M.E. - Reusing Your ME Cards and Calendars:

The other day, my new blog friend Leslie. at Brookhollow Lane  asked us all a good question.  What do you do with your old Mary Engelbreit calendars and cards?  They are just way too good to toss out, as we all know.  (As on every post on here, just click on the pictures to enlarge them for a better view.)

I wanted to show you a couple of collage art projects that I did years ago.  This first one was done with calendars, but not an M.E. one.  I was living at the camp house, and had set up a little craft room.  I spent a day in there creating the picture below.  I had never done college before, but I sure did have a great time creating this one:

I just used what I had on hand to make it.  A teddy bear calendar,   and some flower photos out of old magazines.  At the very end, I added some puff paint for outlining, and placed it into a frame from Goodwill.  It is now hanging in our guest bathroom.


I made that collage when I was in the middle of my unhappy second marriage.  I was wishing that my first one had worked out, but that I still had my three babies. (My third baby came with the second marriage.)  I put the picture of having six kids on there, because at that time I had three kids of my own and three stepsons.  The picture really shows 4 girls and 2 boys, but I figured it was close enough for this art project.

But you know what is really funny?  I am now in my third marriage, and I ended up with 4 girls and 2 boys ... just like that picture shows.

Later, after my divorce, I went back to school.  I took an art class.  I loved it so much!  Our final project was supposed to be a time line of our life.  We could use any medium we wanted to and any interpretation.  This is what I came up with:

I used fabric, cardboard and ribbon to make an accordion book.  Then I used my ME calendars, cards and desk calendars to create collages for each important part of my life, beginning when I became a mother.  I kept on going past the present, and it is so funny how it all worked out.  Kind of like the kid thing on the first collage. Like H.I. in the movie Raising Arizona, where he dreams way into the future.

This is the cover page.

I sewed pockets out muslin, and placed cardboard inside to keep the book sturdy.  Then I used ribbon to sew each page together.  At the end, I glued the individual collages into the middle of each page.  Some collages are more detailed than others. 

Pages One and Two:

Page One:  

I became a Mommy.

Page Two:  

I raised my family and had a successful home child care center. 

Pages Three and Four:

Page Three:  

I recommitted myself to the Lord.  I became very involved in church, and made lifelong and caring friends.

Page Four:  

I changed my life. I became a single Mom for the second time.  I invested in myself.  I supported us by having my own housekeeping business.  I dealt with my emotions and started really moving forward with my life.

Pages Five and Six:

Page Five:

I returned to school and ended up getting my Bachelor's Degree in Early Childhood Education and Family Services, with a minor in Human Services.  That was quite an accomplishment.  Yay for me on that one!  It is amazing what you can do when you are not being held back and kept down by somebody else.  I'm just sayin'.

Page Six:

From this page and the rest of the book, I was just making up what I wanted to happen in my future.  One thing that I wanted was to fall in love, and be in a healthy marriage.  That ended up happening.

Page Seven and Eight:

Page Seven:

I assumed that I would be happy with my life.

I am!

Page Eight:

I looked toward the future and my college graduation.  It is funny, because I graduated the week before our wedding.  And who was there?  My Mom, Cary, Nigel and Ethan.  Look at that picture that I chose for this art project several years before.

Page Nine and Ten:

Page Nine:

I assumed that I would be a teacher, since that is what I went to school for ... that is what the apple collage is all about.  I did teach Head Start for a year after I graduated.  Then I began working with my husband at his construction company.  Now things are really slow, and I am trying to figure out what to do for work now.  

Page Ten:

Even if I don't return back to teaching, I still think that I am a teacher of some sort by doing my blog.  I just wish I could make some money at it!  Still, I am happy, fulfilled and feel pretty darn lucky that my life turned out as I wanted it too. 

So, there you go, this is one way that you can use your old ME stuff.  Use it for art.  Maybe even for art therapy, as I did.  I am feeling so grateful to God right now.

God bless you all, 

Kathy

I am entering this post in Fingerprints on the Fridge's
Feature Yourself Friday!  This is my first time visiting over there, and it is a pretty neat blog.  When you are done here, please check out what other bloggers are up to.