Wednesday, January 28, 2009

temporary makeover of cheap Ikea drawers


You may recognize those "malm" drawers from IKEA. We really needed side tables that didn't show all the crap we have next to our beds... but we don't have lots of money (my husband is in school), so we opted for these drawers because they were affordable, and I know that I can one day transform them into something much cuter...

The temporary fix... I will explain what I really plan on doing, when I have the time, money, and energy: I want to get thin molding and create a smaller rectangle within the rectangle of each drawer. I will paint the molding bright yellow. Within the smaller rectangle (created by the yellow molding) I will do some type of simple design (not too complicated because of the bedding being so busy).

This photo is a washed out close-up of the tape and "ball chain."

The Materials: painter's tape, a paintbrush, and paint!
1. put the tape along the top edge of each drawer.
2. If any part sticks up higher than the drawer, then press it down. On the ends, fold it around the back and press down.
3. You can free hand the painted design or pre-draw it. Paint a couple layers, unless the color of the tape is light and doesn't effect the paint color.
4.You now have a finished temporary re-do! When you get sick of it, you can just take the tape off! If for some reason the painter's tape leaves a residue, use goo-gone. (The tape shouldn't leave a residue though, because Painter's masking tape is less sticky.)

Saturday, January 24, 2009

felt lego houses!


Over Christmas break, my little 9 year old brother asked if we could make felt things together (ever since I started blueeyedfreckle he has been wanting to make things with felt). So, I came up with the idea of making simple little boxes with doorways that we could decorate. He loved it, and now uses them in his lego battles (yes, even the floral one).

Friday, January 23, 2009

knitted graffiti?




I love graffiti, especially when it borders being fine art. or when they use the textures and architecture present to determine the imagery. but in all the grafitti i have personally seen, or have books on (and i have many thanks to my lovely husband franc), i have never seen or even pondered the idea of KNITTED graffiti! love it! check more out here.

Monday, January 19, 2009

my first quilt ever...



okay, so this is only the top, I haven't made the bottom yet or put the binding on or anything. that part I am a little scared of... since I have never done this before and I am just learning from a book. oh and I wish I had hand-dyed the orange, so it wasn't such a processed looking color. Actually I wish I had dyed all this fabric, just to take the edge off of it. problem is, I don't know if that is good for babies since they tend to suck on their blankets.

does anyone know of some type of online quilting block calculator or something that would help me design my own quilt pattern without having to hurt my brain? I just followed and altered a pattern for this one, but I would like to do something of my own design next time.

Monday, January 12, 2009

for the bebe...


This is the first alphabet I started making for my future child (due Aug.8).
I wanted to use big words to increase its vocabulary (don't know the sex) at a young age (captivating, ambidextrous, babbling...). These will go up on the wall when they turn around 5.

This is the more design-y alphabet for while the baby is young. (I have only made the "A" so far). I started these because I wanted to make something for my baby, that wouldn't be gender specific. I figured all babies should have an alphabet in their room, and since I'm an artist, why not make one myself?? Sorry these pics were taken with my cell phone, so not so good quality...

Wednesday, January 7, 2009

postcard blog

So, thanks to my friend Meredith a few friends and I will be making and sending original art/postcards to each other each month. I can't wait to get little pieces of artwork to hang on my wall! yeah! You too can join in the viewing pleasure as the images are uploaded to this site! Check it out!

PSSSSSSSS. I will reopen my shop soon. I just needed a sanity break.