Substrates
I hoard…a lot. My aim is to use the below for creative projects. Some I have some strong inklings, many I don’t really. This will be my repository that I hopefully return to from time to time when I want to start something new or expand an endeavor. I’ll provide dimensions at a later date and update as I come up with additional ideas. Send me a message if you’d like to share with me any feedback or you can leave a comment here. Happy making!
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I plan on adding more substrates and eventually, WIPs and finished projects for the ones already posted. Feel free to drop your email and find out what I'll be working on next!
Books
Any books I want to alter, empty notebooks, and the enticing in-between
Griffin & Sabine: An Extraordinary Correspondence by Nick Bantock
Books
Any books I want to alter, empty notebooks, and the enticing in-between
Griffin & Sabine: An Extraordinary Correspondence by Nick Bantock
Image Description
Picture book whose front cover has an illustration of a red and green parrot, and two feathers on either side, one hovering in the air and blue, the other on the left by his feet and black. It looks like a postcard front and there's two postage stamps of a green and brown bird in the same stance as the original in the upper left and lower right. There cancellation stamps on both. The background behind the postcard is black with a darker black handwriting in rows. The spine is red and the red font says "GRIFFIN & SABINE AN EXTRAORDINARY CORRESPONDENCE BY NICK BANTOCK". There's a flying four legged creature beneath the author's name. A yellow price tag of $2.99 is on the postcard portion
Background
I bought this at My Unique thrift shop for $2.99. It's one of my favorite books and it's utterly inspiring with glued envelopes holding beautiful writing and art. It's water damaged which is actually good since it'll be easier for me to play and make art in it. It's an epistolary novel told between two main characters and so inspiring.
Ideas
an art journal
but this time for your fictional character
as a letter to someone which you decorate
Vintage playing card album
Image Description
ShopGoodwill photo array with, with the biggest one in the center: recto brown spread with eight vintage playing cards in corner slits: first shows drawings of a girl doll standing up and a boyish doll on the ground, both connected by a rope, next is of a pin up girl in a lime green outfit in a tropical palm tree setting standing next to a pool; drawings of a big dog and a puppy on red background; illustration of a dog with their hunter owner in a winter evergreen tree setting; bottom left is of a pink flower on yellow background; illustration of a bird on a leafy tall plant with a scottie dog; another white scottish dog in a black window whose background is of two green columns and the center blue; and there's a black scottie dog with their tongue hanging out looking at a tiny cross-armed doll with yellow background and green diagonal lines and pink flowers. There's four smaller preview shots below.
Background
I won this on ShopGoodwill auction site, forgot what search terms I used. Perhaps album? It was really cool to look through when it arrived. Such a strong variety, too bad no one really makes cool playing card sets anymore. I'd still like to collect though.
Ideas
Toys
Toys that would make good daydreams
Mini and Massive Capsules
Toys
Toys that would make good daydreams
Mini and Massive Capsules
Image Description
Two vending machine round capsules, the left is small and “normal size” transparent with a tinted green lid that’s still see through. Right is a massive one that’s opaque, top has a neon green lid. Both are empty.
Background
I bought the tiny at a gachopan store where they host Japanese toy capsule vending machines. The larger is from Party City and meant to hold candy which it will not do in this incarnation hehe.
Ideas
big holds a town and the little one holds figurines
massive one holds a build yourself diorama of a cool scene, the lil buddy will hold the tiny figurine
maybe mini one can hold a tiny book, and the bigger holds an artwork inspired by the former
small holds a key object that goes in the bigger one's set. Like a canvas painting for an art studio
tiny holds treasures collected from the day to be placed in the larger one's pedestals and altars.
Paper Dolls 1920s fashion books from
DIY
Objects I need to build before I can use its utmost potential hehe
Snowglobe
DIY
Objects I need to build before I can use its utmost potential hehe
Snowglobe
Image Description
An empty plastic snowglobe with instructions and a small bottle of blue green glitter
Background
I bought the snowglobe at MyUnique for like 99 cents, the glitter I luckily already had.
Ideas
create my ideal daydream I want to come true. Put me in it as a figurine hehe. Maybe write a little sign saying what that is concisely
write a story with a snowglobe at its center, transform this one exactly. leave a printout and the globe somewhere for someone to find
Movie Machine flipbookit maker
Image Description
Brown package of the flipbookit maker which shows an illustration of it with a handcrank attached to a box that shows a rotation of papers that read “YOUR VIDEO OR” “ANIMATION HERE!” Surrounding it, it says “Made in the USA” “Easy assembly in minutes Includes DIY kit, printer-ready sheets and blank flip-cards Ages 7 and up” “Convert your videos (or JPEGs) into a custom flipbook show!” “FREE ‘Maker Tool” at www.Flipbookit.com”
Background
Yup, I bought it at MyUnique hehe. Again, really cheap haha. You can buy one too here, and there is a maker tool too if you look in the menu.
