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52 Bags of Inspiration

52 Bags of Inspiration was sort of a reverse challenge project I started in 2006. Readers sent me bags of items they didn’t know how to use, and I created projects with them, photographing my process as I worked. The project ended in 2008, and I am no longer accepting submissions—but the articles remain, because there’s some pretty interesting stuff to be gleaned from them.


[15 Mar 2008 | Comments Off | ]

Sometimes, I pile of unrelated items is just a pile of unrelated items—but there’s still some inspiration to be found in them.

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[23 Feb 2008 | Comments Off | ]

My local newspaper put together a Project Runway type project using Barbies. Here’s my entry.

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[26 Nov 2006 | Comments Off | ]

Lots of little game pieces turn into lots of jewelry.

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[20 Aug 2006 | Comments Off | ]

“A big pile of junk” turns into two lovely finished pieces.

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[26 Jul 2006 | Comments Off | ]

Three lovely sheets of paper, using three different methods.

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[21 May 2006 | Comments Off | ]

An old metal slide holder makes the ideal altered treasure chest.

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[7 May 2006 | Comments Off | ]

This proves that nothing is safe—not even the paint leftover from middle schooler’s art projects.

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[26 Mar 2006 | Comments Off | ]

Lazelle is a middle school art teacher, and she sent me goodies from her smock pockets and desk drawer.

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[5 Mar 2006 | Comments Off | ]

Cards from foil teabag wrappers? Why not!

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[18 Feb 2006 | Comments Off | ]

For Valentine’s Day, I made a sweet little heart-themed book from Shannon’s oval playing cards.

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[15 Jan 2006 | Comments Off | ]

At my house, everything that holds still long enough will be turned into a book—including Shutterfly envelopes.

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[9 Jan 2006 | Comments Off | ]

Esmeralda sent me “a baggie of stuff both to stump you and to help me figure what to do with it”—was I stumped, or did I turn them into something unexpected?

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[2 Jan 2006 | Comments Off | ]

Pat sent an interesting assortment of Mona Lisa themed items. See how they were transformed.

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[1 Jan 2006 | Comments Off | ]

Questions. You had them. I’ve answered them here.

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[1 Jan 2006 | Comments Off | ]

Wondering about the weird name? Here’s the lowdown about how I originally thought this would work—and didn’t.

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[1 Jan 2006 | Comments Off | ]

Here’s a description of the original project. Please note that I am no longer accepting submissions for this challenge.

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