What I do with an Anthropology catalog

Catalogs are always fun to flip through, especially ones as colorful and well produced as Anthropology. What is even more fun is cutting them apart and turning them into something else!

After an exciting and exhausting weekend away, I settled down on my couch to relax and play with paper. What really sets this catalog apart from others is the great details and quirks that Anthrolopy puts into each photo. Little deer are hidden under a bed, a cool vase is set in the shadows of bookshelf, among many other treasures. What's more, the textures and colors of their goods are rich and interesting on their own. There was so much content I decided to cover both sides of an old notebook. That said, I did need to go to a different magazine for a couple of images to round out my design. While I used decoupage glue to hold the paper onto the slick notebook cover, I decided I wanted to leave the collage mat rather than lacquer it with coats of decoupage on top as well. I also added some fun sayings I've collected off of Yogi Tea bags. Here is my new notebook! Can anyone figure out which three images are not from the "Anthro" catalog?

The front cover.

The back cover.

Inside the front cover.

REPOSTED: The Crafty Runner goes to Craft Shows

So, this post was deleted when Blogger.com had a glitchy day. I am attempting to rewrite it:

One of my favorite sources of inspiration is the handy work or others. I love going to craft shows and art galleries where the artist is there to talk about their work. In the past couple months I went to two great shows. The Smithsonian National Craft Show and the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival. Both were a lot of fun and had beautiful and inspiring works.

After having taken the pottery class, I found the craft fairs to be much more educational than ever before. I had a great time talking with artists about types of clay, firing heat, and chemical reactions in glazes. There was one artist who made the same sculpture out of different clays and fired them at different temperatures. She took me through each one explaining how the piece acted differently. It was great!

As a closing note, what would a crafts blog post be without a picture. Here is one of my favorites from the New Orleans Jazzfest. It's by A.me and Mitch Alamag:

Decoupage: A New Frontier

I have always loved to collage. It's one of those arts and crafts activities that is so easy, but can turn out looking really good. You've just got to find the right balance of images and textures.

Recently, I decided to take my collaging to the next level and I got some decoupage glue. The cool part about decoupage is that you can collage onto anything. Glass, cardboard, wood- it all works!


The idea of this box was born from an abundance of bridal magazines and bobby pins. I cut out my favorite flowers from the magazines and used them to decorate this small box. Now I have a pretty container for the pins (which were previously all over the house) and I put those magazines to good use!

I also have lots of cooking magazines, so keep your eyes open for vegetable covered picture frames and other fun creations.