Project ReStyle #13

Last week, I didn't feel like coming up with a ReStyle. But this week, I had the perfect canvas, so to speak. A sturdy cylindrical box which used to hold green tea. Some paint, grunging up and embellishments later, I have a love container to hold pens, pencils and other writing tools. (I am having fun playing with my photos in Gimp!)

La semaine dernière, je n'avais pas le tête à faire un ReStyle. Mais cette semaine, j'avais le canvas idéal, si on veut. Une boite cylindrique solide qui contenait du thé vert auparavant. Une peu de peinture, un peu de "salissage" et des embellissements, j'ai maintenant un beau contenant pour des crayons, stylos et autres outils d'écritue. (Je m'amuse avec mes photos dans Gimp!)

 

Tshirt Patchwork

Leftover pieces from cut-up t-shirts. Some stitching and embroidery by hand. I will keep embellishing some of the squares and then will probably turn this into a pillow. Or had squares all around and turn it into a small blanket. Time will tell...

Des restes de t-shirts coupés. De la couture et broderie à la main. Je vais continuer d'embellir certains carrés puis transformer le tout en coussin. Ou ajouter des carrés autour et le transformer en couverture. Seul le temps nous le dira...

More recycled sketchbooks - Plus de cahiers à croquis recyclés

I made another batch of sketchbooks out of old game boards. I use black electrical tape on all edges for a cleaner finish. These measure about 5 1/2" x 8 3/4".

Could not post earlier because my internet connection was down. Lots of snow in the last 48 hours.

J'ai fait une autre série de cahiers à croquis à partir de vieilles planches de jeux. J'ai pris du ruban adhésif électrique noir pour que les angles soient plus propres. Ces cahiers mesures environ 14cm x 22cm.

Je ne pouvais pas publier l'article plus tôt parce que ma connection internet était coupée. Beaucoup de neige dans les dernières 48 heures.

Altered t-shirt - T-shirt altéré

Before the last Olympics, I was able to get a few free t-shirts thanks to a promotion offered by a cereal company. The red one is one size smaller than the white one and the collar was just a bit too tight. So I decided to cut it off. But then, it looked odd so I cut a "v" in the front to give it a new neckline. Now, it's more flattering and I know I'll wear it more than in its previous state. I plan to also alter the white one but haven't decided yet how I'll do it. 

Avant les derniers jeux Olympiques, j'ai réussi à avoir des t-shirts gratuits grâce à une promotion offerete par un fabricant de céréales. Le rouge est une grandeur plus petite que le blanc et le col était un peu trop serré. Alors j'ai décidé de l'enlever. Mais le tout avait l'air trop bizarre alors j'ai coupé un "v" à l'avant pour lui donner un nouveau décolleté. Maintenant, c'est beaucoup plus flatteur et je sais que je le porterai plus que dans son étât original. J'ai l'intention d'altéré aussi le blanc mais je n'ai pas encore décidé comment je le ferai.

 

Do you have a t-shirt that you like but find is not quite perfect? Instead of letting it sit in your drawer, why not try altering it a bit? It's really much simpler than you think. I didn't even use my sewing machine for this one.

Avez-vous un t-shirt que vous aimez mais que vous ne trouvez pas parfait? Plutôt que de le laisser dormir dans votre tiroir, pourquoi ne pas essayer de l'altérer un peu? C'est beaucoup plus facile que vous ne l'imaginez. Je n'ai même pas sortie ma machine à coudre pour celui-ci.

Mail art book - Livre d'art postal

 Two years ago, I saw this idea to transform a book and fill it with all the postcards, greeting cards and letters I receive by mail. This book has actually been done for over a year now but for some reason, I never posted about it. Well, it's pretty filled up so I'm thinking of making a second one to hold the lovely mail art I received since then.

