Corkboard Conundrum

Ever since I was a kid, I've had a cork board. Granted, it was quite useless when I was a kid, but I'd like to think that it's of more use of me to now than before. So I decided to rip off the ugly designs of my cork board and turn it into one that's worthy of my age.

I know, I know, it's not yet all that. I'm having an art block as to how it should look like. Here are the details:

The accordion circles...

Buntings, 'cause everybody loves them. But even better, musical sheets buntings!

Even more musical sheets... I used them so much in this project that I thought of calling this board, "Revenge on Piano Lessons." Hahaha. I remember my piano lesson days.

Wooden types my cousin in law got for me. <3

The matchbox I decoupaged and stamped a few days ago. It holds the push pins.

Oh, look what I made. <3 Hehehehe. I'll make another post to let you guys see how it is once it's done.

Pret-tea

Okay, so I've been spending too much time on Pinterest, pinning things, so I forced myself to get off my butt and do some easy-peasy art stuff. I've seen these ones done allover the internet, but still decided to make my own tutorial. I do not take credit for the idea, I just felt like making my own tutorial. Because it was fun to do. Hehehehe.

Alright. I'm a tea drinker--I love them all. I love the pretty colors, the teacups, the teapots, and everything about tea. There's just something about it. Je ne sais quo. Anyway, I saw people prettying up their teabags in all sorts of manners and I decided to pretty up mine too. Seeeee?

The hearts were cliche, so I made a whale. Hehehe. Anyway, here's how to pretty up your own tea bag--fast. This idea is great if you wanna get your kids or friends and do something fun and fancy. I'm planning to do this on my own upcoming sleepover, although I dunno how many of them are tea drinkers.

Yes. Creative fuel is dearly needed. Instructions:

1. Rip off the boring tea tags.
2. Cut out two pieces of whatever shape you like. I did hearts here, but I'll show you the whales later. <3
3. Stick the string on one heart with glue.
4. Cover with the other piece.
5. Tada! You're done! Enjoy your tea and your creative fuel. <3

Told you it was easy-peasy. Here are the others I did.

And my favorite:

Happy drinking! <3

Artsy Fartsy

You know those days when you just feel so inspired and relaxed that you practically fart art? Okay, maybe not fart, but I like those words. Art Fart. Fart Art. Artsy Fartsy. Fartsy Artsy. Ha, I'm cracking myself up here. Anyway, just some stuff I made:

Accordion circles--yep, I googled 'em, that's what they are called. I've been seeing them allover pinterest and allover the scrapbooking blogs I always go to, and I thought they were cute. So I grabbed the left over pages from the repurposed books and made these accordion circes. Then I grabbed some left over paper, stamped them with doilies, put them in the middle, and put a small plastic gemstone right at the middle. They came out quite nicely, if I do say so. They're lovely for scrapbooking, packaging, table runners, or even one's hair, as my brother suggested.

These are the other things I did today. Upper left corner, I decoupaged a matchbox and stamped it with a pretty key. Yes, I know, this is probably one of the most useless things I've ever done, but I don't know, I find it pretty. I'm thinking, I'll slap some encouraging words inside to make it a little more useful, since I love them matchboxes so much.

Upper right corner, I made some travel-themed envelopes. I opened a random envelope, traced it onto old maps I found lying around, then cut them up and folded them. Then I grabbed some of my colorful memo pad and slipped them in to make envelope liners. They lacked a little ooomph, so I stamped them with a cute little airplane inside. Great for travel-themed parties.

Okay, you already saw the accordion circles, and now the unusually colorful paper bag:

Tada! <3 Love 'em art-farting days. <3 I hope to have one everyday, but then again, if I have one everyday, I'd probably die of starvation, as I'd never go out to find work that actually pays me enough. :P

Repurposed Shirts

I have a thing for clothes. I'm kind of like a pack-rat about 'em. I buy anything that catches my eye--from fur coats, gamuza dresses, brocades, etc, etc. I just pretty much love them. I rarely buy in the regular shops 'cause they all seem so common to me, and I just love the thrill of finding a good piece for a few bucks in thrift stores. Anyway, I've got a lot of them, and sadly, I've decided to grow up and throw out the ones that are too crazy for me to wear and still look respectable. I kinda feel bad 'cause instead of giving them to the less fortunate, I decided to wreck them all and make rag dolls. Haha, guess that's not very grown up of me. :) Here's my first doll, Anna.

