Every New Beginning…

I had a busy weekend… still fridge shopping.  I think we have it narrowed down to the one we want!  Hoorah! 😉

We made a slight detour to a furniture store on Saturday and I got the bargain of the century!  Score! 🙂 I think everyone likes a good bargain, I know I do!

I got this table that is counter height, includes 4 chairs for $230.00 – all because it had a slight dent in one corner.

I am very excited because the middle of the table has a lazy susan that spins.  It will be the perfect table for my art space!  And it has storage in the middle section of its base, which you really can’t see in this photo.

I have been looking for a table that is counter height and was thrilled to find one. 🙂

I am in the process of selling my “formal” living furniture and changing it into a creative art space.  More on that later…

I thought this quote was fitting, “Every new beginning comes from some other beginning’s end.” – Seneca

Do you have a creative space where you create?  I’d love to hear more about it!

Cheers! 🙂

What?!

I had a little leftover glass bead gel from a recent art experiment… so instead of wasting it, I added fluid acrylics in Turquoise and spread it on a scrap piece of hot press watercolor paper.  I decided to add watercolor to it yesterday:

What would YOU do to complete it?

I’d love to hear your ideas!!

Cheers! 🙂

P.S.  I’m thinking of making this a weekly feature on my blog… would you like to hear other creative ideas on how to complete a piece of art?!  🙂

Recycled Art

I have several paintings that I created in experiments that I wanted to recycle into something else.

I started by painting over my images with Golden fluid acrylic paints.  I added random marks and scratched into some of the paints while they were still wet with the end of my paintbrush.  Below is a frog I did on hot pressed watercolor paper:

I liked how the marks revealed some of colors underneath, like this pear painting I did on cold pressed 140 lb paper:

I found this very meditative to just play without thinking about the outcome.  Next, I decided to cut them up into squares and rectangles and draw on them with Uniball gel pens:

I then attached them to notecards:

I really like how they turned out!  What do you think?

How do you recycle your art?  I’d love to hear your creative solutions!

Happy Recycling!  🙂

It’s A New Day

Remember the art tote bag that I showed you last week?  Well, I figured out how to patch the holes!  I also added color to the bag!  (You all know how much I like color!)

Isn’t it totally wild?!  🙂  I printed it with Golden Fluid acrylic paints on my Gelli plate yesterday.  I covered the holes with circles I cut from deli-printed gelli prints:

I used a stencil to cut out the colored circles and ironed on a fusible web stabilizer to the papers.  I then sewed the papers over the holes on the bag.  It was a bit tricky to sew so my lines aren’t too straight.  I may finish the edges with hand stitching – I haven’t decided yet.

On the other side of my bag, I sewed 3 colored circles:

I like the colors on this side best!  I used stencils and Spirograph circles to make my patterns with my gelli plate.

I think my art tote bag looks so much better now.   I’d love to know what you think!

Happy Creating!  🙂

I Need to Pare Down

OK, I’m back to pears… here is a red and yellow one:

I decided to draw them with a black pen and color them in primary colors – with water soluble OIL pastels:

I over emphasized the shadows this time (thanks Charlie for the tip!) which helped give them shape.

As I was picking up my house today, I was feeling a bit overwhelmed with all the “stuff” I have accumulated.  I really need to “pare” down!  🙂

So I decided to help motivate myself, I need to make it fun – like the laundry post I did last week, which you can see here.  My goal is to write a weekly post about my progress in a creative way.  Maybe you will have some creative solutions to share too!

Happy Creating!  🙂

It’s In The Bag or Um, Envelope?

Sometimes it is fun to repurpose items I have around the house rather then purchase something new!

And I found making these items just might help me be better organized!  Are you curious?

You see, one of the things about collage is that I keep every little piece of paper!  And sometimes, the pile grows so that it takes on a life of its own…

The creative envelope to the rescue!  YAY!

I made the above one from a recycled gold padded envelope.

And the one below, I made from a piece of junk mail that I folded in half –

And then glued some of those little pieces of collage paper that were floating around to one side.

I used a little bird I created from a leaf print for the other side:

Punched holes in the sides of the cardstock and then sewed the edges closed with embroidery thread.  The perfect place to keep my bird feathers!

When hubby came home with a Starbucks bag, I cut it in two:

And made envelopes out of each section – here is the top half:

I used patterned tape to seal the bottom.

And decorated both sides of the bag….  a perfect place to keep my postage stamps!

I hope I inspired you to repurpose an item you have around your home as a storage container!  I’d love to hear what you did!

Happy Creating!  🙂