Keyboard Cat pumpkin
My love for Keyboard Cat knows no bounds. Saturday I carved this masterpiece!
(my fave KC video)
who knew you were an artist?
I have been bemoaning my bare walls for a while now and am in the long process of fixing this problem with a project that has become way more tedious than I had intended. Last week, I was talking with an old friend about her own place. She and her husband bought their first home and it’s quite large and they’re having a hell of a time filling it, especially with this economy and a new baby zapping their finances. I told her about some inexpensive crafty projects she could get herself into (like I’ve been doing but less tedious) and she wanted me to send more info her way.
These are the tips I sent her for creating inexpensive abstract art for your walls.
First, you need a plan.
- Where is this painting going to go? What size would look good in that space? Get your tape measure out and figure how much of the area you would like to occupy. Most of the canvases you can get on the cheap are rectangular. Do you want it to hang vertically or horizontally?
- The bigger the canvas, the more expensive but you can also consider doing a pair of paintings. They can be placed side by side as you paint, treated as one, and then placed a few inches apart on the wall. You could do a series with as many canvases that you want.
- What is the color scheme? Which emotions do you want to evoke with color? What is going to complement your decor? (Abstract art can be at home in any setting.) Do you want to stick with a cool or warm color palette – or everything in between? Or do you want a greyscale painting?
<<<COOL vs. WARM>>>
- How do you want this painting to look? Seriously! What painting have you seen that has left you thinking about it when you walked away? Why was it so compelling? What were those brush strokes like? Were there any other techniques employed like drips or bleeding of colors together? Do you think you could try your hand at a similar style? Can you see yourself sitting down on your living room floor for a few hours, or a few weekends, making it happen?
- Draw out a plan. Use markers or colored pencils if you can. Write notes. Think in terms of layers – like what colors should you use first. Write down the steps you want to take and the colors you want to use. If you are into being organized and feeling like you have control over a situation, this is especially good for you. If this type of painting is something you have never done before, you will feel less helpless when you sit down with everything in front of you. OR you could pick a color scheme and just go crazy and see what happens. Either way, I think even Pollock made plans.
- Craft stores have huge sales all the time. You can get fairly large pre-stretched, pre-primed canvases for pretty cheap if you keep up on the sales. Here you can find all sizes and 2′ x 3′ ones for $12!
- Artist quality acrylic paints are pretty expensive but crafting acrylics are dirt cheap. Look for 2oz bottles like this. They come in an insane amount of colors and usually run about $1 a bottle. If you plan on painting a background color, you may want 2 bottles of that base color, especially for large or multiple canvases. Check the finish of the paint. Some are matte, glossy, iridescent, metallic, pearl, etc. Don’t forget you can blend your own colors as well with the 3 primary colors and black and white, or mix any other shades of colors together.
- Styrofoam plates are great for mixing colors on. If you mix a large quantity of a certain color and don’t plan on using it all in one sitting, put it in an air tight container. It’s so difficult to mix the exact color over again.
- I like using 3″ foam brushes for applying base coats and sealants. They don’t leave brush strokes and are super cheap.
- Larger canvases usually have a reinforcing board down the middle. Think about this when applying a base coat and painting in general. Try to paint with it and not across it as you can sometimes get some paint build up on the canvas where the edges of the board are underneath. Under the right light or at the right angle, you will see it when you’re done and it may drive you insane.
- Do you want to use brushes to paint? Think about the size of the canvas, the size of the strokes you want to make, and if you want to do any fine line work. Check out the acrylic paint brushes available at the store. There are so many different types I can’t even begin to go into it.
- You can also paint with cheap plastic squirt bottles, various shaped/textured objects, your fingers… use your imagination. Puffy fabric paint of all things is awesome for texture. It’s what I’m using right now in my tedious secret project. There’s also spray paint – to be used outdoors.
- Do you want to add any other elements to your art like hand drawn effects or imbedded objects?
- Plastic drop cloths are about $2, and there’s always newspaper. Don’t forget to protect your floors, and have damp paper towels ready for quick clean-ups. I always manage to spill something.
- Acrylic paint is thick. You can change the opacity by simply mixing it with water. Practice on paper first to see what you’re working with before you put anything on the canvas.
