chase away the gray with some color

I came across this photo while writing for this blog. I don't believe I shared it before. And if I did, it is worth repeating during these gray days. Each individual flower is a separate ceramic sculpture. They were so very striking gathered together in a circle on a cement outdoor patio at the UICA this past ArtPrize. An unexpected garden blooming. I just looked it up. It is titled Flora Metamorphicae 2012 and the pieces were actually created by 6 different artists.

Christmas gift crafted: birch tree accessories!

My dear sister-in-law has purchased an awesome condo. You know – along the river, in the heart of downtown, converted from an old furniture factory, exposed brick, don't you wish you lived there, cool type condo. I would almost be jealous except for how much I love my quaint brick bungalow and my walkable neighborhood.

Anyway, one wall of her place is done in a sweet birch tree wallpaper. You honest to goodness feel like you're in a forest. It is striking and very well done and perfect in the place she put it. So when I started thinking Christmas crafts I started thinking birch tree! I sent out an email plea at work for supplies and happily was able to find someone who was willing to let me pick through her nice stack of birch wood and branches.

Here's a list of what I came up with (as in totally invented, I am so proud of my craftiness):
1. Fridge magnets with cute fabric designs, these are about the size of a quarter
2. Drink coasters, sealed and finished with felt bottoms
3. Christmas ornaments: flat with baubles
4. Christmas ornaments: 3D stack of tree slices with beads and buttons

Christmas gift crafted: chalkboard ornaments!

I found this idea on Whip Up from a guest post by blogger Curly Birds over a year ago. I was originally aiming for the little people shapes as shown. And I had the thought to throw in pets too – little dogs and cats. But then I could not find the flat wooden people and decided to go with flat round discs instead, which made things simpler anyway.

Each one is painted with chalkboard paint and served double-duty this season as gift tags! Every family also got a box of colored chalk along with their individual ornaments to inspire future creativity.

My 4-year-old daughter helped me paint them this past Septembert. My only regret was that we did not paint them on a better surface – perhaps wax paper. Our generous application of paint made little puddles that ended up sticking to the newspaper. When everything was dry, we'd have little shreds of newspaper to pick off! The ornaments were unfinished so they soaked up the paint. I think we did 2 coats on each side.

I am hoping to keep up a similar craft in the future that can involve my little ones. I like the idea of them experience the joy of creating and giving and not just receiving.

snow & brown & brick

My little one wanted to go outside this morning. On went the snowpants, coat, boots, hat, mittens. Repeat for me. And in my hand, my camera. I find taking photos to be refreshing for me creatively. I will confess I had thought "what will I see in my yard that I have not seen before?" But the camera went with me all the same.

And of course I was not disappointed! My artist eyes always find something to appreciate!

Christmas gift crafted: summertime wreath

After I had floated the idea of wreath creation for Christmas gifts with my sisters and mom, our family decided the adults would draw names for a gift exchange. My mother threatened to rig it so I got her name and she got her wreath! When I drew her name I was suspicious but she claims she did not do anything dishonest and I believe her.

Regardless, her request had been for a summertime wreath. In fact she sent me this link to a summer wreath by the blogger Miss Kopy Kat:

Summer wreath by Miss Kopy Kat

At one point I read the instructions in regards to how the rope was wound and attached. Then a month passed, Christmas neared, and I holed up in the basement art room to work on this beast. In the meantime, any thought to how it looked flew out of my mind.

Since I mostly used what I had on hand – including a thrifted wreath base and some seashells owned by myself and my mom – mine turned out a bit differently. My wreath base was twisted grapevine and so when I wrapped the first round of rope (which ran just a bit short), there were spots that seemed thicker than others. Also, I wasn't satisfied with the width of the wreath itself so I decided to go around the wreath a second time. In the end my husband bought three 100-foot rolls of twisted sisal rope from Lowe's and I used two and a half or so.

The seashells and coral treasures I had are smaller in scale. I chose a sand dollar as the star of the show. And I couldn't help but start out symmetrical in my arranging! I loosened up a bit as I went. Since my seashells were smaller, I made sure to glue some kind of along the inside ring so they would show as well. The finishing touch was a few arranged up top as well. Tah-dah!