best laid plans

i've been sick for a few days, and unusually tired for several days. but i have managed, in my own way (read: stretching and massaging the definition of "make something") to make something pretty much every day. i might have missed one or two. i have not, however, been very good at photographically documenting my creations...many of them were food related and were eaten before i remembered. a couple of them were just private (read: logo design sketches and/or: ugly). i have for you today a representative photo of the last week-ish (well, 2 photos. anyways). it's my favorite project of late. here's why:

1. i did not think about it. or the time it involved. i just did it.

2. it totally reused stuff that i hoard (magazines, amazon delivery boxes)

3. it took stuff i hoard and made it into stuff to organize other stuff i hoard! rad.

4. jubal did it with me.

5. it used tape, which is an awesome invention.

6. it did not involve moving a lot, or getting in and out of "the zone". i didn't have to move further than 15 feet from where i was to get everything i needed to make it, from start to finish.

7. it has pictures on it.

i wanted something to organize my communication arts magazines, a subscription to which is a gift to myself to support my interest and career path in design. it's not a cheap magazine and i keep them all to reference for information and inspiration. i want them separate from all the other magazines so the kids don't accidentally cut them up, making a VERY EXPENSIVE collage. but. i have a thing against spending money on those fancy magazine holding box thingies that you can get at fancy places that i don't shop. the most money i will devote to organizing or holding the things that i pack-rat is the occasional purchase of a big clear plastic tub or a pine board to erect a shelf.

so i found a box. and i grabbed two national geographics. i was determined to use only 2 and not head back to the magazine stash. i also grabbed some packing tape, a utility knife, and some scissors.

the box was too deep to snugly hold the magazines, so i made a spacer out of the flaps of the box all taped together with some other random cardboard pieces i found. then i cut down the front. and i just found images i liked and taped them on. jubal joined me and he found stuff he liked and i taped that on. he made "books" out of stapled magazine pages for a while and then he wandered off and i just kept cutting and taping. when the box was all covered i put another solid layer of tape on it for sturdiness. THEN i had to leave the zone to find all my communication arts magazines scattered around the house. i didn't find them all, but when i do, i know where to put them.

another cool thing about this project was that before i started it i was checking some musical reference online for a discussion r. and i were having and noticed my e-music amount had re-booted, so i bought some new music and got to listen to it while i worked. my e-music account is almost exclusively for treating myself to stuff i wouldn't necessarily normally buy. it's like a "hey, try this" account. or for splurges on things i've always wanted but never gotten around to buying.

here's the set-list to my magazine box making:

the black keys: the big come up

beck: mutations

breathe owl breathe: the fall album

demons: scarcity rock

the maccabees: colour it in

*i didn't get all of those albums in one day, some of them were still un-listened to much from last month. i also got nina simone: nina simone sings the blues, but didn't listen to it in that session (i did later though and it was deeeeelicious.)