- If you are painting in layers, make sure to let each layer dry for about 30 minutes, unless you want a bleeding effect.
- Keep your brushes in water when not in use. Acrylic paint washes away from brushes and skin and most surfaces pretty easily with soap and water but once dry, it can ruin fabric and harden up your brushes.
- Think about sealants. Let your painting completely dry and add one or two coats of acrylic gloss, Mod Podge, or even spray sealant (in a well ventilated area).
- Hanging an unframed canvas is totally acceptable . Framing is super expensive, unless you get creative with that as well. This is up to you.
- Just remember that “the best laid plans of mice and men often go awry”. You can plan all day long and have wonderful intentions but I’m telling you now, unless you are a miracle worker, something is going to mess up. If just one thing goes wrong, you’re lucky. Just relax and embrace it. You’re not recreating The Kiss. Happy accidents can usually work in your favor. The project I’m currently working on is taking a bit longer than I expected. That’s okay, because it’s going to be awesome. For god’s sake, have fun! Express yourself!
Here are some inspiration pieces I sent my friend, to get her creative juices flowing. Maybe they will inspire you! All via Design Milk.
Nicole Poko – she freezes paint and works with the cubes in various ways!
By implying that anyone could create abstract art such as this, I’m not trying to insinuate that these artists don’t have talent. You must have an eye for it and an ability to manipulate your medium through familiarity, and a bit of bravery.
This is pretty much what I’m trying to say:
So… do it!
maps
If you follow any design blogs, you surely saw Emily Fischer’s “Soft-Maps”, which are maps that have been embroidered into quilts. I can’t imagine the labor involved in her commission-only designs but the prices certainly reflect an enormous amount of work. Her stitches remind me of Sashiko which is simple but does take some getting used to so that it speeds along nicely. You have to be a special type of person to do this kind of work. Quilting is one craft I never got into since the traditional designs and old-fashioned fabric choices really don’t do it for me. It’s so nice to see an old art get a modern twist. Maybe it will inspire younger people to try their hand at it. Cold weather is creeping upon us and it’s the right time to think about starting a quiet evening/weekend project. This could easily be done in the form of a throw pillow or embellishment on a t-shirt, or something bold like your neighborhood slanted and incomplete at the hem of a blazer. Some embroidery needles and thread and a white or blue washable chalk pencil (to draw your outline) would cost less than $5.
I have been subscribing to the Hand Drawn Map Association for a while. They remind me of my childhood, when I would make up imaginary lands and draw detailed maps. Here is an interview with artist Shane Watt who also creates imaginary maps.
There are also companies that sell old aeriel photographs in various sizes to frame and hang in your home. You can find your hometown or a place you’ve always wanted to go.
This is one of many dresses by artist Elisabeth Lecourt. I don’t believe these are sold for wear though.
Totally wearable, I was turned onto Christian Francis Roth’s fun line of clothing Francis by gorgeous jewelry designer Wendy B. (her jewelry and her hilarious blog). She also writes for the Francis blog. Wendy helps the lost find their way in her map dress! This dress is too cute! (on sale right now!)
An etsy search for “map” revealed thousands of items.
Isotope makes awesome tees. I really like the graphic nature of maps on clothing. It’s a random geometric pattern that could be paired with just about anything and look chic peeking out from under a blazer or cardi.
Have you heard of Dream Heels? What an awesome concept! They are a take on Threadless where instead of tees, people submit and vote on which pattern of pumps they will make. This Parisian map concept is currently a contender!
This handmade decoupage plate can easily be recreated with some diy help.
Maps are also finding their way into jewelry. This pendant by XOHandworks is special to me since my dad is from Serbia.
interspecies
Craftastrophe showcases some of the most heinous handmade things but; I can’t help but adore these reasonably priced porcelain figures from etsy shop Me.la.bo. !!!!
