Notes to Self

Padfolio Mod Project

Three years ago, when I became Chair of the Visual and Performing Arts, I purchased an “executive padfolio.” It was perfectly practical on the inside and hideously ugly on the outside. It had a unique feature that allowed you to fit a sketchbook and an iPad in the pocket side. I tried over the years to hide the ugliness under stickers and tape. It just looked worse as the stickers rolled up, wore off and collected grime. I searched and searched for a better looking model that had the same flexible feature, but it never appeared. Recently, I came across some wonderful binder mods by Amanda Hawkins and I was inspired. Since my tour of duty as Chair is coming to a close, I thought it would be the perfect time to dissect the padfolio and put it back together again – for a new and more creative life.



I carefully cut the cover off and discarded it, while preserving the integrity of the inside structure. I found an old collage in my flat files that happened to be the perfect size and consisted of some of my favorite symbols for creativity and mortality. I ran it through the laminator with lam on one side and adhesive on the other and cut it in half. Then I found some old left over book cloth with adhesive on the back from some hard cover journals I made a few years ago. It was perfect for the spine – flexible and durable. I used black duct tape to bind the edges of the whole thing and now I have a very functional organizer that I like to look at.

Restore | Recycle | Reuse | Reinvent | Recharge | Rejuvenate | Release | Rework | Refashion | Refocus |  Relief

Rest in Love