Color Harmony, Recycling and Jewelry!

Posted on Aug 5, 2011

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What on earth am I talking about?

The other morning I was leaving for NY for a summer vacation/family visit, I discovered the end of a shipping tape roll, and not being able to resist a good upcycle project, I turned it into a bracelet.  funky, to be sure, but fun funky! And I haven’t taken it off since I made it…well, yes, at nite it comes off.

Here’s exactly how I made it:

1. Start with a shipping tape empty roll.
2. Gesso inside and out, let dry.
3. Painted with my gouache, but acrylic would be great for this project.
4. Had a scrap piece of 300lb hot press left over, the size of a skinny bookmark, and painted that with blue’s complementary color, orange.
5. When that was dry, i cut it up.
6. Got out  my YES glue, and glued down the cut pieces.  Made some long strips, and then it needed a few little squares too.
7. I did take a couple of big rubber bands (think brocolli) and placed those around the edges while the glue dried.
8. That  is it really, except after the glue dried, i gave it a simple swish of gel medium to seal it.

Then i went upstairs to pack. 15 minutes to go! Ridiculous I know….but when the muses beckon, well, I follow.

IDEAS for YOU:

• Try out different color palettes with this project.
• Ask folks who use shipping tape to save their ends for you.
• Draw with a sharpie or micron pen on your bracelet.
• Get as simple or as intricate as you want.
• Try cutting the tape end into thinner strips and make a set of wonderful analagous, complementary or some other wild color combination collection of bracelets.

Enjoy!

My bracelet ended up being an inspiration for my Haiku Art Journal entry, you can read it here.