Il y a deux ans, j'ai vu cette idée pour transformer un livre et le remplir de cartes postales, cartes de souhaits et lettres que je reçois par la poste. Ce livre est fait depuis plus d'un an déjà mais je ne vous l'ai jamais montré et j'ignore pourquoi. Et bien, il est pas mal rempli alors je pense en faire un deuxième pour accueillir le beau courrier que j'ai reçu depuis que je l'ai fait.

A look at the inside.

Un coup d'oeil à l'intérieur.

If I make a second book, I'll try to take step-by-step photos to show you how I did it.

Si je fais un deuxième livre, j'essaierai de prendre des photos des étapes pour vous montrer comment je l'ai fait.

 

Again, don't forget to enter my giveaway.

Encore une fois, n'oubliez pas de vous inscrire à mon tirage.

2nd paper pad holder - 2e rangement pour tablettes de papier

So, it turns out that my most viewed post since May (which is when Blogger started showing blog Stats) is the one from the paper pad holder. Well, I thought it was about time to finish altering the second one. This time, I decided to paint it instead of covering it with paper. So I sanded the whole surface a bit to remove the gloss-like finish. Then I applied a coat of gesso. After it dried, I covered it with red acrylic paint (the cheap dollar store kind.) I mixed some black acrylic with glazing medium and brushed it over the red layer. I wanted a streaky effect. For the main element, I used a stencil, that my friend CeeCee made for me, with some silver acrylic and finished the whole thing by brushing a bit of silver paint on all the edges. A different look from the paper covered holder but still as nice and useful!

Et bien, il semble que mon article le plus lu depuis Mai (qui est le moment où Blogger a commencé à montrer les statistiques des blogues) est celui du rangement pour tablettes de papier. Alors, je me suis dit qu'il était temps de finir d'altérer le deuxième. Cette fois-ci, j'ai décidé de le peindre plutôt que de le couvrir de papier. Alors j'ai sablé le tout pour enlever le fini légèrement lustré. Puis, j'ai appliqué du gesso. Après qu'il eut séché, je l'ai couvert de peinture acrylique rouge (le genre faible qualité du magasin à un dollar.) J'ai mélangé de l'acrylique noire avec du médium pour glacis et l'ai brossé par-dessus le rouge. Je voulais un effet barriolé. Pour l'élément principal, je me suis servie d'un pochoir, que mon amie CeeCee m'a fait, avec de l'acrylique argent et j'ai fini le tout en brossant un peu de peinture argent sur tous les rebords. Un look différent du rangement recouvert de papier mais tout aussi joli et pratique!

Recycled sketchbooks - Cahiers à croquis recyclés

Working in an elementary school, we find a lot of things that we can reuse instead of sending it to the trash. Like boards from old board games. My mother found this one with football helmets on it and I knew I wanted to use it as covers for a sketchbook. Unfortunately, the board itself was harder to cut than others so the cut edges are a bit ragged. But, with a bit of electrical or duct tape, I'm sure I can make it look much nicer (I just have to find black tape...)

À travailler dans une école primaire, on trouve plein de choses qui peuvent être réutilisées plutôt que d'être envoyées à la poubelle. Comme les planches provenant de vieux jeux de société. Ma mère a trouvé celui-ci, avec des casques de football américain dessus, et je savais que je voulais m'en servir pour faire les couvertures d'un cahier à croquis. Malheureusement, la planche elle-même fut plus difficile à couper que d'autres alors les bords coupés sont un peu inégaux. Mais avec un peu de ruban adhésif d'électricien ou de plombier, je suis certaine qu'il paraîtra mieux (je dois juste trouver du ruban adhésif noir...)

For the pages of the books, I used 9" x 12" cartridge paper. It's not as thick as watercolour paper but it takes a bit more abuse than printer paper. Because I was cutting my pages 6" x 6", I was left with decent sized pieces (3" x 6") which I decided to turn into little notebooks. Rummaging through my supplies, I found these boxes of snacks I had kept for this exact purpose. So I cut them a bit bigger than the pages and voilà! All the books were bound using my Bind-it-all with some 3/4" wire.

