Handmade Art with Heart

Less Expected Art Placement

Published on March 5, 2013March 5, 2013 by Our Humble Abode12 Comments

Over the weekend, we started working on a new project. Hint, it involves taking everything off the shelves in the guest room, but more on that when we make a little more progress.

I packed the shelf contents into five laundry baskets. That’s a lot of stuff. I’ll need to pare down my stuff to make room for Handy Sammy and his stuff. After all, he’s the one living in the room. I could either haul everything but the books to the basement or find a place to put it. I’d prefer the second option, so I looked around. And decided my side of the closet was the perfect spot.

A mini collection right next to my socks and pajama pants.

I think it’s a fun, unexpected place to see art. Then I started thinking of other surprise art places. Like the back of a door.

Hanging above a stack of books on a shelf.

{from Martha Stewart}

Or over books, on the shelf frame.

{designed by Albert Hadley}

Even over a large mirror.

{I can’t find the original source}

Or in a very traditional place, but in an unusual arrangement.

{via Desire to Inspire}

Any fun places you like to hang art, even if it is a little crazy?

Penny Pinching

Published on February 20, 2013February 20, 2013 by Our Humble Abode5 Comments

You know those squished souvenir penny machines? Well, I kind of can’t resist them. Do you have this problem too? If I’m visiting a place I’ve never been before, I get a penny. In an effort to display reminders of fun and happy times, I pulled them out of a bowl. And popped them in the small shadow box on the mantel previously filled with the boys’ hospital bracelets.

Not that their hospital bracelets don’t remind me of good times, but they just weren’t mantel material. A penny Ben and I made on our first official date at the Mall of America, another the boys and I made in Duluth a few summers ago, and two more from our honeymoon in Savannah.

In other fireplace news, it’s finally grouted.

Grout residue is stuck to the border trim, so a touch up is in order.

Such is life. Now I’m off to do some more work on this irresistible cutie.

And work on potty training Ev, which he is strongly resisting. Wish me luck!

Star Gazing

Published on January 15, 2013January 15, 2013 by Our Humble Abode2 Comments

I’m a big fan of personalized his and hers art above beds. At our last house, we hung home state watercolor paintings above the bed.

Unfortunately, they were a little too wide to hang above our current bed. Those pretty paintings now hang in our family room, so I made two constellations cut outs.

Ours are cut from black and mounted to metallic silver paper, then framed in an 11 by 14 inch frame with white mat.

Ben’s Scorpio is intricate, while my Aries is simple, consisting of only four stars.

But this (and another comment) got be thinking about his and hers art for beds. What do you have above your bed? One large item? Two or three smaller frames? Monograms?

Art With Heart

Published on January 11, 2013January 11, 2013 by Our Humble Abode12 Comments

Now that we’ve landed on a frame layout for the mantel, I took a few hours to fill the frames with art.

The two smaller frames are unchanged, but the rest is new.

In the center, I wanted something with some color, but still simple with meaning. Enter the Venn diagram.

Colored tissue paper left over from Christmas, a salad plate, a large sheet of white paper, and marker (all supplies I had on hand) made up this quick art.

With the plate on the tissue paper, I cut around it to make two circles. Pieces of double-sided tape hold it down. Using Photoshop, I made a B + A, flipped and printed on plain paper. Once cut out, I used small strips of double-sided tape to attach.

For a little more interest, I wrote Je t’aime across the bottom. Voila, geek chic art. Sure, it’s not perfect, but that’s okay.

On the easel, I printed this Lulie Wallace painting and taped it to a small canvas. Don’t worry, it’s only temporary. This afternoon I plan to make a small floral painting (inspired by these), but wanted to test it out. The small shadow box displays the boys’ hospital bracelets.

In the black frame, I cut a silhouette of a statue. She kind of looks like the Statue of Liberty, right? But she’s not. Actually, she is an angel statue I took a photo of on our honeymoon in Savannah.

Once printed out and cut from metallic silver paper, she shimmers just like Robert Pattinson in Twilight. For a rustic/glam balance, I taped her to a piece of wood veneer.

To the right I popped in this blue flower print from Ara133 Photography in the existing mat.

The photo is Ben and his brothers when they were kids. It’s highly adorable and cracks me up every time. All the dark and wood tones on the left were feeling a little heavy. Sure, painting the small square frame white and the small rectangle frame black will help balance (once our weather cooperates!). But a small dose of wood never hurt anyone. Wait, that sounded bad. Lotus pods and fuzzy faux greenery from the Dollar Store in a white Ikea vase fix that.

Just a little warmth and darkness. Seriously, how great are lotus pods? I think they should be the new billy button.

For a few hours of work, I’m thrilled with the result. Art with meaning, happy colors, and zero dollars spent. That’s right, I used frames and supplies we already had sitting around the house.

Much cheerier than the empty frames of yore.

And I can easily swap art out with changing seasons, holidays, or moods. I’m hoping to con, um, convince Ben to install the new door trim, baseboard, and crown in the family room so I can get some paint on the walls. I’m guessing I won’t succeed, but I can hope.

What do you think of the new art? What’s your favorite art you’ve made? Have any big plans for the weekend?

Mantel Madness

Published on January 9, 2013March 26, 2013 by Our Humble Abode26 Comments

For a long time, I’ve wanted a house with a mantel to decorate. We had a fireplace in our first house, but the stand alone design didn’t allow for a mantel to decorate. But now we’ve got one, thanks to a new fireplace surround. I’ve patiently waited for the paint to cure. Now that it has, I’m in full decorating mode. Originally, I thought I’d stretch a long, lean canvas to paint an abstract landscape on. It would have worked, provided the real painting turned out as well as the one I had mentally painted.

Then, to get an idea of the size I’d want, I pulled a few frames out of the basement storage. And then I switched gears, pulling out more frames to make a layered frame shelf. Sure, one large art piece would look fine, but then I’d feel the need to fill in with tchotchkes, aka clutter. Round one, I centered a 16 by 20 white frame then layered in 11 by 14 frames and filled in gaps with smaller ones.

Don’t mind what’s in the frames, some (or all?) will change. Too small and washed out. I pulled slightly larger wooden frame out from under the guest bed and set it up front and center. More frames around it, this time including a 12 by 12 frame.

Not a winner. I really liked the black frame and mix of styles and colors.

Close, but no cigar. Needs a little more height on the right side, so the 12 by 12 frame got the boot and an 11 by 14 took its place.

Almost there; that gold vase just didn’t tickle my pickle, nor did it serve a purpose. A set of matching white marble vases balanced the ends, and holds matches.

Obviously I’ll need to fill the center frame and swap out some art in the other frames.

Also on the redo list, painting the small square frame white and the small rectangle frame black. Gotta spread out the light and dark for balance.

We also loaded up the wood box over the weekend and love the usefulness, rustic look, and warmth it adds to the room.

So what do you think of layered frames on a mantel? What do you have above your fireplace? Do you have a favorite art piece? Any suggestions for customizeable/DIY/special art to add in the frames? I’d like a mix of art, photos, and something for the small shadowbox.