Decorating with Everything

I love to decorate and sometimes I find myself expressing myself in decorating more than per say art work. I so want to draw and paint, but I want to change the house for the seasons. The thing I am stuck on is the decision of painting my walls and what colors. I have one color; a light aqua blue for my hall way, but beats me for the kitchen and living room. Both rooms I started to paint and left because I didn't like the colors. I am always changing things and love shabby chic, folk art grunge, french country and beach. So I am basically writing down the colors that go with those and see what colors are in common:
Shabby Folk Art French Beach
white burgundy/red white white
cream tan/cream cream/tan cream
pink pink
aqua aqua aqua
minty green forest green brighter green minty green
pastel violet
black yellows
peach


I see white, aqua, a type of green, peachy pink.
Oh boy, choices. My kids are sick of white and yes it does get dirty,but there is something so cleansing about it. I find myself mixing and then find I am ecclectic.

Well, I figured I would show you some of the projects I worked on the last couple of months; ATC's using burlap, jewels, antique photos, crystals, chicken wire, antique furniture, a side to a crib for the bathroom, decorating candles for the bathroom, silver (small antique pieces).

Always looking for a small something that is inexpensive and recycable to use to decorate and then way, when you want to make changes, you have not spent alot to change. I always find myself packing stuff in boxes, and then going back a few months and pulling it out again, using it again in a new way and picking up a few new things. I have about 37 rubbermaid containers in the barn. I have gone through an dgone through my stuff, I have had about ten yard sales with my church and still have stuff. Lately I have been painting my furniture going from black to white. Re-doing my mantles in my house almost every three months to change with seasons and holidays.

I always wanted fireplaces in my house and found one on freecycle and one on the side of the road. Asking my husband and a friend to lift the fireplace and place in our van, they were willing. They are like large shelves with little alcoves below to decorate too. Debating whether to decoupage the inside of the fireplace in my living room. It was brick and a natural wood. I of course painting it white. I have already decoupaged my bread box that had a rooster on it and I debated. It now wears french papers. Love it.

Willowing-Free Class

Working on my second assignmnt, which Tam from Willowing gave us an extra week.
I found my board book to work out of. I sanded down the pages. Applied french papers and some currogated card board to the cover of the board book to alter it. I used sparkle Modge Podge on top. The book is revealing a bit of my when I was a child. I sanded and gessoed the next set of pages. I love this board book. It has about eight tabs, is a bit larger than a journal, and the pages are wonderfully sturdy. Now I have to find a couple pictures of me to make transfers on the new gessoed surfaces. I may sand again just to be abit smoother.

Collage-Use of Papers and Ephemera

I apologize for some of these collages being sideways.

Cloth Paper and Collage

My girlfriend Yolana are in the process of sending each other cloth paper that we made.

Yolana's paper was so different than mine. She used red white and blue and I used greens, yellows and whites.

Now what we are to do:

1. I cut her piece in half
2. I began to create two collages with various papers
3. When I am done, I will keep one and send her the other

RESULTS: We will both have a piece of each others cloth paper which is cool
We both will have worked on each others papers coming up with various
ideas
Then we will be swapping again, receiving our original paper with the
others art work on it.

The below picture is Yolana's paper with my working on top. I have gessoed, and have cut and tore papers to apply on top.

The cloth paper I created was much more textured than Yolana's. I added dried flowers into the surface with more glue added. My base cloth paper was canvas.
Yolana used cotton plaid fabric and papers with type.

I wanted to implement her type into my finished collage collecting my own type papers and applying with gel medium and surrounding texture with gesso.

FREEBIE VINTAGE PAPERS

Be the tenth person to comment something about art on my blog and you will win a selection of vintage papers/bible,french,german,reader (Dick and Jane), children's book... all wrapped up in a nice package!