just try : first attempts at collage art

When I was in grade six I made collages on old wine bottles. Did any of you guys do that too? I thought I was so sophisticated. 

I gave one of my "art bottles" to my Nanny as a gift with a burgundy ribbon tied around it's neck and she still has it! I couldn't believe it when I spotted it on top of her kitchen cupboards. The pictures give quite an insight into 90s trends with an NYSYNC CD and some glitter nailpolish. Oh, and alongside words like style, love and pretty shoes is a carefully cut out photo of a tub of Cool Whip. Yep, I was a pretty typical eleven year old.

Anyway, that was the last thing I remember collaging... until this:

Sometime in May 2011, I hatched the idea that I was going to make a world map out of recycled magazine pages punched into little circles. Two years later and I am still working away at it. I shouldn't say working - as if it were actually in progress. I do it for an hour one day and then don't touch it again for 3 months. If I sit down to work on it, I have to commit to at least an hour, otherwise I spend more time setting up the circles than pasting them.

Last fall, I wanted to branch out a bit and explore collage outside of my map project. This was around the same time I discovered the incredibly talented, Patrick Bremer. And so, without too much thought I churned out this piece:

© Janelle @ Two Cups of Happy, 2012

Yep, cereal. I tried to make all of the colours "normal" inside the bowl and a bit technicolour on the outside, including blue milk! I ripped pieces by hand from old magazines and pasted them down with Mod Podge. I kept it pretty one dimensional with an aerial view and didn't get into shading very much. Keeping it simple on the first second try was a great idea. It was finished in two sessions and was fairly easy to put together.

Soon to follow was this next one, inspired by an old travel photo my parents took. You already had a sneak peek of it here.

© Janelle @ Two Cups of Happy, 2013

I took more time to plan this second one. I chose a scene I loved, sketched out a basic outline and decided to keep the colors muted like in the photo. The triangles around the edge were an impulsive choice, but I actually like how they extend the borders of the scene and give it some continuation.

There are some mistakes in these that seem to glare at me (esp. in the last one), but I am learning to appreciate each piece for what it is. They're the result of a challenge. And I have to say, I'm a little proud of that last one. It's not terrible! Sometimes I surprise myself when I just try.
 
What's one creative thing you've always wanted to try but were a little intimidated? Crafty/artsy/DIY or whatever... Let me know in the comments!

xx Janelle

wall art for cheap : photo shelves

Art doesn't have to be fancy or expensive to have an impact. It took me 6 months to realize this.

I had been waiting months to hang up an art print I bought shortly after moving into this apartment last August. We don't have a Target up here in Halifax and Wal-Mart has the worst selection of modern frames. I wanted a thin, white wood frame with a mat. I couldn't find one, so I tacked it to the wall, still in it's plastic sleeve. It looked a bit sad.

Sometime last fall I was browsing the dollar store and spotted these shallow white ledges. I think they're called postcard ledges or photo shelves or something like that. Anyway, a few years ago I lusted over similar DIY shelves on YoungHouseLove and thought the art print might look nice perched on one. As I stood in the aisle, trying to think of a reason to buy a few more, I remembered some treasured travel photos I had fished out of my parents' old photo boxes. The shelves were only $2 each so I got three and practically skipped home to show D my finds.

After months of stalling contemplating the perfect spot, I finally decided on the space above my craft table - which you finally get to see! I was originally going to hang all three of them in evenly spaced parallel lines, but then I saw Rachel Howe's home tour on DesignSponge.

Photo by Chris Fantauzzi for DesignSponge

And just like that, I was sold on an asymmetrical arrangement. I leveled the shelves and hung them using the provided tacks. No nails needed! I lined these two shelves with a few photos, one tiny art print and a postcard that says Be, which was a sweet gift from a close friend (hi, Lo!).

Here is a closeup of the hand-lettered piece you see tacked up with washi tape. I made it a little while ago. Sometimes I can spend all day planning or dreaming up creative projects. This reminds me to actually make stuff, to create something. The photo on the right was taken by my parents. My wanderlust always comes bubbling to the surface when I look at it. Here's hoping I will be able to travel soon.

The stuff you see hanging on the left a few photos above is a mish mash of family photos, an ink & acrylic piece that says "create freely", a dotted wave greeting card and a sketch I did of D one night. Here's a better look.

The last shelf found a home on my side of the bed with two coastal inspired pieces. The print is by Sarah Burwash and was found at the ever-inspiring local boutique, Inkwell. The photo is of Peggy's Cove, Nova Scotia with it's iconic lighthouse playing "Where's Waldo" in the background.

That pic shows how shallow the shelves actually are. A really thin frame might fit.

These are usually the first things I see in the morning, which makes me so happy. I dream of waking up in a lakehouse someday, but until then I'll enjoy my makeshift water view, however small it is.

So there's my little weekend apartment beautification project. $6 shelves + homemade art, photos & prints = wall art for people with student loans. Can I get an amen? If you're in Canada and want to find the shelves, hit up the Dollorama. I'm sure you can find them in other stores too or you can make your own if you have a few basic tools like YHL did in the link above.

Okay, so I'm sure I can't be the only one who takes forever to slap some art on my walls. When you move to a new place, do you hang everything right away or stall until you can find the perfect art, frame or arrangement?

xx Janelle 

easy mondays

I haven't quite been feeling well since late last week, but it's nothing more than a nuisance. I've got a bit of chest congestion and an occasionally nasty-sounding cough, but I've managed to avoid most of the icky symptoms most colds/flus bring like headaches, all kinds of nasal problems and body aches. That's great and all, but I somehow managed to get a tiny canker on the inside of my lip. Where the heck did that come from? I rarely ever get them, maybe once every 3-5 years.

The whole point of me filling you in on my minor sickness is to show you what I bought to treat myself. Do you guys do that, buy yourself something nice to make you feel better? At least this time my gift to myself has a meaningful purpose. I bought some tea from David's Tea! Nothing like hot tea to soothe a scratchy throat...

I brewed myself a cup of the oolong as soon as I got home and I must say, it was pretty flavorful. The peachy, nutty smell was so inviting! The flavour was not as intense as I would have liked, but next time I'll just steep it a bit longer. I drank it in bed while reading a few pages of my newest library find and chatting with D while he folded some laundry.

And this is how I ended my night.

Cuddled up on the couch with my unusually affectionate dog, sketching my future home, making fun of Cee-Lo's crazy outfit on the Voice and eating sour cream and onion chips. Perfect.

As much as I lament (and dread) Mondays, sometimes they just aren't so bad. Sometimes they're pretty good.

create.

Last week I bought myself a new notebook. I was using a binder with loose leaf for my sketches, craft ideas and jumbled creative thoughts but after a while I got fed up. I decided that to be productive I needed one spot where I could let out all of my ideas. I needed a notebook that would be reserved only for creativity. And I found the just the one...

My new notebook, by Leuchtturm, is perfect! The pages are not too large, have a good texture, work well with ink or pencil and are acid-free. It's a great size to throw in my purse too, so I can always have it handy.

I plan to use it for inspiration and to plan a projects, DIYs or crafts and to build my sketching skills. Here's a peek at a page which outlines the details of my mason jar candles.

The first night I got it, I could not set it down. I feel like I was holding all of these ideas cluttered up in my head. I'm actually quite surprised it took me so long to start a 'creative journal'. I use Pinterest (my page) to find inspiration as well, but this book is my spin on things. My own ideas. Just thought I would share with you.

So now I'm curious... for my crafty and creative readers, how do you keep track of your ideas? Do you have a sketchbook or idea book like me? Do you art journal? A Word document?