Ada Gibbs Mixed Media Art

Ada Gibbs (Mixed Media) by Kelly E. Lee

I enjoy creating art pieces with a variety of random items. As an avid genealogist, I came across this relative of mine, she is the sister of my direct ancestor, Nellie Lee (nee Gibbs). Ada Gibbs was from Switzerland County, Indiana, daughter of James Gibbs - General Store Owner. A few of Ada's belongings made their way to me (I don't believe she had any descendants), and I felt some sort of connection to her things. There were many many photographs of Ada in her younger years, and probably more than any single relative I have in my family history collection. I also have many letters and postcards that she wrote. I especially loved the picture I used in the art piece. It is two women (Ada and her sister-in-law) just being silly for the camera. One particular item of hers was this red travel/luggage tag, dated 1909. It says "Ada Gibbs Switzerland Co, Ind." Due to her father's success, Ada was able to travel around as a young woman visiting relatives and site-seeing. She was born in 1884, so much of her adventuring occurred in the early 1900's.

Plain Shelves Transformed

Painted shelf for Spices

Painted shelf for teas and beverages

These are two shelves I purchased from thrift stores and painted them. The spice rack shelf came with a wood stain, so I painted it a sage green, then I added a metallic green paint over the top. The metallic paints I have are translucent, so it provides a nice affect. Then I used some stamps and craft paint to give it a Moroccan look. I am drawn to Moroccan style, as well as, Indian, Turkish, and Bohemian, primarily because these styles incorporate a lot of color and fabrics with many textures, embroidery, and patterns.

An Old Metal Desk, a Thrifted Skirt, and a Can of Spray Paint

I wanted a new desk to house the family computer, and since it sits in our dining room, I needed something that didn't have much depth, but could be quite wide. I also wanted to be able to stash the computer and the printer underneath. During the peak of rummage sale season, I was on the lookout for just such a desk. At a rummage sale I happened upon a old cream colored metal desk that seemed exactly the size that I wanted and the price was under $20. To me, even it's unsightly outdated appearance was a favorable factor. This was practically an invitation for me to pervert it's original bland design into a colorful artistic expression. Yay! Once I had the desk home, I found some bright blue high gloss spray paint. I think when re-painting metal items that high gloss looks the best. The color is a deep royal blue with a hint of purple. I used two cans of spray paint, but I really needed three cans. Shhh! Don't tell, I skimped on the underside of the desk and the back.

Once the desk was dry and in place, I needed to add a fabric curtain to hide my electronics, especially those pesky cables! The curtain was a rummage sale bargain skirt that I bought for the fabric. I don't remember what I paid, but I never pay more than $2 for any rummage sale clothing - as a rule. To secure the curtain, I used one of my favorite items - the tension rod. So useful, adjustable, and when you want to remove it, no marks or hardware to cover up and remove! Easy peasy.  If they made a t-shirt that said, "I love tension rods" I would totally wear it. This was also a no-sew curtain, since I just cut the skirt on the seam and folded the fabric over the tension rod with safety pins. You will notice that I left the top of the desk alone. Painting over veneer almost never turns out, even with the advancement of paints today, it will flake off and look junky (I said that like it was a bad thing!) within a short time. This desk veneer was in good shape, and if the wood grain and stain don't look too outdated, they are one of the most durable surfaces. There are multi-step processes to painting over veneer, but I don't see the advantage to altering the surface in most situations. If I didn't like the veneer, then I would just buy another inexpensive piece without the veneer. Score!

Updated Storage: Repurposed Library Catalog Boxes

Before

Antique library catalogs always conjure up a bit of nostalgia for me. On a thrift store shopping excursion I came across two sets of metal library catalog boxes, each with two drawers built in. They were $3 a piece! The picture on the right shows a box that looks similar to mine before they had their makeover and transformation.

To add color, I painted them with red high gloss spray paint. I prefer to put any item I am spray-painting inside a cardboard box out in my yard. This provides ventilation, yet helps to minimize paint waste as it is less likely for the paint particles to be blown away in the wind. I added some colorful scrapbooking paper in the metal label slots.

The drawer fronts were hand painted with some light blue craft paint I had on hand. I thought the metal hardware looked good as it came, and so I left that alone.

These library catalog boxes are now used for pens, markers, and other craft supplies. What else, right?

Although it is difficult to see, there were small holes in the corners on top of one of the boxes. Not sure what the purpose of these holes were for...but I added decorative thumbtacks to cover up the holes, which looks really cute. I just used a small amount of white craft glue to keep them in place. I am so pleased with this latest craft storage solution. This was a real score!

