As a child, I made toys from cutout images in the Montgomery Ward’s Christmas catalog, Elmer’s glue and cardboard.  This issue was so big, that sometimes it was hard to decide which side of the page to choose.  I didn’t know that the point of the catalog was to sell things.  Produce revenue from the products that existed beyond my scissors.  Instead, I was consumed by many pieces of colorful paper filled with things that were new to me.
My flat Barbie was stuck permanently in standing pose, making it awkward for her to drive her car without her legs sticking out the bottom like Fred Flintstone.  Still, she could meet up for a picnic with the Lego astronauts and Smurfette on any given day.  Then if she so desired, her and G.I.  Joe could ride their beautiful Palomino horses to the Death Star to have a play date with their Storm Trooper pals.
I find most of my raw materials in thrift stores, at SCRAP and in nature.  Every day, perfectly usable things are thrown away or donated to non-profits.  But even in the donation process, many items, like the Palomino horse Barbie loved so much, now marred with a dirty matted mane and a scratched paint job, will end up in a landfill.  The printed words of last year’s magazines, still holding the intoxicating scented pull tabs of marketing dollars, have become unimportant!    These are the places that I find my inspiration.  This adventure wakes the same imagination that built a paper toy collection beyond belief.
The beauty in fixing the broken & forgotten is what I enjoy.  I hope you appreciate how these bits are transformed into something beautiful in a different way, in a way worth keeping & remembering!