Art: Mixed Media Art Experiments

Over the summer I decided it was time to open my very own Etsy shop. I was apprehensive at first, a lot of my artwork is large and not shipping friendly. Plus it’s a very competitive market, and I had no idea what percentage Etsy would take from my sales.

Despite these considerations I went ahead, and finally did it. I put up my large artwork first, and slowly began adding more realistic items such as my jewelry display and stationary. I made my very first sale in Novemeber, and have made a few more since. It feels great to see that e-mail from Etsy waiting in my inbox, “Congratulations on your sale!”.

If you are considering opening a shop, but have some reservations, just do it! I’m not making thousands of dollars at the moment, but I am making a little extra money. And, as I found after my first sale, Etsy doesn’t take a large portion of your sale. It cost me $0.20 to post my product, and they took $1.50 from a $45 sale, which is nothing compared to boutiques and museums.

Although I am pleased with my recent jewelry and headband holder sales I am missing making art. I decided it was time to put up more realistic sized artwork I could actually ship across the United States, or to other countries; which brings me to today’s post, my recent mixed media spree.

Awhile ago I had my wonderful husband make me five wooden canvases, the plan was to play with encaustic wax the following weekend, and pump out a few paintings. Unfortunately work and life in general got in the way, and my wood canvases sat in the corner for months. I finally found spare time, and some encaustic themed Christmas presents motivated me to get to work.

I had three main goals in creating these mixed media pieces: 1. Use encaustic wax on the entire piece, 2: Use unusual materials like forks, spoons, leaves, and paper, and 3. Create pieces I could sell for under $100 on Etsy. I did list the ginkgo leaf piece for $125, but other than that I felt it was a successful mixed media art experiment. I love how I can apply my visual journaling skills to a piece that can hang on the wall.

I decided to hang them in my house until they sell, which will also be a good motivation tool. Whenever a piece sells I will have to produce another piece to fill the empty space.

The following are

pictures of the individual pieces:

“EAT!”

This piece is made by layering strips of fabric, encaustic wax, letters and images cut from magazines, lace, ribbon, a fork, and a spoon.

“Fork and Spoon”

For this piece I wanted maintain the texture and pattern in the fabric, so I layered clear encaustic on top of the strips of fabric. I then took dried leaves, and  placed them on top, along with a section of the pattern cut out. I then put another layer of encaustic and added the fork and spoon.

“Ginkgo Leaves”

This piece was a long time in the making. It began with a visit from my Mom. She loved the bright yellow leaves falling from our ginkgo tree, and she began collecting them to take home and use in her artwork. Inspiration struck and I also began collecting leaves, and pressed them between books for a couple of months to help flatten them. For this piece I layered strips of neutral fabric in the background and glued the ginkgo leaves on top to create the circular pattern. I then put a layer of clear encaustic wax on top.

“Lock and Key”

This piece might be my favorite of the series, I love the composition and color. To create this piece I layered burlap with ripped up maps. I then added layers of clear, naples yellow, and white encaustic wax. Once everything cooled down I added an image transfer of a key and glued down the antique door handle mount.

“Eat, Drink, and Be Merry”

To create this piece I ripped up and glued down old maps, colored stripes, and words cut out of magazines. I then added layers of green, yellow, and brown encaustic wax and the fork and spoon.

If you love these pieces and want more information on them check them out at my Etsy shop here!

I hope you enjoyed today’s post! If you have questions or comments please e-mail me or comment below! As always please like, tweet, subscribe, etc. if you feel compelled! Thanks for stopping by!

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Art: Mixed Media Art Experiments

Guest Post: Visual Journal Page by Kalin

Mrs. Panetta was one of the few people that made a big impact during my high school years. She helped me to improve my skills, teach me new techniques, give me the encouragement that I needed, and be a person I could talk to. Not only was she a teacher, but a friend. I can’t tell you how many days, hours, minutes that I spent talking to her about art… and college.

When I made this page I was a junior in high school. I was trying to figure out what I wanted to do and where I wanted to go. She introduced me to UGA’s art school and answered a very wide range of questions. I don’t think there was a question left to ask by the end. And because God’s plan is different than my own, I am now a freshman at GCSU and the art school is much smaller than the one you would find at UGA. But I still feel prepared, thanks to her, as I take these art classes and figure out exactly what I’m going to do with this degree.