Ideas
make a fun animation through Canva as that feels beginner friendly. Maybe stop motion?
shoot a video I want to cherish, or record a memory I know I’ll want to replay over and over. Perhaps give it as a gift
Postcards
Anything postcard or postcard sized that could lead to something bigger
Build Your Own
Postcards
Anything postcard or postcard sized that could lead to something bigger
Build Your Own
Image Descriptions
First, DIY NYC subway with various printed parts to make it with an inset of it’s real life counter part
Second, DIY Washington Memorial Arch with all the components to create, and inset of the arch in meat space
Third, DIY Flatiron Building with every part printed to build, and inset of the real life version
Background
Yes this could’ve been in DIY, but I like placing them in Postcards more. I bought these three through Poster House and you can find them all here along with the rest of the gang hehe.
Ideas
make one, write a story with that setting, leave the object and the narrative at that location
or write the story and leave the postcard as is for the reader to build
Containers
Empty receptacles that will lead to more
Vintage Four Drawer Wooden Library Card Catalog
Containers
Empty receptacles that will lead to more
Vintage Four Drawer Wooden Library Card Catalog
Image Descriptions
On a dresser is a four wooden drawer vintage library catalog. It's long and has gold handles and label holders. The photo below has the upper right and lower left drawers open, the top with yellow alphabet dividers and green index cards. The bottom with salmon pink and green index cards. You can see the metal middle track in both
Background
I won this at ShopGoodwill auction for like $32 excluding shipping. Pretty much a steal. I always wanted to own one and this is amazing as is. I already bought three sets of alphabet dividers and need one more. I've been buying different sets of index cards which perfectly fit the 3 x 5 inches ones. My goal currently as part of Being An Artist is to generate four mail art open calls with a prompt zine and examples and setting it up on my website. While posting open calls whenever and wherever I can. I hope to get it all done in time but any progress is worth it
Ideas
construct a world
keep track of books
your favorite physical flaw
patterns
synchronicities
Distressed Wooden Apothecary 9 Drawer Cabinet
Image Description
Photo set outside with the 9 wooden distressed drawer apothecary cabinet on wooden railing. It has black metal ring handles and black metal label holders.
Canvasses
Large or medium size posters, prints, used canvasses, etc.
Dandelions Poster Board
Canvasses
Large or medium size posters, prints, used canvasses, etc.
Dandelions Poster Board
Image Description
On poster board, a photo of a close up at grass level of dandelions on wish mode, all puffy and white
Background
I got this from Sunnyside Thrift Shop in Queens, couldn’t have been more than $2.
Ideas
stick a clear post-it note on each puff, individual wishes. Remove them once you’ve granted your own desire
Cellular Canvas
Image Description
A medium sized painting that reminded me of a cellular web, like living cells. Unsigned. Mix of yellow, green, brown, and red, interlaced and dots scattered
Background
I bought it at GoodWill, there were four that were of a similar style but this was the cheapest and honestly what I liked best.
Ideas
collage or paint over it, but not too completely, leave some spaces to be seen
Experimental Storytelling
Anything that invites unconventional narratives
Bates Rolodex
Experimental Storytelling
Anything that invites unconventional narratives
Bates Rolodex
Image Description
A Bates Rolodex which has a black flat tray that holds many blank cards sandwiched between alphabetical dividers. There are cards with area codes for various countries and their regions/states.
Background
On my birthday I was in Little Manila Queens, and I saw there was a thriftshop nearby called Hermes. I got this for like $2.
Ideas
fill it out as a fictional character, not just people but hopes and pains
act like your ideal self and fill it out accordingly. do your best to meet them
idea depository. that’s it haha
write flash fiction that maybe interconnects, or falls under a singular theme
Tempo Telephone Index
Image Descriptions
First, Tempo Telephone Index which is a plastic rectangular device, with the name of “General Trading Co., Inc.” and its contact information on fake wood grain. On the right is a beige part which lists every letter, the slider is on Z.
Second, the device now open, revealing two pages, one on the roof, and the other on the bottom, showing “W” and “X”. At top, there’s an icon of a letter and another of a telephone, each on its own column, separated by a black line going down into the bottom page.
