RRR September Challenge - Anything Goes

This month at Recycle, Re-Purpose & Re-Invent, the theme is a favourite of many people: Anything Goes. All that is required in order for an entry to qualify is to have something recycled on the project and to let us know via your post what that something is. Then just link up to our blog and we'll visit. Love that part.

This time around, I was a little stumped for an idea until I started pawing through some small wooden pieces in a bin in the basement. I found two wooden checker pieces and that's all it took. "Wheels!" says I. Then the question arose "Wheels for what?" Well, I had the top half of the metal gift card container and a huge desire to use the quote "Never let 'em tame you". That's how this project started.

I decided to make the metal case into a vintage-type circus wagon that could cage some wild and unruly animal. For the background that would show through the cage bars, I turned to a thrift store find: a children's book with puzzles on each page. I glued the section I wanted onto a piece of heavy cardstock (after I dropped it and had to test my puzzle making skills). That piece was adhered to the metal case. A frame was created out of black cardstock and bars made from wooden skewers were glued to the back.

Pirouette by CS Designs was my choice for the star of this show. She is such a free spirit, ready to dance or fly as it suits her. I coloured her with Prismacolor pencils and fussy cut her out. Small flat back pearls were added for her eyes. Then, because of the cage idea, I added wings to Pirouette by colouring a butterfly recycled from a card I had been given using alcohol markers and Stickles. I wanted to show that she cannot be contained in a mere cage but can fly away at will.

I found a "Don't Feed the Animals" sign on the internet and made a banner using baker's twine, small handcut flags, and alpha stickers. The message was computer generated and cut out with a die. The checker pieces were painted with silver acrylic and gears and nailhead stickers were attached to the centers before gluing them to Pirouette's wagon. Finally, a clock key was glued to the left side.

I always find it amazing when I look at a finished project and think that it all sprang out of one small inspiration point. Creativity is such a blast! I hope you'll join us this month at Recycle, Re-Purpose & Re-Invent. After all, anything goes :) Be sure to visit the challenge blog to see the amazing projects that the rest of the DT came up with. Leave a little extra love for our guest DT member, Wendy Pettifer. We're so happy to have her on board.

Thanks for stopping by.
Life is good; so is art.
Bonnie