When I was 16 I wasn’t ready for college. But after many talks I started to get more and more excited about the thought of going away for school and pursuing a degree in art. Mrs. Panetta was the spark. I wasn’t looking forward to college until after we spent so much time talking. The thank you note says just that.

Supplies & How To

For the visual journal page I used: Internet images, masking tape, packaging tape, a magazine page, book pages, small envelope, and some scrap paper. I found the yellow and orange image you see repeated three times while looking for “sparks” or “flames” or something similar on the Internet. The water candle was found on the Internet too. The 3 “spark” images are tape transfers (overlapping strips of tape on an image and washing away the paper so that the ink is left. Laser printers work great!). The blue pieces you see are from a magazine page I ripped up.  The note is written on scrap paper I found in our art room.

I started by making the outline of blue magazine pieces in the top left corner then filled in that space with ripped up book pages. I also glued down the ripped book pages in the top right and bottom right corners. Then I took my three tape transfers and staggered them to make the placement interesting to the eye of the viewer. After careful consideration I placed the water candle in the bottom left corner and the note in the corner diagonal from it. For “You are the spark that started the flame” I did a tape transfer of the words, and placed that on the masking tape. I glued the blue magazine pieces down to make a background for the masking tape and words and to make them stand out more on the page. For the note, I took paper that matched my color scheme and cut one piece smaller than the other so that there would be a small border for it. I wrote the thank you note with a regular ink pen.

Continue to think outside of the box and happy visual journaling!

-Kalin

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Guest Post: Visual Journal Page by Kalin

Visual Journal Page 22: Happy Accidents

Accidents are an inevitable part of everyone’s life. Whether the accident involves cars, glasses of milk, or mysterious moving tables, they are always waiting just around the corner. In my twenty-six years of life I have witnessed quite a few accidents and I have noticed some people seem to find accidents more easily than others, and I fit in the more easily than others category.

I hate to admit it, but I am clumsy. Grace is not one of my descriptors, and I blame it on my impatience. I like to get things done quickly, and to do this I have to ignore small details, such as table corners, and each and every step in a set of stairs. In addition to my already clumsy nature, I also bruise very easily, which isn’t a winning combination. I am constantly riddled with bruises, bumps, and scraps, I worry people think I am anemic or being abused.

Walking can sometimes be a task, I trip over slightly uneven pavement, cracks, and roots. I wish my feet and my eyes would work better together. My only hope is that some innocent bystander gets a chuckle out of my trips, stumbles, and falls. I can imagine them walking behind me, taking in the show of my flailing arms, and my quick crowd assessment afterwards to see if there were any witnesses. I know I have had my fair share of chuckles on other people’s part, I tell myself I am simply returning the favor.

I warn my students from the beginning. If they fall in class, I will laugh first, and then ask if they are okay. They know what they are getting themselves into when they attend my class.

In addition to the physical damage I unintentionally cause myself, my impatience and clumsiness also affects my art and projects in general. I want to get things done, and I want them done now. This means in my haste I am continuously dropping paintbrushes, screws, hammers, tape, glue, or whatever I am currently using. This also means my art bag is loaded with random pens, scraps of paper, and other miscellaneous junk, which I randomly shove in with plans to use it later.

Which brings me to the story of this page, the bleeding tissue paper incident.

I was trying to get everything packed up quickly. It was a Friday, and I was wasting little time getting out the door and on the road home. I had grand plans of great production over the weekend, I knew many journal pages would be created. In addition to my planner, visual journal, magazines, scissors, water bottle, glue,  and book pages, I also added a large stack of bleeding tissue paper. I had visions of beautiful pages being formed from the tissue paper I carefully selected for my weekend project.

Combining the water bottle and tissue paper is where I went wrong. Really, the not tightly screwed on lid of the water bottle is where I went wrong, but my impatience doesn’t allow for those details.

As I gathered my things and headed inside I realized my art bag had a large, damp area on the bottom. I quickly set my things down, and began to inspect the damage. To my relief my journal was water free, but as I moved closer to the bottom of the bag, I realized my beautiful tissue paper was ruined. The water created a large splatter right in the center, and the colors of the layers melted together, and into the fabric of my bag. My bag was a mess, my visual journal plans were done, my bleeding tissue page would not be complete this weekend.

Or so I thought.

