My Matchbox Collection

As I wrote the previous post about the monster matchbox, I realized that I now have the beginnings of a very nice altered matchbox colletction. Here's what I have so far:

I love that they are all so different and interesting, and that they are small, which means I could amass a very large collection without having it take over my house!

This cute felt bird box has a needle-felted worm for a drawer pull--so cute!  I got this one in a matchbox swap on Craftster; my inventive partner wanted the box to look tree-like, so she covered it with actual birch bark!

This next one should look familiar!  It's the monster book matchbox from my previous post.

I made this winged heart box last year as part of my first "go" at art abandonment. This was my practice box, and it ended up being the only one with wings on the heart.

I love this next box SOOOO much!  It came from the amazing Lime Riot when we did a personal swap. I love the tiny paper clay house on the outside, and the equally tiny felt heart on the inside.

The last one is from my second round of art abandonment; I made enough to give away, and still have one for myself!

Now that I see my little collection, I'm sorry I've missed the last couple of matchbox swaps on Craftster! I will have to keep my eyes open so I catch the next one. In the meantime, I think I will get more inspiration by looking huge variety of altered matchboxes that are on Pinterest.  If you like matchyboxes, you should check it out too!

Art Abandonment, Part Two

Over the course of several days, I abandoned all six of the altered matchboxes I glued, painted, and sewed for this project.  I have now posted them all in the Facebook group  Art Abandonment.

#1--On Wednesday I left the first one on a bench in Colonial Williamsburg, Va.

I watched this woman with a lot of bags sit down right next to it and she didn't even notice it!  *Sigh*  After that I decided to make the rest of them more prominent by adding a fluorescent-yellow index card with the words "Free Art!" to the packages.

#2--On Thursday I abandoned the next one near the hand of a famous American...

...Thomas Jefferson, also in Colonial Williamsburg (which shall henceforth be referred to as "CW"!)

#3--On Friday I walked unnoticed to the upper floor of the public library and left this matchbox on a computer keyboard in the Art section.  (Clever, huh?)  There was no one else upstairs, so it might have taken a while to be noticed.

#4--On my way back to the car, I stopped outside the library in the pretty area with fountains and a pergola.  I left this matchbox on the seat of a chair.  There it is, on the chair on the right.

#5--On Saturday my daughter Jenna came with me as I returned to drop off the last two altered matchboxes in CW.  Can you see this one on the bench in front of Jenna's knee?

#6--I left the last one on yet another bench in CW.  I think the best way to abandon art in a crowd is to sit down and casually set the art beside you; then wait a moment to be sure no one is looking at you, and walk away.  (You want to be sure no one is looking so they don't yell "Hey lady, you forgot something!" and come running after you with the art!)

So far there haven't been any e-mails saying the art has been found.  It would be interesting to continue doing this just to see how many I have to abandon before I get a response!   Of course, the point is to set the art free with no expectations other than the hope that someone will find it and love it.  Getting an e-mail from the finder would just be icing on the cake.