Pour les pages des livres, j'ai pris du papier cartridge de 23cm x 30cm. Ce n'est pas aussi épais que du papier aquarelle mais ça prend un peu plus d'abus que du papier d'imprimante. Comme je coupais les pages à environ 15cm x 15cm, il me restait des morceaux d'une bonne grandeur (environ 8cm x 15cm) que j'ai décidé de transformer en petites tablettes à notes. En fouillant dans mes fournitures, j'ai trouvé ces boites de grignotines que j'avais gardé exactement à cette fin. Alors je les ai coupés un peu plus grand que les pages et voilà! Tous les livres ont été reliés avec ma machine Bind-it-all et du fil métallique à relier de 2cm

The sketchbooks and notebooks were done for my mother so she can give them to her students as presents. I'm sure they'll be happy to receive these.

Ces cahiers à croquis et tablettes à notes ont été faits pour ma mère pour qu'elle puisse les donner à ses élèves comme cadeaux. Je suis certaine qu'ils vont être heureux de les recevoir.

The green skirt tote - Le fourre-tout jupe verte

While putting aside clothes that didn't fit me or that I just don't wear anymore, I thought that this skirt (sorry, I don't have a before picture) would be fun as a tote bag. So I cut the length of the skirt by about 6 inches and kept that piece to make the strap. I sewed the bottom of the skirt shut. I turned the skirt inside out, folded it in half and sewed the bottom again and the opened side. By folding it, I didn't have to sew a lining. After that, I turned the skirt right side out (that was a bit complicated but I figured it out after a few minutes) and sewed the remaining opened side. Because my skirt had a zipper in the back, I decided to use it as a hidden pocket and made sure it was easy to access for me (but not pick-pockets!) With the sides and bottom sewn, I only had to make the strap and sew it in place while sewing the "lining" to the outside fabric at the top. It wasn't too complicated to do and I like the result. I now have a one-of-a-kind tote with pockets on the inside and the outside. And I, for one, can never have too many pockets!

Pendant que je mettais des vêtements de côté qui ne me font plus ou que je ne porte plus, j'ai pensé que cette jupe (désolée, je n'ai pas de photo du "avant") serait amusante comme sac fourre-tout. Alors j'ai coupé la longueur de la jupe d'environ 15 centimètres et ai gardé ce morceau pour faire la courroi. J'ai cousu le bas de la jupe pour la fermer. J'ai retourné la jupe avec l'intérieur à l'extérieur, l'ai pliée en deux et recousu le bas ainsi que le côté ouvert. En la pliant ainsi, j'évitais de coudre une doublue. Ensuite, j'ai retourné la jupe dans le bon sens (ce fut un peu compliqué mais j'ai réussi après quelques minutes) et cousu le dernier côté ouvert. Comme la jupe avait une fermeture éclair à l'arrière, j'ai décidé de m'en servir pour faire une poche cachée et me suis assurée qu'elle était facile d'accès pour moi (et non les voleurs!) Les côtés et le bas étant cousu, il ne me restait qu'à faire la courroi et la coudre en place pendant que je cousais la "doublure" au tissu extérieur vers le haut. Ce n'était pas trop compliqué à faire et j'aime le résultat. J'ai maintenant un sac fourre-tout unique avec des poches à l'intérieur et à l'extérieur. Je ne sais pas pour vous mais je n'ai jamais trop de poches!

 

Altering clothes in less than an hour - Altérer des vêtements en moins d'une heure

 Most of my readers know by now that I love to use things I already have on hand to create and to reuse/recycle as much as possible.

La plupart de mes lectrices savent maintenant comme j'aime me servir de ce que j'ai sous la main pour créer et de réutiliser/recycler le plus possible.