I carefully laid the sheets out to dry, thinking I could salvage the edges, if nothing else. I later returned to them, and took a closer look. They were actually beautiful. Interesting shades of gray with hints of the former color swirled in the center of the blues, pinks, and purples. Without knowing what I would do with them I carefully cut out each water stain. As I layered the accidental works of art together inspiration began rolling in.

From time to time when I bump my knee, trip over an invisible step, or accidentally spill even more paint, I have to remind myself, you never know what may come from even the worst accidents.

SUPPLIES

• Visual Journal
• Rubber cement
• Scissors
• Bleeding tissue paper
• Water
• Masking tape
• Sharpie

HOW TO

This page was an accidental work of art. I took an unfortunate accident, which caused quite a mess, and turned it into a visual journal page. If I were to recreate it I would stack a few layers of different colored tissue paper, pour water on top, and allow them to dry. By doing this you are causing the colors from the various layers to bleed into each other and create a tie dye look. Since this accident I have used this technique many times. I love the way the colors come together, and I love the semi-transparency of tissue paper when it is glued on top of words.

Once I had my tissue paper shapes cut out, I played with the layout. I decided the shapes weren’t enough, I wanted something else in the page. In the past I had used strips of masking tape to highlight areas, and decided it would work well in this page. It was a neutral color, and wouldn’t compete with the already colorful shapes scattered around the page. I also liked the contrast of the organic blobs with the geometric lines the tape created.

I switched between gluing tissue paper, and laying down the tape, until they were intertwined and overlapping. Once I was satisfied with the layout I added the words with sharpie.

CHALLENGE

Have your own happy accident and experiment with layering bleeding tissue paper and adding water. Try to return to your art class days and consider the color wheel. Complimentary colors will create browns and grays (blue/orange, red/green, purple/yellow) while primary colors will create secondary colors and nice blends (red/yellow=orange, blue/red=purple, yellow/blue=green). I also like to mix tertiary colors, or colors next to each other on the color wheel (yellow/green, red/orange, blue/green, blue/purple, etc.). Have fun and enjoy some color theory!

Visual Journal Page 22: Happy Accidents

VIsual Journal Page 21: Field Trips and Flying Cats

The High Museum of Art is an Atlanta staple for me. As a child it was a place I frequented with my family, which helped mold my artistic taste and encourage my artistic pursuits and obsessions. As this museum has watched me develop from a child into an adult, I too have watched it through it’s growing pains from a single building, it’s slow stretch across a plaza, an into a space twice a large, to bring us even more amazing artwork to feed our souls.

I discovered new favorites with every exhibit and even hidden treasures within images I had seen countless times. The High Museum is at least an annual visit for me, and I look forward to what I will find next every time I go.

As an art teacher I long to take my students into the city, up the winding ramp of the museum, to share actual, in front of their faces, physical works of art. Unfortunately, with a country in recession, these “frivolous extras” are no longer viewed as needed, and I am forced to come up with alternatives to museum visits. Despite this, my fellow art teacher, Morgan, and I were determined to get a group of students to a museum at some point that year.

Our initial goal was to take our advanced art classes on a museum visit before the end of the first semester. After looking into bus booking, tracking down substitutes, and administrative approval, we quickly discovered there wasn’t enough time to pull it together. Plan B was to find a way to get our art club together an upcoming weekend, which meant giving up a Saturday to chaperone students at a museum, but it was something we felt the students needed.

Our weekly art club meeting rolled around, and we excitedly presented our grand plan: We would all meet at the High Museum of Art on this particular Saturday to enjoy the surrealist creations of Salvador Dali. We were going to get these kids out of their small town bubble, into the big city, and fill their souls with art. Going into our grand presentation we were worried about the number of students we would have, how we would handle them all between the two of us, what kind of crowds we would be dealing with on a Saturday in downtown Atlanta, but it turned out we didn’t have much to worry about.

We didn’t really consider the logistics of how the students would get there. We naively assumed their parents would be more than happy and willing to drive the kids to a day of learning, to help their children expand their knowledge and cultural understanding of the world. But, many parents in our district work weekends, only have one car, have multiple children, and didn’t have the time or means to transport their child to the big city.

