Rustic Willow's DIY Concrete Planter

I get some of the craziest things posted on my Facebook timeline by friends who know me well. This is a DIY Concrete Planter, and will probably be my next project! Very cool, and sounds easy but messy (right up my alley).Just an old towel soaked in concrete! The instructions can be found at Rustic Willow.

Concrete Castings. Part One

My latest thing is casting concrete into stepping  stones and yard art.

No boy's that is not a Milk Bone!

 's

Paw Prints

Zen and the Art of Peace (A piece I donated to a fundraiser)
 

Terrarium city

My terrarium- complete with Dinosaur

Yesterday, I took a class in making Terrariums at ReTreasure in Burien. It was a fun class, where we learned to make our own "Plant-Scapes" in vessels, or rather in containers. One of these days I will do an interview with Yon, the owner at ReTreasure. But back to the terrariums... Me and the ladies had great fun playing in the dirt, sand vermiculite and rocks to create our own little mini gardens.

Another view

My Friend, Danielle's terrarium



Top view

 

Jennifer's Terrarium

 

Artsy Kids!!!

We did the B-Town Beat, our local art walk, and Yon Flora, of ReTreasure and I partnered up so the kids in our fair city, could have a go at the Spin Art Spinner I made. Here is what the amazing kids came up with:

I think the kids all had fun making little works of art. I know I did!

Spin Art!

Another retirement project I have completed is a spin art machine. I pretty much followed these instructions I found on YouTube.

Anyway I constructed the machine. Then I experimented using different papers. I found that card stock worked best, but standard paper  like the kind used in a printer works fine also. When you get the machine done, the results are something like this:

 

The only plans I have right now for this is a booth at The B-Town Beat, our local art walk, partnered with ReTreasure, a local store that specializes in Re-purposed art, or rather art that reuses things people throw away. Anyway should be fun for kids of all ages to make an art masterpiece!

Zen and the Art of Peace

One thing I am doing in retirement is making some yard sculptures out of concrete. I call this one Zen and the Art of Peace (Named by my friend Andrea Reay)

Zen an the Art of Peace

 

I recently donated it to the Discover Burien organization sell at a silent auction to raise funds! 

Moshier Holiday Pottery Sale

Here is the Booty I got at the annual MOSHIER HOLIDAY POTTERY SALE here in Burien. Mosher is the Parks name where the Moshier Arts Center is located and where talented folks who work in clay go to do their spinning wheel/kiln work. Many great deals at this holiday sale. And always a free piece. I always consider this the pre-cursor to the annual Empty Bowls event held in Burien by these same great artisans. The big difference is I can get a hold of original serving pieces and dog bowls, not just bowls!

My annual new bowls for bowsers' gift- personalized with their nick names- Slurp and Burp!

CHEAP GREETING CARD ART!

I love the greeting cards from Trader Joe's. 99 cents (cheap!) and so expressive. I thought they would make great art if they were framed. So I did.

I took some TJ's greeting cards that I have had in the drawer for awhile and framed them with frames from the Dollar Tree. I like the end result! Makes me wish I had done this for greeting cards I have received in the past, some cards are so good you remember them always!

Easy Cell Phone Art

Making an art project using your cell phone is pretty easy. I took this picture:

The original shows a bent leaf. Then some editing through snapfish, a free online photo service. I turned it into  a black and white. Then some crafty cropping using paint, and made a black border.
Now ready for framing!

Lost in Burien? Join the Student Art Walk!

All are invited to the 2nd annual Highline School District
Student Art Walk
Thursday, May 9th, 5:00-8:00PM
Free

Celebrate Art Education Month and wander Downtown Burien from 4th to 10th on SW 152nd to find art from talented middle and high school students! Participating businesses include: Burien Library, The Mark Restaurant, Phoenix Tea, Elliott Bay Brewery, Bumbershoot Books, Keller Williams, Burien Books, Cross Fit, Osteria da Primo, Home Tasks, Collins Chiropractic, and Burien Press.

Sponsored by Highline Public Schools, Burien Parks, Recreation and Cultural Services & Burien Merchants.

Maps will be available May 7th at the participating venues and on the web at www.burienparks.net

For more information 206-988-3700.

Blue Dogs- A collaboration!