We all have at least one tshirt that we love but which has small holes. I know I do since Diesel will sometimes put a claw through my clothes when I pick her up. A good way to make that tshirt still wearable is to alter it by hiding the holes. In this case, I used pieces of felt which I cut in a sort of yin-yang shape, hand-sewing them to the tshirt. (I might even add some flowers to one side... we'll see...)

Nous avons toutes au moins un chandail que nous aimons mais qui a de petits trous. C'est le cas pour moi puisque Diesel mets parfois une griffe au travers de mes vêtements lorsque je la prends. Une bonne façon de rendre ce chandail à nouveau portable est de l'altérer en cachant les trous. Dans mon cas, j'ai pris des morceaux de feutrine que j'ai coupé en des formes ressemblant au yin et yang, les cousant à la main sur le chandail. (J'ajouterai peut-être même des fleurs sur un côté... on verra...)

For a less permanent alteration, how about adding a lovely ribbon flower with a safety pin. I made mine following my dear friend CeeCee's video tutorial. Isn't it pretty?

Pour une altération moins permanente, on peut ajouter une jolie fleur à ruban avec une épingle de sûreté. J'ai fait la mienne en suivant le tutoriel vidéo de ma chère amie CeeCee. N'est-ce pas joli?

 

Do you have any tricks to make slightly used clothes still wearable?

Avez-vous des trucs pour rendre des vêtements légèrement usés de nouveau portable?

The March creature completed - La créature de Mars terminée

5 months ago, I started a new stuffed creature with old knee-high socks.

 Il y a 5 mois, j'ai commencé une créature rembourrée avec de vieux bas aux genoux.

 Last weekend, I finally finished it, using an old blanket for its body and felt and buttons for its eyes.

La fin de semaine dernière, je l'ai enfin terminée, une vieille couverture lui servant de corps et de la feutrine et des boutons pour les yeux.

 Meet my new octopus! I haven't found the perfect name for it yet so if you have an idea, do let me know.

Je vous présente ma nouvelle pieuvre! Je ne lui ai pas encore trouvé un nom parfait alors si vous avez des idées, laissez-le moi savoir.

It's quite big. And it's great for hugging. I'm definitely keeping this one for my personal collection.

Elle est pas mal grosse. Et est parfaite pour des calins. Je la garde définitivement pour collection personnelle.

And here's Diesel, inspecting my work.

Et voici Diesel qui inspecte mon travail.

Of creatures (which are mostly of the bird variety) and other things

So I notice that some symbols keep coming back in my art. Of course, we're aware of the heart symbol which has already been discussed in a previous post but lately, I've also seen a variety of birds appear here in there in both my art AND my dreams. Anyone know what dreaming of birds mean? In the past weeks, I've had dreams of hawks (but friendly ones), owls and crows. In two dreams, the bird landed on my left arm. Strange. Anyway, I've decided to focus some pieces on those birds which explains the second art card you see here at the top and this painting below.

Now. About this painting. I've really been inspired by Kal Barteski's recent paintings (I've told you about them already) and thought I'd have my own take on this idea. I had all those old books of children stories which were missing a lot of pages (library books that were going to be thrown out.) So I decided to paint on the pages individually. Some have really nice illustrations on them so I might try to use those for something else but the pages with only text will be used in this fashion. They measure about 9" x 12". I started with a layer of gesso which had been mixed with some pink paint for another project (which is below) and had some left over. The tree came out of nowhere and wanted to be painted purple. So I did (more like lavender if you ask me.) Then the little bird appeared and wanted a swirly sun so I gave it to him. And before I knew it, he had me writing this little bit right in the middle of the painting! (It says: he just knew that one day he would fly to the sun.) This little guy really had a mind of his own. And now he wants siblings and friends to play with so I guess I'll have to do more paintings. This was a big change for me: painting on something other than canvas and out of my journals. So, tell me what you think of it. Would you pay for something like this? Would others? It would be so wonderful to actually make money from my art, you know what I mean? Others are doing it. Why not me?