Our grand plan museum visit turned into a small gathering of Morgan and I, plus six seniors and one junior. As much as I wanted to have more students attend, I was okay with the small group. The kids who were truly passionate about art found their way there and we enjoyed good discussions and amazing sculpture and paintings. Because it was such a small crew, once we we were about to bust at the seams from the incredible images, we ate lunch together in Little Five Points before parting ways.

I may have sacrificed a much needed Saturday, and break from teaching, but I was able to see another side of my students, I got to see my kids outside of their school bubble, in the real world. I have to say, what I saw and heard was impressive. They were as touched by the range images, from flying cats, to deeply religious paintings, as I was. The depth of their comparisons and discussions truly surprised me. My audio tour headphones ended up around my neck, barely listened to, as I roamed through the rooms, eavesdropping, catching sentences here, and words there, my students’ impressions, which were far more interesting than a prerecorded history lesson.

Later that year Morgan and I did get the chance to take our classes to the Georgia Museum of Art, over fifty high school students flooded the halls of Lamar Dodd and the museum. But nothing beats my Saturday, with my small bunch of kids, spending a day with Dali.

SUPPLIES

• Visual journal
• Rubber cement
• Scissors
• Magazine images
• India ink
• Paintbrush
• Laser printed image
• Packaging tape
• Water
• Museum tour sticker
• Museum brochure

HOW TO

For this visual journal page I was determined to create my own surrealist image, to reference our day spent inside a surrealist’s mind. Because the actual High Museum building is such an iconic and nostalgic image for me, I made sure to include it in the page, and that was where I started. I began by lightly drawing the museum in the center of the page. Once it was drawn out, I took India ink and painted in the lines, and filled in the windows and shadows. My mom gave me a tip awhile ago, that I constantly rely on when drawing and painting buildings, if you use a ruler to make one line straight, you have to use a ruler for the entire thing. But, if all the lines are slightly off, they will come together and work as a whole. I rarely use a ruler when drawing or painting.

Once the museum building was set I moved on to my sky. I ripped up pieces of blue from magazines and glued them down. I also took pieces of yellows and oranges, and did tape transfers of them (to read how to create the semi-transparent look of a tape transfer go here) and layered them over and in between the blue strips.

From there I moved the the middle and foreground. I knew I wanted to include and image of Dali, and his iconic mustache, and I found the perfect image in one of the High Museum brochures. I cut it out and glued it down. I also wanted to include images from his artwork, and I proceeded to print image after image, do a few more tape transfers, and play around with the placement until I was satisfied. Because there were so many different images, it took awhile for me to get everything to work together. Remember, it’s better to lay everything out first, and then start gluing down to avoid ending up with an unsuccessful collage you can no longer move around.

Once everything was set I realized I didn’t have space for our group picture, which I planned on including. Everywhere I place it, it became overwhelmed by it’s surroundings. Finally, as a last resort I placed it on top of the museum building, thinking to myself, this will never work, it makes no sense, this is a ridiculous spot. But, to my surprise it was perfect. Not only did the curve of the building fit with the curve of our stance, but it tied into the surrealist image I created from the surrealist images I saw that day. As soon as I laid it down, I knew my page was complete.

CHALLENGE

Create a page about your last museum visit, even if it was ten years ago. If you have never been to an art museum, go. Consider this a double challenge to get yourself in front of actual works of art, and reflect on it in your journal. If you have absolutely no way to get to a museum, do some research, find a good online museum that peaks your interest, and explore. Find new favorites and expand your artistic knowledge!

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VIsual Journal Page 21: Field Trips and Flying Cats

Visual Journal Page 19: When the Winter Winds are Blowing

A fireplace was something required in the house Nick and I bought. I was willing to compromise on the front porch, kitchen size, and number of bathrooms… but the fireplace was a must. Fires soothe and warm me. They provide endless entertainment as I gaze into the dancing flames. Winter isn’t complete without a warm hearth battling the chilled air. I held out on a house until we found a house with one in it. My winter would be complete this year.

It’s funny how certain things stick with you as you grow from child to adult. Certain things find ways of hanging on, reminding you they were included in your childhood memories, and should be included in the formation of your adult memories. It’s strange how they appear, as if from no where, and force their way into new traditions.

