Experiments with packaging

 I have to admit that I drive my family nuts with my collections of junk, old packaging and just generally anything I think might make a nice bit of texture or craft experiment.  There is a point to it though - you can discover some awesome texture stamps and I feel better about re-using things that would normally just end up in the rubbish dump.  So I always feel better about reducing waste and doing a tiny bit for the future of the planet and having some experimental fun in the process - win-win. 

Anyway, this project below is one of those:

Are you able to pick out the salvaged elements?

There is a piece of corrugated cardboard that came from a box that I painted with Dala Tempera in Magenta.

😜😜😜😜😜😜😜I stamped the background border texture from a piece of shock-protection sponge that is used in electronic goods packaging - it really makes a lovely printed mottled, bubbly texture - this would be awesome to mess around with on a gel plate I reckon.

The actual background card was the cardboard insert, that they stretch pantyhose over (dudes I am not even kidding here - I will save everything). On that note, the insides of the little boxes that the Tempeest loadshedding light bulbs come in make the best material to use in a die-cutting machine - it is stiff but soft enough to cut through and very, very easy to use with dye ink if you would like to add some colour.

The little string elements came off gift tags on this year's christmas presents. The white mesh was from a roll of mosaic tile tape😁. The black grid and the buttons are about the only things that I can say that came from actual dedicated craft store supplies.....though I bought those buttons in a fabric store with the intention to make a tiny button necklace.

The sentiment element was the inside piece of a frame die that I used on another project.

And I stamped and coloured with Dala drawing ink that I soaked into those flat latex make-up sponges.  You've got to keep these latex sponges constantly wet and in a teeny airtight 'tupperware' type container if you want to make these re-usable as the ink does eventutally dry out to a hard matt glaze type finish if you do not. But I mean its not too bad if it does, you can crumble this up, I have once  before chucked the broken bits in an old coffee grinder that I use for crafting to make colourful crumbly bits for other projects.  I mean I dont know what I might actually use this weird textured thing for - but hey it is what it is and when the time comes it's use will reveal itself to me....tee hee....😜😜