Wednesday, October 6, 2010

The SCRAP Challenge: Making something out of nothing?


The Result: A Mask!

It was a collection of 'nothing'...yarn, electrical wire, screening, raffia, rope and a steel ring. And the challenge was to make a mask for the SCRAP Incognito Auction and Art Show. SCRAP is the School & Community Reuse Action Project, a place that takes materials donated from schools and individuals in the community, puts it in a warehouse and sells it to be reused.

I accepted the challenge and then, after seeing all the options, I wasn't sure what I'd do. I looked it all over and made my choices: Yarns in sparkly white, feathery black and several shades of blue; red raffia, blue rope, multi-colored speaker wire, a steel ring, and steel wire. At home, I added from my stack of window aluminum window screening that I use in making my masks.

After sculpting and painting the screening into a bird, I got out my crochet hook, crocheted around the steel ring in blue yarn and attached it with some of the electrical wire. I crocheted the 'feathers' out of yarn using a spiral stitch technique, then wired the spiral feathers and attached them to the ring adding raffia and rope and more wire.

I must admit it made me happy to be able to combine so many things I love to do in one mask...sculpting, painting, working with wire and crochet! Maybe that's why I name this mask, The Bluebird of Happiness.

7 comments:

beadbabe49 said...

Great idea and wonderful result!

Susan Gallacher-Turner said...

Thank you! It was a lot of fun!

Jean said...

Enjoyed seeing your scrap mask. We have Scrap Stores in the UK where clean scrap from industry is collected and made available for creative work with children. When you visit it you never know what you will find there. It's an Aladins cave full of treasure !

Stacy said...

Your mask is amazing. How wonderful to create something like that out of mere scraps :o)

Susan Gallacher-Turner said...

Hi Jean!
So glad you visited from the UK and great that you have a Scrap store there, too. What treasures have you made from this Aladdin's cave?

Susan Gallacher-Turner said...

Thank you, Stacy/golden bird!!
I can see that you have fun with 'scraps' too...with your ATC's?

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