Open Calls
Calls for Submissions where I have that object…just don’t know what to do with it yet lol
Finding Treasures in the Discarded
Open Calls
Calls for Submissions where I have that object…just don’t know what to do with it yet lol
Finding Treasures in the Discarded
Open Call Description
A call for mail art where you use a circular tin can of tuna or cat food or whatever. Create a collage inside (only) of the tin. If you want to go outside of the tin please leave the back blank for the hanging process they can add. Make a background in the bottom of the tin. Use an other collage elements and 3D encouraged. Sign your collage with name, date, title, country you reside and Instagram handle
Post on IG #MailArtCollageKanyerArtCollection2024
Mail to:
Kanyer Art
316 North 3rd Street
Yakima, Washington 98901
USA
Deadline: August 22, 2024
Make as many as you wish! Here’s the Kanyer Art Instagram.
Image Description
my hand holding a Brunswick White Albacore Tuna tin
Ideas
no clue, I do have white dots that can elevate collage elements. Maybe something sweet. I’m sure once I eat the tuna I’ll just know haha.
Where to Retrieve More
Anywhere specific I can get additional intriguing substrates, either for free or for sale.
Yesterday's News Vintage Shop in Brooklyn
Where to Retrieve More
Anywhere specific I can get additional intriguing substrates, either for free or for sale.
Yesterday's News Vintage Shop in Brooklyn
Image Description
Screenshot of freeze frame of their reel showing a group of people making collages at a table overflowing with images and ephemera. There are yellow christmas lights hanging above and drawers of antiques. You can see boxes of pizza with a cartoon baby chef sitting on an open box in the foreground on the table and a vine hanging above.
Background
Not only is it a super cool vintage shop whose outside is laid out like a flea market, you can get a ton of great goodies for $10 and less. PLUS, they host craft nights, like vintage collages and journaling while also providing dinner! Check out their reel here and explore their IG here. For $5 and under finds come hither, and here's another for $1! Honestly the best vintage store Instagram I've seen. I can't wait to visit.
Wishlist
postcards
photos
stickers
patches
trading cards
buttons
spools of thread
greeting cards
Manuals
Any books/zines I wanna (re)read to make new creations
The Guerilla Art Kit by Keri Smith
Manuals
Any books/zines I wanna (re)read to make new creations
The Guerilla Art Kit by Keri Smith
Image Description
Brown Kraft colored book with silver binding, the text reads:
"The Guerilla Art Kit
Everything you need to put your message out into the World
For Fun, Non-Profit and World Domination
By Keri Smith"
There are black and white doodles of a paintbrush, a bucket labeled as wheat paste, two pieces of white chalk, and an open pair of scissors, with a talking bubble surrounding the "For Fun..." line and four white arrows pointing at it.
Background
I believe I first bought this years ago at McNally Jackson bookshop in New York City, where they had a stair landing with discounted craft books. I think it was half off and was my wonderful introduction to Guerilla Art. It’s “leaving art and ideas in public places, [which] can affect someone's day—change their mood or their mind—and maybe even change the world in the process”. You can buy it from the publisher Princeton Architectural Press here. I’m also a huge fan of Keri Smith who is behind Wreck this Journal and sharing The Wander Society.
First Project I’d Like to Try
Found Photos - take some polaroids of things I’m drawn to, write and decorate them, leave it close to where I found them. Maybe some I’m in. Write a lyric essay or a flash fiction and leave it with the photo.
Art in a Box: 30 Creative Projects in Mixed-Media Assemblage by Marlis Maehrle
Image Description
Blue book whose background is of a wood grain, and at its center is a not fully black painted box with wood showing. Inside it’s painted black and framed in white drawn crosses shaped like a box are the words “ART in a BOX” that simulates chalk and typewriter font. Under that in white font it reads “30 Creative Projects in Mixed-Media Assemblage”. And finally under that is a open metal tin whose verso has a page of a foreign language in Old English font which could be German on its side and three eggs in varying sizes, one completely white, white speckled, and beige. The recto is dark brown with white hairs as a nest and a foreign language phrase on ripped paper in Old English font. There is a wooden black and yellow bird perched on a stand atop of a black speckled white egg. At the bottom is the author’s name “Marlis Maehrle”
Background
Multiples
Tiny Miniature Books
12 one-time use neon smiley face cameras from heyday
Image Description
Image Description
A pile of tiny miniature books with ornate covers of blue, green, and red, some in plastic bags grouped in four
Close-up of a pink camera still in plastic wrap with melting neon smiley faces. There are 11 of the same ones laid in rows of three on top of a bed with red and white blanket.
