Ideas from Pinterest: Family Calendar

I know I'm not the only one who loves Pinterest.  For me, it's a fun way to organize all the ideas I see on the Internet.  I'm a visual person, and being able to see a quick picture of what I am looking for works better for me than reading a list of web bookmarks. 

It's easy to get sucked into browsing all the lovely items people pin, so I have made a goal of at least attempting to create/do something inspired by Pinterest as least once a month (it legitimizes all that browsing, right?).

So, I decided to get organized using ideas from Pinterest.  Part of this was to meet my goal, and part of it was to prepare for the new school year.  I figure if I can be a little bit more organized, I might be able to reduce the stress of juggling teaching with home life and my need to create.

Here is a project I worked on.  I took an idea from Olive and Love that uses an old frame with glass and paint chip samples to create a dry erase calendar.


 It looks great, right?  And organized.

I put my own spin on it, deciding not to use paint chips, but instead created a watercolor wash on paper that I then cut up.  I also decided to raise the paper by using foam tape on the back to achieve more of a 3-D look.  I also made the background by cutting up pages from a book and collaging them onto cardboard.  Since I had all the materials lying around, including an old frame, it didn't cost me a thing.  So here is my version:

Doing More with Less

Art supplies are expensive. I shudder to think how much I have spent over the years, especially since I have so many artistic interests and they all require their own set of tools and media. To make matters worse, new tools and gadgets keep coming out that are oh-so-tempting. You can never have enough art paper. Really. Ok, maybe you can, especially if you are like me and fall in love with those beautiful, fluttering treasures and can’t stand to “ruin” them by, gasp, actually using them. (I know, I’m working on that.)

This causes two issues: 1. Supplies are expensive and my budget doesn’t leave much wiggle room for extras and 2. Some of those supplies become too precious to use, especially if they are both gorgeous and expensive.

Both those issues interfere with my goal to make more art. My solution is this: to repurpose items that would otherwise be recycled or thrown away. I know, this is nothing new, and plenty of other people have come to this realization as well. But for me, it’s progress.

My favorite repurposed item is the cereal box. It makes an excellent substrate for a variety of projects, from bookmaking to mixed media collages. It is also a great art supply for kids. Mine run through paper so quickly (often making just a few marks before deciding they need another piece of paper), that an alternate source for things to draw, paint and collage on is a relief. Plus, I’m not ruining a precious material, as my household goes through an inordinate number of cereal boxes that would otherwise be recycled. The downside is it’s not archival, but since much of what I’m doing right now is practice and experimentation, this isn’t such a huge issue to me.

So do you have a favorite repurposed material you use in your art?

Weekend Family Art Time

One successful way I’ve found to slip in time for art is to make a weekend morning of family art time. My husband and I take turns getting up with the kids on the weekend since they both seem to have this unnatural urge to get up early (don’t worry, I’m storing this away for when they are teenagers and want to sleep until noon). Having them work on art projects serves two purposes—it usually gives me time to do some simple art along with them, and it keeps them quiet. I find that simple drawing projects or clay/play dough projects work best since cleanup is easiest and supervision isn’t as intensive. My oldest child especially loves that I make art along with him, providing some always welcome Mommy-time.

Finding the Motivation

So after reading Shona Cole’s book The Artistic Mother, I totally felt energized to do daily art. In theory it seems so simple, to break projects down into smaller pieces, prioritize your life, etc. Reality never seems to want to follow the rules. As I was trying to work on a couple of pieces this morning while my children played, I kept on having to interrupt what I was doing, and I became really frustrated. And so I realized this about myself; I often procrastinate from doing art, even in small chunks, because once I focus on something it really bothers me if I have to stop before the process is done. As a result, I find it hard to even start because I want to avoid that kind of negativity. Anyone else in the same boat?

Rather than give up, though, I’ve decided that now that I realize this about myself, I can work on changing that feeling—learning to be more patient with myself and others. It’s hard work.

Here is what I was working on: faces for some whimsical people collages. I painted the flesh color yesterday in acrylics. Today I was using a combination of water soluble oil pastels and watered down acrylic gesso to add some interest. It’s been an unnaturally wet and cold winter here in the NW (even by our standards) and it still doesn’t quite feel like spring. To combat that, I’ve been focusing on using a lot of bright colors and cheery themes.

New Elf Doll

So I used a basic Waldorf doll pattern and adapted it to make this elf for my son for Christmas. The fabric is an upcycled t-shirt belonging to my husband. It is stuffed with wool except for the ears which are made with cotton quilt batting. The clothing is made from felt and the scarf is knit from a soft wool blend. The hair is mostly wool yarn with some wool roving thrown in for texture.