Tuesday, August 24, 2010

A Giveaway


I love to paint on Mondays, even in summer, even when we are not schooling. Something I never tire of is playing with color, so I end up with sheets of finished watercolors and wonder what to do with them.
thing I have done is create several sets of alphabet cards, both print and cursive. First I created them for my home classroom and later made some for others. It is a nice way to make something useful out of my artistic impulse and it keeps the stack of paintings in my closet from hitting the ceiling!

Yesterday I was painting and making some alphabet cards and looking at the little scraps of paper left after the cutting process. I have been thinking a lot lately about the concept of "zero waste" and how possible that really is. For a long time now I have been using re-usable grocery bags, storing things in old shoe boxes, recycling, composting, seeking out local foods or growing them myself, raising chickens and worms (both excellent composters). But I am seeing newspaper articles and little stickers in shop windows claiming "zero waste" status and wondering how I can, in my own way create less waste. Perhaps I am thinking about this because of the ongoing saga in my own household regarding our septic system. I have become way too familiar with the ins and outs of our literal waste system this summer! Looking for ways to reduce how we tax our home system has made me more aware of other areas where I can try to reduce waste in my life.

So, when I saw these little scraps of paper I thought about what I could do to make use of them. I came up with the idea for some little greeting cards. Once I had the scrap pile whittled down to only very thin strips I let the worms take care of those!

Now I have this sweet set of four paper collage note cards. One thing I realized was that it took a lot of extra time to sit and make something else out of my little scraps. But the activity was artistic and I was thankful that I had the time to spend. I may not always have the extra time, but now I know that there is always something more I can do. In honor of the project and to encourage others to think of ways to reduce waste in their hobbies, art and lives, I am offering the set of four cards as a giveaway. Just leave a comment here and I will enter you into a random drawing on 30 September 2010.

6 comments:

  1. Oh how beautiful, Jennipher! We would LOVE to be entered in your giveaway :D Thank you for sharing your creative talents with your readers!
    Blessings,
    Jen

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  2. I can not believe that I did not make the connection to you and your blog and me purchasing your cards on Etsy, how silly of me. Lovely cards. love and light Marie

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  3. What a sweet idea! Please enter us in your giveaway. We enjoy reusing our paintings, too. I'm going to Facebook a link to your giveaway.

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  4. what a lovely post! such truth and compassion in your words. kudos for thinking about how to continually reduce your impact! your cards are beautiful! i can imagine it took some time to make them. thanks for offering them here! :)

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  5. Love the cards! Reminds me of my sister who does the same thing. Her birthday cards are my most treasured.

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  6. I love zero waste! I am always looking for new ideas..The note cards are adorable!
    <3

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