Coffee Cups

 

A few years ago I snapped a picture of two coffee cups on my kitchen counter.  Something about the simple shape of the cups and the shadows just caught my attention.  

A while later, I decided to try to dredge up what was left of my artistic side and attempt a pencil sketch of the photo.  It is really a fairly simple subject so it was a good starting place.  Though the sketch could no doubt be improved upon, I was really surprised at the result.  There was hope for me after all!  It seems that 5 + years of soul crushing grad school had not, in fact, crushed my soul ;) 

Pencil Sketch

Grad school is now an increasingly distant memory.  I finally earned my Ph.D. last September.  I have since been teaching and working more on creative endeavors.  Recently, I decided to attempt another take on the coffee cups.  I love watercolor paints but I am definitely still learning how to paint.  I thought the coffee cups would also be a good subject to help me increase my skill with watercolors.  I had such a fun time making the little painting and I did learn a lot.  

Watercolor Painting (for sale in my etsy shop)

I am sure that the watercolor painting will not be my last artistic rendition of the coffee cups.  I really am obsessed with this photo.  I also need to keep my eye out for new subjects that can hold my interest like this one.   

"Vintage" Travel Garland

I have never really done any scrapbooking, but a while back I bought a booklet of fun, travel-themed scrapbook paper that I found in the discount bin at the craft store (DCWV, "The Bon Voyage Travel Stack").  I only needed a few sheets to line a decoupage gift box I was making for a friend.  After that was done, I was left with a bunch of really cool paper that I had no idea what to do with.  Somehow I got the idea to make a garland out of one of the sheets that had vintage-style travel tickets printed on it.

First, during a craft night with Linda over at Our Lovely Bungalow, I cut each ticket out.  I will be honest and tell you the cut out tickets sat in a box for about 6 months before I remembered them.  

 

Next, I cut some brown packing paper from the roll and started to glue the pieces onto it.  I use Aleene's acid-free tacky glue for things like this.  I put some of the glue into a small bowl, added a little bit of water and applied it to the paper with a small paintbrush.  The tickets needed a little coaxing to really stick at all the corners and lay flat so each time I had a text-book size area finished, I put a heavy book on it and let it sit for a few minutes. 

Once everything had dried, I cut each ticket out of the brown paper, leaving a border of paper showing. 

I then used a hole punch to make the holes for stringing the tickets into a garland.  For most of the pieces I punched two holes because the tickets won't lay flat otherwise.  A few of the smaller pieces only got one hole since they were going to be strung together with a larger ticket.

I made sure to get the layout of the tickets how I wanted on my desk first before starting to string them onto the twine.  I chose twine because I think it compliments the weathered look of the tickets and the brown packing paper nicely.

Overall, this was a fun, easy project.  I may make another one with the other sheet.  Hopefully it doesn't take another 6 months though!

The garland is for sale in my etsy shop

Condo Patio Garden

Chinese pistachio

 
 I love to garden.  Unfortunately I have mostly lived in apartments and condos for the last 10 years.  Some of my first apartments didn't even have a deck.  The condo I own, and currently rent out, did have a deck but it was small and in constant shade.  One of the many benefits of moving in with my wonderful significant other was that I gained a large patio with morning sun.  Still, I can't wait to someday transplant my "babies" into a real yard!  Anyway, this is how things are progressing so far this summer:     

From left to right: Gerbera, Canna and lemongrass.

Dwarf Canna about to bloom!

Tomato, strawberries, basil and radishes. 

Peace lily and maidenhair fern.

Too many cards!

The school year is over!  It was a busy one since it was my first year as a "real" professor.  I loved every minute of it but I have been looking forward to Summer.  I am excited to have the chance to get some craft projects done and work on getting my etsy shop up and running again. 
At the end of last summer I bought a set of white cards and envelopes from the craft store for only a few dollars and discovered how much I love making handmade cards.  I love that they give me the opportunity to do something artistic while producing a useful product.  Some of them I have kept for my own use.  Below are some that are/were for sale in my etsy shop.  I can't wait to make more! 

http://www.etsy.com/listing/100190974/set-of-two-handmade-botanical-notecards

http://www.etsy.com/listing/79640860/one-of-a-kind-handmade-blank-note-card

http://www.etsy.com/listing/81183674/one-of-a-kind-handmade-thank-you-note

http://www.etsy.com/transaction/56901322  (sold)