The first Christmas Nick and I spent together I sat down one afternoon and began wrapping his gifts. I carefully folded each edge, creased the paper just right, attached the bow, and stuck the tag underneath. I grabbed my pen and began filling out tag after tag, on the one to many gifts Nick got that year. Halfway through my task I had to pause, rather than writing To: Nick, From: Whitney, I was writing things like To: My Hub-a-Dub, From: Your Wifey or To: My Snookums, From: Your Snickers… ridiculous… What was I doing? Where were these names coming from? We really aren’t a pet name couple… what was happening?

It suddenly dawned on me. Memory after memory of Christmas after Christmas revealed itself. My parents, with their piles of gifts, reading off the most ridiculous names they could come up with to put on their presents. Of all the Christmas traditions I could’ve repeated, this is the one that stuck, wouldn’t let go, and inadvertently pushed itself straight through my arm, into my hand, and out my pen. Despite my initial shock, I have given in, it felt right, and this is year number three of ridiculous Christmas tag names.

Like Christmas pet names, fires have stuck with me. Every winter season my Dad would build us real, no gas, actual wood burning fires. He would send us, bundled up, out in the cold to collect the bucket worth of kindling required for our fire entertainment. He would carefully shovel out yesterday’s ash, place the kindling, stack the wood, and stick newspapers beneath his creation. We would battle over who would get to light it, until we finally compromised to each light one side, and watched in anticipation as the three starter points moved towards the center, and converged on it’s meal.

It was tradition to have an all day fire on Christmas day. Dad got it started before we even woke up in the morning, and it lasted until we went to bed that night. Tradition. Once the season was over, Christmas blues and opened presents were all that remained. But, the fires continued, with an added bonus, a branch of Christmas tree piled on top, to provide us with crackling, snapping, popping, excitement for a few minutes, before another piece of Christmas was gone until next year.

Nick has filled my fire Dad needs. He comes home at night, fills his arms with wood, carefully builds his pre-fire wood pile, although I don’t argue with who gets to light it, and he makes me warm. I lay in front of the fire, snuggling with my puppies, watching a movie, and reminisce about fires past. I watch the flames repeatedly lick the wood until it melts into ash. I love how the colors transition from blue, to red, orange, and then yellow. I love the tingling heat that hits my face as I slowly approach, until the heat pushes me back, I give in, find my spot just close enough, and enjoy the memories that swirl around with the heat and flames until they tickle my face and remind me why I love this tradition so much.

SUPPLIES

• Visual Journal
• Scissors
• Rubber Cement
• Hot glue gun
• Glue sticks
• Poster board
• Tissue paper
• White paper
• Book pages
• Water color
• Latex paint
• India ink
• Paint brush
• Gesso

HOW TO

This page is very complex, and I love it because it took time, it looks three-dimensional, and it looked amazing when I finished. I decided awhile before I create this page that I wanted to make a page about my love for fires. After sitting around one Saturday afternoon, procrastinating, I finally took out my book and began brainstorming. I was sitting on my sofa, staring at my fireplace, when I decided to recreate the room in my book. I would put the wall our TV is on, on the left side page, and the fireplace on the right side page. As soon as I had my idea, the details began to quickly fill my head. I decided I would challenge myself this time, and try to make the fireplace look three dimensional.

I began by ripping up old book pages and gluing them down in the book to create a background. I then sketched out my room with a pencil. The fireplace is set back from the wall on the left of it, so I made sure to make it look like that in the image, by paying attention to the perspective. Once I had it drawn out I started on the fireplace. I cut small rectangles out of poster board to create the bricks. I wanted it to be three-dimensional, and this gave it just enough thickness to do that. I made sure the bricks were the same size, and once I had a good stack, I began gluing them down. I spaced them slightly apart, and made sure to stagger them. I used hot glue to attach them to the book page. I wanted it to look exactly like my fireplace, so I turned the bricks vertical above the fireplace opening, to imitate the pattern. Once the bricks were all glued down I started on the mantle. Our mantle is relatively ornate, the wood staggers in and out, and has a nice linear pattern. Again, I wanted it to be perfect, so I cut a wide piece of poster board for the base, and slowly cut thinner and thinner strips, and stacked them on top of each other. Doing this imitated the building up look of our mantle.

Once all of the poster board was glued down for the fireplace, I dipped tissue paper in gesso and carefully placed it on top. I wanted everything to look like one piece, and by covering the rough edges and spaces, I was able to get that affect. Before the gessoed tissue paper dried, I carefully pushed it into the spaces between the poster board, in order to keep the detail showing. Once it dried I took water color and painted the bricks with a gray shade to imitate the look of my fireplace. I left the mantle the white color of the gesso.