An Art A Day 30-Day Challenge: It's More Colorful in the Philippines!

Okay, so I feel like this is cheating. I just had to go to a job interview today and didn't have the time to do time-consuming arts, and so I've turned to photography for the fifth day of my challenge. This is the last time I'll consider photography as part of my 30-day art-a-day challenge, unless, perhaps, I put up a huge photo shoot, props and everything. Nothing against photography--it just feels a little too easy, snapping away. I like punishing myself with time-sweat-and-blood-consuming arts. Kidding. I think.

So there's this whole campaign going on here in to promote the Philippines. It's called the 'It's More Fun In The Philippines' campaign. I love the Philippines, good and bad points--I love it. I've walked around wishing I had a camera with me so I could show the world how pretty the Philippines is. I'm not just talking about the famous tourist spots--I'm talking about the everyday, run-of-the-mill Philippines. It might not appeal to many, but I really think that the Philippines is one huge tourist spot--so many interesting things in every corner.

I remembered asking my friends from Denmark what they liked most about the Philippines, and I can never forget what one of them said--she said she loved how colorful the Philippines was. Up until that point, I hated the colorful-ness of the Philippines. I mean, some are just downright tacky! But after she said that, my point of view sort of changed. Yes, maybe some of our streets are luridly colorful, our jeeps and buses are moving canvases of color and other whatnots, but I began to accept that we Filipinos are naturally colorful people, and I began to love the Philippines for that. I realized that the Philippines is beautiful because it is the Philippines, and not any other country! So on my way to the job interview, I snapped away with my little point and shoot. I loved the photos! Thing is, I was in a bus, so the speed, the (dirty) glass windows, and the lightings made for some interesting shots. Of course, I edited these pictures, but I tried to keep much of the photos' original beauty. Ladies and gentlemen, it's more colorful in the Philippines.

Total Cost: Master Card--it's priceless. hehehe.

An Art A Day 30-Day Challenge: Teru Teru Bozus!

According to Wikipedia, the great, Teru Teru Bozus are

little traditional hand-made doll made of white paper or cloth that Japanese farmers began hanging outside of their window by a string. In shape and construction they are essentially identical toghost dolls, such as those made at Halloween. This amulet is supposed to have magical powers to bring good weather and to stop or prevent arainy day. "Teru" is a Japanese verb which describes sunshine, and a "bōzu" is a Buddhist monk (compare the word bonze), or in modern slang, "bald-headed"; it is also a term of endearment for addressing little boys.^[1]

Teru teru bōzu became popular during the Edo period among urban dwellers,^[2] whose children would make them the day before the good weather was desired and chant "Fine-weather priest, please let the weather be good tomorrow."^[2]

I've never really felt strongly about them, I mean, yeah, they're kinda cute and what not, but I'm not crazy over them. But I kinda promised my little brother I'd make them for him one day, and with the heavy rains today, I had no escape from him. So we picked up some styro foam balls, found and old t-shirt, some two-toned string, and made the rainy blues go away with Teru Teru Bozus!

I had some fun editing these pictures. <3

Weirdly enough, the rain stopped once we were done making these.

Total Cost: 27 pesos.

10 styro foam balls- 7 pesos

Two-toned yarn- 20 pesos

An Art A Day 30-Day Challenge: Re-purposed book

Okay, so I missed yesterday... although technically, I made enough art the other day to make up for yesterday--I made re-purposed books here:

Hehehe. I'm a bit macabre, I know. Hannibal Lecter. Hehehehe.

 

To go with the macabre title, I chose red crepe paper to cover the inside with.

I like the film-y effect of the photos.

Lastly, I added a quote for effect, by Kurt Vonnegut. It's my favorite quote these days. Sadly, the red covered it up when it dried, but it's still pretty readable, only I wanted it to stay the way it is in the picture. Hehehe, loving the 'bloody' effect of the wet crepe paper.

I made a lot more... it's hard work, but it's so worth it afterwards.

went a bit overboard with the instagram-ing, I hope you guys can still appreciate the beautiful pattern inside. I picked out one of my mom's old printed tissues and mod podge-d it in. Looked really pretty, like it was water coloured inside.

Total Cost: 0.

I just grabbed random books around the house and random tissues. Unused, I might add.