I’ve had this planter bookmarked for ages but I’m unsure of who makes it as the source link was dead. (I checked all of Me.la.bo.’s completed sales and this wasn’t there.). Fantastic!
hemming and hawing
I won a turquoise blue shantung silk (really polyester) pencil skirt on eBay months ago. I think, with shipping, I paid $3 for it. It’s in pristine condition, from some professional clothing line called Kasper. Whatever. It’s really decadent and reminds me of a bit of trashy Versace. I am planning on wearing it with black opaque tights, suede heeled ankle boots and a fitted black top – just a small burst of color for the heck of it.
I’m short. (5′1″ of pure terror, actually.) Typical pencil skirts for normal women are always too long for me and rarely do I get lucky and find a perfect length. Because this skirt had a muti-layered effect at the hem and a slit that I didn’t feel like messing with, I finally got the energy today to just go ahead and hack 10.5″ inches off the sucker. I tried it on and with a safety pin, marked how short I wanted it to be and then got out a trusty ruler and tailor’s chalk and marked my cutting line, about 1/2″ below where I actually want the hem to end.
Okay… this 1/2″ thing is pretty crucial. I have a serger which allows me to finish edges and only have to fold up an edge once when hemming. So, it’s up to you to assess how many times you plan on folding up your hems. The thicker the fabric, the wider the hem – is the common sewing rule. Think about these things when your measuring out your hem allowance and before you cut! You can always make things shorter but not longer after you close the scissors.
This skirt also has a lining which I kept in tact so I went ahead and cut it the same length but planned on hemming the lining about an inch and the actual skirt was hemmed about a half inch – this way there would be no accidental peeking out of the lining.
Sergers require 4 large spools of thread and I only have white and black at the moment. No one will be seeing the black serged edges, as long as I don’t slip and land with my ankles behind my head. Here are some pointless serging pictures for your viewing enjoyment.
After I did the edges, I fired up the iron and folded up the hems, pressing them in place. I cannot stress to you enough how much an iron will help you in all of your sewing projects. I prefer it to pinning if I can get away with it. (There are some things a serger can’t do and even though I could do a blind hem stitch and serge all at once, I have yet to master that technique and wasn’t in the mood for ripping out seams over and over to prove something to myself this afternoon.) If you don’t have a serger, don’t fret! Just fold up twice, iron in place and sew once!
So here I am sewing away on a regular machine. The gauge plate on the machine is also your friend. I just lined my ironed up edge to the 4/8″ mark and really didn’t have to think anymore after that!
And here she is… all done. Yay for color! Yay for a $3 skirt finally making it out of my to-do sewing pile!
journal
Can you tell I have the winter blahs? All I want to look at are bright light things.
Serving dishes really get me excited and that sectional dish is adorable. Below it is an amazing cake! It has a lot of detail but is still streamlined. The tedious monotony of making and applying the circles on the fondant is right up my alley for zoning out on a project. For the life of me, I cannot remember where the 3-D owl plaque came from. It’s made of some type of acrylic and they had other animals as well, like squirrels, in many colors. The pendant is a type of embedded quartz. The pearl ball is a christmas ornament. My mom and I used to make these when I was little (more monotony to zen out to). You take a styrofoam ball, various beads (sequins are fun too), and attach them to the ball with straight pins. Really easy and lots of room for creativity. The Japan poster print is from allposters.com for just $12.99. The color scheme is one of my favorites. I believe the d’Orsay pumps are Manolos. Beautiful place setting, flowers, halter top and Guess bag.
The silver cuff has coral shapes applied. I’m not a big fan of diamond rings. I have a modest antique ring from my grandmother and a few I will inherit but as far as engagement rings go, unlike with Elizabeth Taylor, diamonds have never really brought me luck. I do like the delicate open nature of this ring though. It’s light as air, symbolizes eternity and has a low profile. This would be an ideal right hand ring if you’re not into those door knockers. More d’Orsay pumps in a fun nautical stripe. I loooove this white woven bag but I can’t read that tag or remember who made it. The pendant is another chunk of crystal with a thin chain running through it. The seahorse earrings are dear and so is the off-center singular encased butterfly wing. A lot of people are working with wings on etsy.com these days. I love the silver deer ring but it would probably catch on everything. The Jane Fonda print was from a story on one of the Arquette sister’s homes. It’s controversial and I don’t particularly agree with how she handled that situation but it’s still pretty badass, especially in red monochrome. A breezy lattice bra, bright sunshiny koi fish tee, Steve Madden pumps and a wee blue clutch round it all out. Warmn weather please!!!!
not skinny enough
I have passed up a lot of jeans with interesting finishes because the legs just weren’t skinny enough. My ideal is a 10″ – 12″ opening at the ankle. (10″ is what is pictured below on the right… just enough to squeeze my foot through.)