Once the fireplace was complete I started working on the background. I drew and painted the candles, flowers, and paintings above the fireplace. Once they dried, I cut them out and set them aside. I also splattered watercolor on a separate sheet of paper, and cut it out, to create the flames of the fire. I drew the molding and floor, painted it in with watercolor, and outlined it with India ink. I decided in order to really make this look like our living room I should paint the walls in the book with the actual paint used to paint our actual walls. I watered it down slightly and painted latex paint in my book. Once it dried I began gluing down the paintings, candles, and fireplace flames.

To finish off the page I used India ink to write the words, using a small paint brush. My fireplace page took hours to create, but it was worth it in the end. I love flipping back to it and reminiscing about the work put into it and all of my fireplace memories.

CHALLENGE

Create a page about one of your family’s traditions. It can be holiday and season related or not. Consider everything from popcorn on movie night and pizza on Friday to going to the same beach every summer. Have fun!

I hope you enjoyed today’s post! Thanks for taking the time to read about on of my favorite traditions, I hope you will pick up an old book and give journaling a try! Help me spread the word about visual journals by tweeting, liking, digging, tumbling, stumbling, and everything in between. As always please comment and subscribe!

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Visual Journal Page 19: When the Winter Winds are Blowing

Craft Project: Fake Built in Bookcase

I love to read. It is one of my favorite past times to curl up with a good book, take a break from the real world, and escape into the sea of words held in the pages of my most recent reading adventure.

My reading obsession has broaden my world, without ever having to leave my house. But, it is has constricted my closet. My poor books, with nowhere to go, have ended up in boxes filling every closet in my house. I longed for a bookcase to display them, but our small house has little space for the book trophy case I require.

After two years of racking my brain for any available space to display my books, it finally hit me. The space behind our bedroom door at the top of the stairs was a dead space. A small nook, with nothing there. It was a small, narrow space, useless for most things, but perfect for a bookcase.

Nick and I have done A LOT of projects around our house, which has also caused our bank account to sag a bit. My need for a bookcase was trumped by our bank accounts need to withhold funds. However, I was impatient, and as usual I found a way to get it done right away. Rather than spend a lot of time and money constructing a bookcase from scratch I did some research and found two pre-fab bookcases from Target that fit perfectly. I loved the look of the two cases next to each other because it not only filled the space but it also looked more like a unique, custom built bookcase.

Below are the supplies and set-by-step instructions on how I completed this DIY, home improvement, craft project. All you need are a few basic tools, and basic knowledge on how to work them. Due to my impatience (in life and with this project) I decided I wanted to get this project done in one weekend, which also happened to be a weekend Nick was out of town. I am proud to say I did this 100% on my own, which shows how easy it was!

SUPPLIES

• Pre-fab bookcase


• Box cutter


• Paint scrapper


• Pry bar


• Hammer


• Scrap wood


• Nails


• Screws


• Dry wall mollies


• Screwdriver


• Circular Saw


• Caulk


• Paint


• Paint brush

HOW TO:

STEP 1: Remove the molding from the wall. I had never done this before and was afraid I would break the molding or punch a hole in the wall. I had to take a minute to allow my impatience to subside before I started my research, gathered my tools, and prepped before I jumped right in.

• First use a box cutter to slice the caulk between the molding and the wall.


• Then use a metal scrapper to wedge between the molding and the wall. Wiggle it slowly to loosen the board and the nails.


• Once you create a space between the molding and wall place a scrap piece of wood on the wall and a pry bar in the space. Slowly pry the molding off with the pry bar, making sure to put pressure on the scrap wood on the wall. This will disperse the weight and prevent the pry bar from punching a hole in the wall.


• Use a hammer to remove all of the nails.


• I used a great website to help me with the process, check it out here!

STEP 2: Pre-fab bookcase… While looking around for the perfect case I found that the cheapest places to find bookcases are Target, Walmart, and IKEA. If you are flexible on color and size the process won’t be too difficult. Since I had a very specific size space and wanted a white bookshelf, it took a few weeks plus an in store and online purchase to get what I needed.

• Put together your bookcase according to the directions that came with it.


• Place the bookcase in the area you want to install them.


• Make any adjustments necessary, make sure the bookcase is level.  (Living in a 1940′s home there are a lot of odd things in my house, including uneven walls. I had to place a scrap piece of wood under the front legs of the bookcase in order to push the bookcase against the wall.).


• Use a screwdriver to create holes through the bookcase and into the wall, to create a pilot hole for the dry wall mollies, and to make it easier to insert screws. When doing this always make sure the drill bit you use is slightly smaller than the screw you are using.


• Place dry wall mollies where they are needed and use screws to attach the bookshelves to the wall.

STEP 3: Reattaching the molding… I had to take my existing molding and re-cut it in order to piece it together on the front of the bookshelf.

• Using a circular saw make any adjustments necessary to piece the molding together on the front of your bookshelf. In order to create a clean look on the corners cut the molding at 45 degree angles.


• Attach the molding to the front of the bookcase and nail it with finishing nails.


• Spackle on top of the nails heads in order to make them blend in.


• Caulk the top edge of the molding to create a clean look.

STEP 4: Finishing…

• Spackle over any holes in the bookshelf. If you are 100% satisfied with the placement of the shelves, Spackle over the shelf adjustment holes in order to make it look like a custom built shelf.


• Paint the molding to cover up the Spackle, paint the shelf where it is necessary.


• Put your books on display!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Craft Project: Fake Built in Bookcase

Visual Journal Page 8: That was Going to be My Kitchen Table

It all started with a grill out. It was Fall, the weather was amazing, we were finally settled into our house, and the decorating was coming along, which meant it was time to host our first house party. Nick and I sat down and decided to have a rib cook off, the first annual rib off of hopefully many more to come. I couldn’t wait to host our first party, and it encouraged me to tie up a few loose ends, hanging up pictures, organizing rooms, and doing my first post-move-in deep clean of the house. It was a whirlwind the day of the rib off, I was preparing for the multiple rib entries that were heading our way, the a slew of people who were coming, and I was frantically cleaning, cooking, and prepping. The cook out was a huge success, everyone had a good time, Nick won the rib competition, and although the cost of the party brought our bank account down a little, it was worth it. If only I knew what was coming next….

Post-party the house was a mess, dirt was tracked in and out of the back door, it seemed like all of the silverware, pots, pans, glasses, and plates were dirty, there wasn’t a trace of the deep clean I did pre-party. The following morning I dragged myself out of bed and downstairs to face the wreck our house had become. I spent the second day in a row deep cleaning, and by the end of Sunday I collapsed onto the sofa, and allowed myself to relax before work the next day.

With my cleaning frenzy and Sunday night deep relaxation I didn’t pay too much attention to Jacob and Kody Bear. After all, I convinced myself, they got so much attention at the party, everyone loving on them, giving them treats here and there, I could let them rest and it would be okay. I assumed Kody was being lethargic because he was as exhausted as I was, he was partied out, he spent all day outside the day before, and didn’t want to go outside because he wanted indoor time. If only I knew…

I got up Monday morning, still recovering from the weekend, and took the pups on their morning walk. Jacob did his business immediately, and I waited as patiently as I could for Kody to do his. I waited and waited, continuously checking my watch, counting down the last minutes and seconds before I absolutely had to be out the door. I looked at Kody, shook my head, and said “I guess you will just have to hold it until I get home, it’s not my fault you are going to be uncomfortable all day”.  With those last annoyed words I put the dogs inside, grabbed my much needed coffee, and headed out the door.

I have no idea what happened at school that day, what project my classes were on, if anyone acted up or said something sweet, all I remember is coming home, walking in the door and seeing blood splattered on the floor in the living room. My heart dropped, the air rushed out of my lungs, I immediately called for my babies, terrified that something bad had happened, only assuming the worse. Jake ran right in, Kody followed much slower. I checked them both out, every nook and cranny, and found nothing. I sent them outside, and went to work cleaning up the mystery massacre in my living room.

I was still freaking out, I had no idea what was going on, until I looked outside to check on the pups and saw Kody in an endless squat. Something had disagreed with him, something was making him bleed. In my head I immediately returned to the party and saw all of the handouts he was given, the rib bones, the easily accessible trash can, with even more rib bones. I ran to my computer and looked up the affects of a dog eating bones, and of course my imagination ran wild with all of the ridiculous stories people posted, I was convinced my baby was going to die from a punctured stomach or small intestine, I imagined blood filling him up, him keeling over, all from a stupid cook out.

