages? One of my children made one of those secret cavity books out of a very fat Australian Trotting Stud manual and I couldn't bear to just throw out all that lovely printed paper. So now, it comes in handy to do quick sketches or to paste as backgrounds for journal pages. Once again, it doesn't matter if I muck up a drawing - its only junk paper! Yep, lets repurpose that too!

Lately we have been eating a lot of Vita Brits for breakfast (yeah I know, but the kids actually like them) and now I have a lot of Vita Brits packets. They are nice and sturdy and since I've been adding them to my collection of other nice sturdy cardboard packets and have quite a large amount, I decided I'd use them for painting and playing. A coat of gesso and then whatever paint or paper takes my fancy and another 'masterpiece' is born!!!

What about those little bits of 'junk' that pass through our lives? Make art!!!! This one was for a Journal52 prompt, 'Recycled Art' and I used words from newspapers and magazines, old stamps, some of the many business envelopes I hoard collect and other bits of ephemera. I think it needs something else done to it but my mantra is "It doesn't have to be perfect and it only has to please me" so for now I'm pleased with it.

Now that I have bared my soul to the world (huh, wishful thinking!) I wonder if you can relate?