This is my latest art journal page. This journal is almost full. Three more pages and I'm done with it. Yikes! Whatever will I do next? Well, I guess I'll just have to use one of my many other journals patiently waiting on my bookshelf in my bedroom. Maybe go smaller? I don't know. I have another big spiral journal that I could use but do I want to work this size again? So many questions tonight!

Anyway, like most of my journal pages and art cards lately, this one has lots of layers. And I just noticed that I didn't use oil pastels on this one which is surprising. I guess I didn't want the "dirty" or "muddy" look it would bring to the page. This one almost looks clean to me. The drawings are supposed to represent my cat Diesel and myself. My auto-portrait is ok but Diesel is much darker in real life. She's a big furry purring ball of colours all mixed in together. I also did this page as a response to iHanna's prompt to use hearts in our journal. So here's to you Hanna!

This weekend I'll show you another small painting and something I received in the mail.

Happy Holidays

As promised, here is a photograph of the stripped present. It's one of the presents for my mother (her name is Angelle.)

The second photograph is of another present, wrapped in that dollar store handmade paper. The "R" was done with white acrylic paint sponged over a handmade stencil (I really love how it came out!) and highlighted with some silver glitter glue. The tag that adorns it is from Botanical Paperworks and is a planteable tag. Flower seeds are embedded in the paper so you can plant it and it will produce beautiful wild flowers. Fun, huh?

Following in Angie's footsteps, I decided that for 2008 (and maybe beyond... or as long as I can do it) I will NOT buy stuff. Check out the Story of Stuff. You might be surprised... So what does this mean? Well, it means I will not buy something unless I absolutely positively NEED it and that includes art supplies. So, no new clothes. No more scrapbooking papers and supplies. No more paints (I can make my own with powdered pigments I have left from art classes at University.) No CDs. No books.

This should be interesting. Also, with this personal challenge, I want to add another one: Get rid of useless stuff! I have some things laying around that haven't been used in a year, two years, five years... Some that have NEVER been used. Time to get rid of it. Books that I don't read anymore and don't plan on reading in the future will be donated or bookcrossed. CDs that I don't listen to will be copied onto my computer and then sold or donated to Village des Valeurs. Other things, like clothes, will be reused, re-purposed, transformed... I have way too much stuff and it's taking too much space. Also, I've read in a book that if your space is cluttered with useless stuff, it drains your energy. I believe it. By getting rid of stuff, I will be making room in my life for other things (like love and friendship.) It's a big challenge but I feel ready to face it.

On that note, I hope everyone will be spending the next few days with loved ones, in peace, harmony, love and happiness. Merry Christmas and all that stuff!!!

Recycle wrapping

This year, I decided to use whatever I have on hand to wrap Christmas presents. On this photo is a gift, wrapped in red-dyed "handmade" paper bought at the dollar store more than a year ago. The ribbon and bow/flower are made out of strips of paper cut in a gift-idea junk mail pamphlet. I got the idea for the flower from Hanna a while back. This particular pamphlet produced two bow/flowers for two different gifts. I loved the results and so did the recipient (one was for a gift exchange at work and the other for CeeCee last Friday.)

The other presents I wrapped this week for my parents and my brother are all in recycled paper whether it be old wrapping paper or scrapbook paper. One gift is even in a box of cereal that I gessoed and then made red and green stripes with electrical tape! I love how it came out. I'll try to post a picture of it tomorrow.

Now... tomorrow is the last day of work before the holidays. Huge sighs of relief will be heard throughout the school tomorrow. As a treat for the kids, my colleague, Anik, and I are providing a special snack in the afternoon. The kids get to decorate their own Christmas cookie and then eat it. (Found kits at Costco that are great!) Even though it's not always easy working with them, they still deserve a little reward.

Last weekend, I got Diesel to sit still long enough with my Christmas hat on to take this picture. Isn't she cute???