By the time Nick got home I was practically in tears, we loaded him in the car and sped of to the emergency vet. We frantically waited in the waiting room for Kody to be called back. We finally made it to the tiny examination room and I felt terrible as they took Kody back to get blood work done and to be examined. It felt like hours, but finally the doctor came back with her prognosis. He was fine. Yes, he probably ate some rib bones which splintered and probably cut him a little on the way out, which caused the blood. Yes, he was a little bit backed up, but it would pass. In the end Kody got some antibiotics, a couple cans of soft food, and was 100% okay. On the other hand, Nick and I got a very long lecture about giving dogs bones and a $400.00 vet bill for antibiotics and a 15 minute check up.

I was beyond relieved when he was fine, and showed absolutely no signs of the previous mess over the next few days. However, every now and then I would stop, and gaze at the bare area in the kitchen that was meant to have a table. I would think about the $400.00 that literally went into Kody’s butt and how that could’ve been the kitchen table (and chairs at that price) that I had been dreaming of and wishing for. Although we could’ve skipped the vet visit and the ridiculous bill and Kody would’ve been fine, I would still do it all over again. I don’t think I could’ve ever forgiven myself if something had gone wrong and I didn’t do anything about it because of money. My dogs are my babies, I would fork over more money than I have to save their lives if it came down to it. And in the end, even though I didn’t have my table, I still had my baby, and that is all that matters.

SUPPLIES:

• Visual Journal


• Rubber cement


• Scissors


• Pencil


• White paper


• Sharpie


• Gesso


• Watercolor or bleeding tissue paper


• Vet pamphlets

HOW TO

As soon as this fiasco happened, I began thinking of how I would incorporate it into my visual journal. I had already been brainstorming ways to incorporate a skeleton into a page, I love the way they look, and it seemed to fit perfectly with what happened. I considered drawing a picture of Kody, with an x-ray in front of him, drawing an entire dog skeleton, or a pile of rib bones. That got me thinking about rib bones, I don’t think any bone in our body is as interesting as our rib cage. I love the shape, the curves, and the space it creates as the bones wrap from back to front. This train of thought prompted me to look up images of dog rib cages, which brought me to the idea of creating a medical diagram of just a rib cage. After all, it was the perfect visual. The rib bones were the downfall, and they ended up passing through his rib cage and into his stomach. Inside the rib cage drawing I would place the pamphlet the vet forced on us about what not to feed your dog, which we will pass out to all of our guests the next cook out we have.

I started by drawing the rib cage on a separate sheet of white paper. I used pencil, erased a lot, and went through multiple drafts before it was perfect. Once the proportions were correct, I decided to add value. I wanted it to look more graphic, so I scribbled with a sharpie to create the cast shadows between the overlapping bones. I liked the effect, but I wanted more gray. I brainstormed ideas, but I knew I couldn’t erase the black sharpie that was already there, so I had to cover it up with something else. Immediately I thought of gesso. I watered some down, and tested a small area. It look perfect, it toned it down to a lighter gray, but you could still see the scribbles. I coated the rest of the rib cage in gesso, let it dry, and went back one more time with the sharpie to punch up the dark shadows. I carefully cut the rib cage out with scissors, and used an Xacto knife for the small interior areas. To learn more about gesso click here.

After the drawing was complete I glued down the pamphlet and rib cage. In order to push the paper into the crease of the book I used a credit card, and ran it along the crease before the glue dried. I knew I wanted to splatter red watercolor for blood. Coming home to the blood splatter is something I will never forget, and it had to be included in the page. I chose the right corner, put a drop of red paint down, and blew it to create the splatter. To finish the page I added words on top of the splatter with sharpie, and labeled the bones to make it look like a medical diagram.

CHALLENGE:

Create a page that incorporates a skeleton. Use an animal, human, or even an insect exoskeleton. Play with the position of the bones, do a close up or a far away drawing. Have fun with it!

I hope you enjoyed my post! If you have any questions or comments please contact me! If you like my blog, help me spread the word like, tweet, link over, or subscribe! Thanks for your help getting the word out about visual journals!

Visual Journal Page 8: That was Going to be My Kitchen Table