Upcycled Ottoman Dog Bed

I made this footstool and dog bed combo from a large cardboard tube and a thrifted tapestry blazer jacket (size XL). I have small dogs and so this dog bed is perfect as a space saving dual purpose creation.

This is Sally Brown, my Chihuahua puppy enjoying her new bed.

I acquired a large cardboard tube (originally used for wire at a manufacturing facility and headed for the garbage) that was used as the base of the ottoman. I cut out the hole for the dog bed portion with my Dremel tool with the saw blade attachment. I traced around the cardboard tube and used that as the template for the top and bottom of the cardboard tube, using some 1/4 foam poster board and then duct-taped the bottom on only.  At this point it was time to cover the base with a piece of fabric that coordinates with your thrifted tapestry jacket.

Then it was time to prepare the cushioned Ottoman top. With your 1/4 inch foam poster board template you cut earlier, adding cotton stuffing filler and another piece of your coordinating fabric (This is not your thrifted tapestry jacket). Then attach the fabric to the underside of the circle poster board template. I used duct tape!

With your thrifted tapestry jacket cut a large section about 4 inches longer than the height of the cardboard tube. Using the already hemmed bottom of the jacket, I wrapped the jacket fabric around the cardboard tube, folding in the natural opening of the jacket around the doggy access hole. I tucked in the raw top edge of the fabric into the top of the cardboard tube, with the duct tape. Using the collar of the jacket as a small valance in the front. 

NOTE: I think it would be better to add upholstery nails around the edge of the top of the ottoman, but I didn't do this.

 Once this is finished it is time to attach the top of the ottoman to the base. Again, I used duct tape to adhere the top, via the doggy access hole, to the base of the ottoman.  Feel free to add other embellishments such as ribbon and tassels, depending on your personal style preferences.  Here is the finished ottoman dog bed!

Mixed-Media Art

I am fascinated with the idea of taking junk and making it into something beautiful. It's even better if it is functional and beautiful, but...not in this case -- unless you consider 'looking pretty' to be a function.

I have a tendency to pick up blocks of finished wood at rummage sales and thrift stores with the intention of adding some creativity to it later. Some were bread boards, some were plaques, you get the idea...

This particular wooden block was from my grandfather. He fancied himself a photographer and took hundreds, if not thousands of pictures during his life. He had enlarged this photograph and attached it to the board and then covered with some kind of sealer or varnish. It looked like it came right out of the 70's. This was the base for this art project. I considered removing his photograph, but decided to keep it as an added dimension to the piece. I began by gluing elements to the middle of the block and worked my way outward. For the adhesive, I used the tacky craft glue, which dried clear.

Mixed Media Art, "Bubble up" by Kelly E. Lee

Truth be told, I am captivated by glues and tapes, and the process of finding the right one for a project. If you have crafting ambitions, learning about adhesives is essential to making the project work correctly. After gluing various trinkets and treasures onto the piece, I let it dry on a flat, level surface for about three days. Probably 24 hours would be sufficient, but I put on a lot of glue, trying to emulate a cheap version of resin crafting. I was rather pleased with the results. I ended up using buttons, broken clear glass, metal rings, and a necklace chain. Of course, I added blue glitter in with the glue. What's a project without a little glitter?

Painting Flowers with Acrylic

In 2005 I was watching an HGTV show on creating your own original artwork. One project looked so easy that I thought I would try it out. I bought a couple of canvases, craft paints, and brushes from Hobby Lobby for only a few dollars - and I was off and running. What happened next was unexpected. I loved what it felt like to put paint on canvas. Just one year later, I had produced 35 abstract paintings. Although some of them weren't masterpieces, each one was a journey and a lesson to learning a new technique.

Painting by Karrie Evenson

Recently I picked up the brush again after taking a long break from painting. I felt ready to expand my skill set create a different kind of painting than I had in the past. After perusing the internet and YouTube for painting tutorials, I found one in particular that I wanted to follow. The video was from a public television station that aired a show called "Karrie-on-Canvas," and was now posted on YouTube. This episode focused on painting flowers in a vase with acrylic paints.

I liked the style of the artist, so I decided to give it a shot.

Yellow Flowers by Kelly E. Lee

On a basic level I followed her steps. I drew the basic shape of the bouquet, the vase and the table in pencil. Then began filling in the shapes, working on creating depth and shadow as I went along. I also changed the colors that were used, and just used colors that I like and enjoy. 

During this process I found many other artists that had awesome videos on painting. One in particular artist that I would recommend is Tim Gagnon and Gagnon-Studio. He is an amazing artist who generously shares his insights and techniques. Here is the link to one of my favorite YouTube videos of the artist in action.