Background
I had to buy new miniature books from Amazon as I lost my previous ones, for an artwork, They're pretty but sometimes cut misaligned and the pages fall apart.
Background
I bought this lot from ShopGoodwill.com auction. They all expire on 9/30/25. It was cheaper than buying them at Target which would have been $19.95 each
Ideas
Ideas
To write down my fears ala Sigh Swoon
Use one camera per month, completing each roll before the 1st arrives
Sketchbook
Each camera has a dedicated theme like:
The book a character reads in the diorama of their narrative scene
Synchronicities
A hue
4 Vintage Purple Glass Apothecary Elixir Decorative Bottles from Taiwan
Family, to show how the children age and grow (noooooo)
Image Description
Screenshot of ShopGoodwill page showing a photo of a "Lot Of 4 Vintage Purple Glass Apothecary Elixir Decorative Bottles Taiwan" One has a cork top, and the second one has two yellow flowers in it. It says Auction Ended with one bid at the current price is $14.99.
Background
I won this from Shop Goodwill Auction for $14.99. I searched the term "apothecary". They were a lot smaller than I thought lol. But still pretty cool
Ideas
Place an object in each one that represents a magical elixir. Like a love potion or vengeful spirit. Write a story when it's used
Put in an object representing facets of a person and write a story where all traits are involved
Tic Tac Toe Style Box
Shadow Boxes
Black Wooden Shelf
Image Description
Wooden Brown Shelf
Image Description
Wooden Box Grid with 9 holes that mirrors a Tic Tac Toe game, all empty
Black wooden shadow box that reminds me of a shelf with a cloud bottom half at top of each of the two shelves
Background
I bought this as part of a lot of Shadow Boxes on Shop Goodwill auction site. It's pretty cool looking
Background
Same lot as the others from Shop Goodwill auction site
Ideas
Play Tic Tac Toe hehe
Ideas
Each box holds an aspect of a person and how they contradict
Treat it as a fictional character's shelf or altar
Each compartment holds an element of a story from beginning to end, numbered.
Make it your own altar for ancestors
Place objects that symbolize your higher self you're aiming for
Wooden shadowbox that reminds me of a chalkboard with a dark square and a wooden frame
Image Description
Light wood that looks like a set of shelves with a flat top and three small shelves on both sides. In the middle is a square shelf and two shelf columns
Wooden Star
Background
Same lot of Shadow Boxes from Shop Goodwill
Ideas
Treat it as a fictional character's shelf and make miniature props
Place secrets where they have to be interacted with to be revealed
Image Description
Wooden shadow box that reminds me of a chalkboard in the shape of a square and a black inner.
Image Description
Clay brown star shadow box that has an inner star, like a trinket dish
Background
Tangra Wooden Cigar Box
Same lot as the others from Shop Goodwill
Background
Same lot of shadow boxes from Shop Goodwill
Ideas
Maybe test if it's a chalkboard or like one hehe
Ideas
Write out my full wish and an object that represents it. Place it where I can see it every day to remind myself of what I'm aiming
Tack on a goal I want to aim for and list steps
Collage it like a vision board and place it somewhere I'll see it often
Place all the sweet things folks tell me so I can refer to when I feel low
Put a photo of my younger self so I can look at her when I need to remember who I'm writing and creating for when I get lost
Wooden shelf that reminds me of a long ladder
Image Description
Pale wooden shadow box that is tall like a ladder and has eight shelves
Image Descriptions
Background
Top photo is a closed wooden cigar box with a big "T" in a circle and the text beneath reads "TANGRA" Then underneath that is "Premium Quality"
Same lot as the other shadow boxes from Shop Goodwill auction
Ideas
Place an object and a written slip of paper with instructions and goals. Have the overall shelf reflect a singular aspiration
Bottom photo is the cigar box open, revealing wood grain ceiling of lid and a dark gray fabric lining on the bottom, I'm holding it open. Both photos are outside and the cigar box on the railing
Tell a story in steps with immersive objects
Background
Use it to store memories to refer back to when feeling nostalgic
Same lot of Shop Goodwill auction shadow boxes
Ideas
Write a flash fiction and place it on the bottom. Pile objects from that setting. So an attendee will be lifting and examining the items and then read the story and understand their presence
Place meaningful objects and keep a list of why they are
Put snippets of ideas you want to do. Then later on pick one out randomly to work on
Eileen Ramos (she/her) is a bipolar Filipina American writer, artist, performer, experience designer, and mental health advocate. She loves making and attending immersive experiences, writing in every iteration to her younger self, and looking at that sky. You can find her on Instagram at @wordsiheld and at her website www.eileenramos.com