A skinny jean, a straight leg does not make. Being just a bit wider than you would like makes them look horrible with ankle boots or the heavy platforms. You want your skinnies to be tight against your ankle to look current, like leggings. (I’m not saying a wider leg doesn’t look swell with other types of shoes… I’m just talking about a very specific trend here.)
I hadn’t been in Kohls in almost a year and had to pop in last week for a certain heavy sweatshirt my dad loves. The lines were weaving across the store so, I figured I’d make the trip worth my while and see what they had. Well, they had dark rinse and pale grey skinny jeans on sale for $13! I tried them on and the 13.5″ leg opening just wasn’t going to work with anything but sneakers. At that price, I got them anyhow. When I got home I was thinking that there was absolutely no reason why I couldn’t take them in myself!
I slept on it and devised a plan of action. I really should’ve taken some decent tutorial pictures but as long as you have a sewing machine (or not and are a glutton for time-consuming work) I think you will figure out what I’m saying here. It couldn’t be more easy.
- First off, wash your jeans and dry them as you normally would. (Before you alter anything, you have to pre-shrink!)
- Okay, now look at your jeans. (You really need to keep this in mind BEFORE you even buy a pair that you intend to alter.) Most of the jeans on earth have two different seams on each leg. The front and back pieces are sewn together at the sides. One side seam is also usually different than the other. One will have the top stitching detail (shown in the pic below) and the other wont. The sides of each leg that don’t have the top stitching are the sides you will be taking in since it’s just a simple easy seam and that’s the kind I like… simple… and easy…
- If you are happy with the length of the jeans and don’t plan on hemming them then you can take a seam ripper and remove the hem stitch a couple inches away from each side of the simple seam I just told you about. (This will keep you from having to seam-rip and re-hem each leg entirely. I AM SO LAZY!) So, you got that? You need to un-hem the bottoms of each leg half-way so you can flip your jeans inside out and have enough room to flatten them out to sew.
- The thighs of jeans are usually tight enough for me (but if you need to take the thighs in too, just sew past your knees). Put your jeans on inside out and with white tailors chalk (or use a safety pin), mark where your jeans begin to get tight (around your knees usually) and then mark how much room you need to get your feet through, holding them as if they were already altered and practicing getting them on and off. You can just do this on one leg and then when you take them off, fold the pair in half and match the marks onto the other leg.
- Now, take a long ruler and draw a line from the point at the ankle to the point where you want to stop sewing higher up. Do this for the other leg and well… now you have your lines to sew on. (You could just eye it but you risk going beyond your end point and making them too tight in the thighs.) This line should simply be a very gradual tapered angle that will blend in with the existing seam.
- What color jeans do you have? Are they black, grey, blue… what color is the top stitching at the hem? Figure out the color thread you need and get your machine ready. The insides of jeans are serged but this will just be a seam with raw edges when you’re done so, you will get loose threads after a while. I recommend setting your machine for the closest stitch you can for strength. (More stitches per inch… like the #1 setting). (If you want, you can also do a ziz-zag stitch at the very edge once you’re done and cut the excess off, to help keep them from fraying eventually. I didn’t care I even have a serger!)
- Okay… time to sew! Follow your line on one leg and try your jeans on inside out again and make sure everything is the way you want. If not, rip that seam out and start again. No big deal. Get it right and sew the other leg. Cut off the excess (only when you are 200% positive that they are right), leaving about a 1/2″ seam allowance. Measure twice – cut once, ya hear!?
- Now it’s time to hem. Most machines have a free arm on them so you can do slim round openings such as this. Remove that casing, keep your jeans inside out, fold your hem back up and squeeze your pants leg under the needle, matching the existing threads with your new stitch. Make your stitch size bigger (3 to 4 is the usual for denim topstitches) and hem up the couple inches that are still undone, making sure to backstitch at the beginning and end for strength. It’s not going to look exactly the same as the existing hem stitching, unless it’s the same color and just blends in. Please tell me you are not that anal retentive. You are? Well, I guess you better rip and do the entire hem on the machine for consistency. Geesh!