My friend, Maureen, who is the Guru of the local walking set, put a post on the WABI site (Walking and Biking) and posted this cool graphic she edited of Romeo and Buddy.

The original B&W picture

I fiddled with it on the computer, making a faux border and after much trimming, cussing, cutting, cussing (note: I said cussing twice- there was that much cussing) I framed it in a Ikea Ribba frame I just happened to have around the house. Here is the final product:

The Graphic is from a favorite photo I took of the dogs at Burien Town Square Park. Turning it into a blue "Warhol-esque" picture was entirely Maureen, I don't know what editing program she used. I am taking partial credit for the original picture and the frame job. Because that is how I roll.

Functional Art

Sorry about the bad picture, but I had to share my latest. I just love functional art. So this framed jean pocket phone charger has my name on it. Easy to make- just take a nice picture frame, take out the mounting board and cut the jean pocket out of the rear of a an old pair of blue jeans. Drill a hole in the mounting board, allowing the pocket to cover it, and mark the pocket on the inside where the charging cord should come through. Then glue the jean pocket to the mounting board. I used white glue, and just brushed it on the board and place the pocket on the board, but I could imagine a spray adhesive would work just as well. After the glue dries, put the mounting board in the frame, lock and hang. The cool thing is a new no sew use for a pair of old worn out jeans. I think this would make a great Christmas gift for anyone!

DIY Art Part Two

Another instant DIY art project, Using stickers and spray paint/And this time a nice frame!

Mod Podge Frame

Having never used the amazing Mod Podge before, and being a bit skeptical (I have decopauged before but used white glue all or varathane) I wanted you to see my first Mod Podge project an unfinished wooden picture frame (from Michael's) that I decopauged some leftover Tissue paper from a birthday present I gave. I simply Mod Podged the frame with MP first, cut a square of tissue paper, then I put 4 coats of MP on the frame the end result a frame, when combined with my "easy art Project", that I think looks good and makes the picture look even better!

Easy Take Out Luminaria

This is is so simple. Just get some colored Chinese Take Out cartons from
 your art supply store,
Dissasemble them.
Draw a design on them
Cut out design using an Exato knife or other sharp knife.
Re-assemble them.

Stick an LED Candle in them and hang them up, or border your walkway or whatever

Easy Art

I have a portrait of Romeo taken by Joel Green, a professional  photographer, that I won in an auction. Nicely framed, I wanted some similar pics of Buddy and the both of them to hangnthat would compliment them. So I took some more pics, and with an editing prohrsm turned them Blsck snd white,then “matted them using Windows Paint-- I simply framed the outside using the shape tool and filled in the rest, A trick I learned from a professional photographer I know. Then printed them on glossy photo paper.The end result is some great pics of the dogs and a few other things to hang on the wall!

DIY Wall Art

I made some art! Using Jessica Jones (How about Orange)  great tutorial I made this painting using some simple office supplies and an 8 X 10 inch canvass, and a can of spray paint

Happiness is a Big Woody!!!

Occasionally, I furry into things exotic and different. Things like Wooden Bike Frames and such. Sigh. I always wanted a nice Big, shiny, sleek woody. Automobile I mean. Now they have woody bikes! I found these really neat bikes with wooden frames on the interwebs. A guy at work has one of these Renovo's. Too pricey?

How about a pair of wooden fenders for your old Schwinn or Huffy then? New look at a fraction of the price. Of course you could always DIY it ... that is, if you're this guy:

Process: Woodgrain Bike Frames from Etsy on Vimeo.

Outside Oslo Wall Art

I just love Jessica Jones fabric designs. Jessica writes the “How About Orange” Blog. And she designs great fabrics and ribbon. One of her designs, from her “Outside Oslo” line really captures my eye, the Outside Oslo Wildflower print in particular(must be my Norwegian heritage flashing up). So when she announced it was for sale online I jumped at the chance to turn one of her great fabrics into some wall art. I bought a yard of it, originally had planned to cover a bulletin board with it, but decided I didn't want to stick tacks and pins in it and cover it up with paper so I framed about half of it in a frame that would hide the circuit breaker box in my studio. Then I took two squares of fabric, mounted them in embroidery hoops for some accent art to compliment the big picture! The rest is destined for pillows or something.
I only party down with the best at: