January Scrap for Help Challenge, Plus An Art Journal Share

The January Scrap for Help challenge is live!  Want to join the fun?  Your task is to use upcycled string or yarn in your project.  Any kind of project--layout, card, off-the-page--is welcome.  Our design team (group 1) has lots of inspiration pieces on display to jump-start your creativity.  For all the details, please see the challenge post on the Scrap for Help blog.

I'm in group 2, so I do not have a sample project on the blog this month.  (Group 2 posts in even-numbered months.)  But I do have a few ideas for you about using string/yarn.  It's a versatile material...

...you can paint/print/stamp with it...

Blogged here: http://greendenise.blogspot.com/2012/11/playing-dress-up.html

...you can coil it...

Sneak peek!  I'll be blogging about this project later this month...
ETA: It's posted now!

...you can tie it...

Blogged here: http://greendenise.blogspot.com/2012/10/altered-journal.html

How will you use string?  I can't wait to see how everyone interprets this challenge.

As I promised earlier, I'm sharing art journal pages on my blog during the months when I don't have DT work posted on Scrap for Help.  My art journal has an autumn theme, and lately I've been really focusing on making art with "throwaway" materials.  Here are the pages I want to share with you today:

Supplies: papers by Cosmo Cricket (blue/green) & October Afternoon (all others); pens by Zig; Distress Stain by Ranger; negative sticker by Simple Stories; thread by DMC; wire by Artistic Wire; punch by EK Success.

I created the base for the page above by using "throwaway" pieces from cropped photos as masks.  The photo scraps had a last hurrah before they got chucked in the bin.  ;)

Supplies: rose paper by Authentique; hexagon & herringbone papers by Lily Bee, mini alphabet stickers & negative frame sticker by Echo Park; pink cardstock by Cosmo Cricket; notebook paper by Cachet; all other papers & label sticker by October Afternoon; distress stain by Ranger; pen by Zig.

On the page above, the "selvage edge" from a block of Echo Park mini alphas serves as a frame.

Supplies: green & pink brushstroke papers by Basic Grey; scalloped paper by Crate; banner paper, damask paper, & label stickers by October Afternoon; negative dot stickers by Authentique; pens by Zig; Distress Stain by Ranger.

The green block of paper on the journal page above was originally supposed to be a photo mat on a layout.  However, the photo mat just didn't work on the layout...and I did not realize that until I had already put some non-removable adhesive on its corners.  What to do?  I simply tore off the corners and stuck them face-down on the page.  I think it makes for a far more interesting photo mat this way.  :)

I hope that I have inspired you with some new ideas for using recycled materials in your artwork.  If you are feeling really inspired, why not head over to Scrap for Help right now to give their challenge a whirl!