Paper Bundles

My altered art group (Altered Reality) did paper bundles last night. I was a bit apprehensive about this project. It came from Cloth Paper Scissors and was suggested by Sandi. It was a bit outside my tastes as garden or yard art.

The idea behind the paper bundles is not yard art, however. I know, you are wondering what this bundle of paper is doing hanging from my tree if it's not yard art, aren't you?

Let me explain....

We started with book board or some sort of heavy duty card board. We painted that with acrylic paint on both sides and then added some shimmer mist or other medium to it.

Next we grabbed an assortment of papers and scribbled on them with water soluble crayons. Stack those papers up and bind them to both sides of the book boards. Very pretty don't you think?

It's okay to say, "no."

Then it's all strung together with wire & twine, or ribbon or whatever you choose... remember, altered art is all about making it your choice... there is no right or wrong. We added dangling objects - suggestions were found objects, but I stuck more to some large leaf shaped beads I had, with a couple of metal washers and a key.

And then you hang it on a tree.

Or a fence, a nail, a flower pot hook - whatever you can hang it on outside to get weathered.

Weathering is the key to the project. Wind will rumple and tear at the papers. Rain will cause the crayons to run and blend together and drip. Sun will fade, yellow and make brittle. Wire will rust, oxidize and patina (is that a verb?).

Sometime down the road - I think we settled on January, we'll take our bundles down and take them apart. As a result we will have entirely new distressed papers for some future altered art project. In the meantime, I think I am actually beginning to enjoy my paper bundle as yard art. No one in my neighborhood has anything quite so unique!

I'll post more pictures as the project progresses.