Day 82 - word art

"Work with words. Make an image with just words or letters."

shoe polish words on canvas.

I saw this idea a month or so ago, through a link on Pinterest, and have been wanting to do something similar. I've seen other art with words or lyrics and am always drawn to it. Song lyrics have a way of speaking to me in a powerful way, and I have wanted to use some to decorate my house. How to choose, though? There are so many songs that are meaningful to me.

Every once in a while, they play this song, "Beautiful Things" by Gungor, at my church, and it always moves me to tears. Honestly, I don't usually like much Christian music or even praise/worship music, but this song is truly beautiful, both sonically and lyrically. It has meant a lot to me over the past few months. Obviously, I could not include the full song lyrics on the canvas, so I took the most meaningful parts and planned out what I thought would fit. I let some of the letters/words run off of the canvas, leaving the intent but saving room for other words.

could a garden com[e up]

from this ground at [all?]

you make beautiful

things out of the dust

[you make beautiful things] out of us. hope is spr[inging]

up [from this old ground]. you make us new [you are making me new]

planning out the words, aided by a soy latte.

blank white canvas, 30"x48". so scary to take the first plunge!

I'm excited to hang this up on one of my newly-painted walls. And if I ever want to change the lyrics, I can just paint over this and do it again. Thank goodness for some creative inspiration today! It's been a rough week...hence the lack of posts. I'll catch up one of these days.

 Edit: Here it is, propped up over the fireplace:

Day 81 - soap

"Use a bar of soap to make something new."

I've recently started making my own laundry detergent, using this recipe. So, I used a bar of soap to make a new batch today. I just couldn't justify wasting a bar of soap.

bar of ivory soap.

soap gratings. don't add that to your taco!

melted down with some water.

finished product, with a curious onlooker.

Side note: I also make my own fabric softener, which consists only of water, baking soda, and vinegar. I can't recommend it highly enough. It's super cheap, easy and fast to make, and works great! I have only had one mishap with it so far - where I realized half-way through my work day that an article of clothing smelled like vinegar. I think some had gotten left in the Downy ball and emptied out onto a couple of items after the wash cycle was done. Oops!

Days 79 and 80 - dye and utensil

Confession time. I didn't make any creations the past two days, i.e. Sunday and Monday. Just had a lot going on and didn't get a chance to make anything. So. I made a couple of things today to make up for those days, and have something else in the works for today's creation. That one will have to wait to be finalized tomorrow, though.

Day 79: "Try dyeing. Work with food or fabric dye."

white eyelet fabric dyed with tea and twisted into a flower shape.

Day 80: "Create a new kind of utensil. Functional or not, document it in use."
For this one, I didn't exactly make a new utensil. But, I made an already-created utensil a little more creative.

clothespin, with decorative paper glued onto it.

new decorative clothespin in use (the lower one).

Day 78 - erased

"Make something out of erasers."

I doubt this is even remotely what the author had in mind. But, since when was I interested in following the rules? I did use an eraser, though. I used a pencil to shade a whole page of my sketchbook. Then I erased part to make a flower.

erased.

Day 77 - wall painting

I went off the books again yesterday. Spent the day finishing up painting in my house. That probably doesn't count, and isn't very creative. But, I couldn't stand the blah off-white walls in the main living areas anymore. My roommates helped a ton; I couldn't have done it without them. We wanted to get it done before the weather turns too cold. The new colors will definitely help cozy up the place for the coming winter months!

"umberglow" for the dining room

finished.

it's very bright!

"ferncliffe" in the living room.

 We decided that the colors look like pumpkin and hummus. Or... carrots and hummus!

Day 76 - shredding

"Work with shredded paper. Use an actual paper shredder or simply cut paper into thin strips..."

shredded paper and torn tissue paper, glued onto cardstock.

in 3-d.

Day 75 - chalk

"Get some chalk and work on the sidewalk near your home."

It's dark outside. So, I didn't think this would work very well outside, unless I had a flood light in my front yard. Which I don't. So, I made some decorations on a little chalkboard in my kitchen.