Canvas to the Imagination

Leading up to Christmas I decided to go on a little bender of card making. I’ve had a pack of blank white cards for years just sitting in my supplies waiting to be made into something lovely. I went at a few of them with metallic gel pens and made the abstract series of cards pictured here.

I gave most of them away to friends for Christmas, but these are like small sketches of larger pieces I would like to do when I get a moment.

These are two small drawings recently created on cards for friends. I had the impulse to make instead of buy cards, and though my original intention was to cut a design I settled upon drawing.

I will make a few more and give them out as Christmas cards. Maybe you will be one of the lucky recipients.

I don’t know why, but I’ve been intimidated about tackling even the simplest DIY project around the house, and there are a few I’ve been contemplating for YEARS. Two weekends ago I decided to finally go for it, and started working on redoing two small projects, a wooden shelf in the bathroom, and a wooden shoeshine box. I didn’t have a clear idea for either of them, but I wanted each to be fun and colourful.

The shelf started out as an ugly dark green, and the shoeshine box started out as a beaten up object covered in greasy black polish. Neither were in great shape so I didn’t want to spend much money on the redo. I chose acrylic paint rather than latex to save money, and it seems to have worked out just fine.

I regret not taking “before” photos of these two objects, but at the time I didn’t really care about sharing a before and after comparison. I painted many coats of white paint on each, and then had to decide what to do. I made up the designs as I went, using green painters tape to create the lines. There was a bit of clean up after I removed all of the tape, in areas where the paint snuck under.

Both pieces reside in our bathroom as organizers, and they are a welcome splash of colour to the decor. Now I’m considering my next DIY upcycling project…