So that’s that! It took me no time to do my grey pair and once I knew exactly what I was doing, I think I broke a land speed record for the second pair. I’m pretty short (5′1″) so when I have altered these not-so-skinny jeans, I get a sweet bunched effect at the ankle. So, here’s a picture of one leg done. Woohoo! Feet up in the air!
If you have any questions about this process or any other brave sewing endeavors, let me know!
PS – that Wet Seal top I mentioned a few posts back… well, it was open down the front! I was wondering why it said “wrap” because they usually show them open in the pictures. Well… that took a quick trip through the sewing machine too and now I have a sweet asymetric tunic tank like I thought I was getting!
I’ve been a very good girl
A christmas wishlist…
- long slender black leather gloves that extend beyond my elbows
- the perfect pair of grey boots that I have yet to see and don’t believe exist
- an adjustable dress form or some help, with a sense of humor in making one!
- treats and more treats from World Market
- the new Sigur Rós CD Med Sud I Eyrum Vid Spilum Endalaust in a deluxe edition set
- a replacement chunky chain link necklace
- that Herkimer diamond ring by Erica Weiner…
- books… so many books… here are just a few of the photography books I would love to own: America at Home, Nerve: The New Nude, A Photographer’s Life: 1990-2005 (and every other Annie Leibovitz book!), 1000 Families, Mapplethorpe: Polaroids, Richard Avedon Portraits…
- a trip to Maymont Park to see the otters
- a bright new umbrella
- sandals with wide ankle wrapping for summer
- a traditional ant farm with a queen and eggs and everything!
- the strength and patience to sell a ton of stuff on eBay during my break
- kisses kisses and more kisses!
wee
Oh dear I love miniatures! In highschool I made something very similar to these rooms for my final art class project. It was a portfolio building class and I chose to stick with a theme the entire semester to round out with a giant final presention that was cohesive.
First, I drew floor plans and elevations for a modern glass and stone house. My father had rolled up architectural plans strewn all over the basement and I learned to walk in the frame of a house. Home construction and design always figured prominently in my childhood and I had studied how plans were drawn. I could entertain myself with imagining fantasy homes, holed up in the basement at my father’s drafting table for hours and hours.
Then, my parents drove me all over town so I could take “artsy” black and white photos of some of my favorite modern homes I had seen in Richmond, VA. I needed to get in the back yard of one to get a shot of the angle I particularly loved so, after knocking on the door to get permission, the couple were incredibly gracious and gave me a tour of the interior. Oh! It was so beautiful. The entire home was totally open and full of glass on a hill by the James River, tucked away in woods. Their “bedroom” was on a platform that suspended from the ceiling with thick ropey steel cord with a similar steel railing surrounding. A tiny staircase led up to this magical place. Since they had no children, privacy wasn’t an issue but there were some sheer drapes to lend some coziness to the area.
The final part of the project was a 1:12 ratio model of the livingroom of the house I had designed. I used cut popsicle sticks for the hardwood flooring and got plexiglass cut for the glass walls, painting teeny white lines as grout between the “tiles”. My father helped cut wood for furniture on his band saw and I wrapped balsa wood with wire and sewed little cushions for the other furniture. My mom had ordered these paper fall leaves to place under desserts so one became a ”rug”. It was so much fun to make!
These little models from a Korean website called Casa (via Apartment Therapy) are apparently showcasing wallpaper through real life miniature models instead of de rigeur computer generated graphics. They did such an amazing job! Look at the teeny knitting!
exacto
Once in a design class I had to cut out intricate patterns with an exacto knife and a self-healing mat. It was excruciating which is why I appreciate this type of craftiness and artistic talent that much more!
A great diy tutorial by Skinny laMinx. I really like her technique.
The talent on etsy.com is endless! Papercutdiecut is my favorite!
Ingrid Siliakus - paper architecture
Chris Natrop - intense installations with cut acrylic sheets, threads and other media
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