Category: Craft Materials

The Collage is Not Dead! Use Free Wallpaper Samples to Create Art

| November 10, 2011

Art supplies can be expensive especially if you are a very productive artist. That’s why I’ve started creating unique wallpaper art using free wallpaper samples. Most DIY, decorating and wallpaper stores, both those with physical stores or those with just websites, offer free samples of their wallpapers and it’s a great way to get a large variety of designs in a short space of time.

I use wallpapers to create interesting collages, as backgrounds for paintings and drawings, to create 3D images, to give me inspiration and to learn about design styles from other eras (such as Art Deco or Victorian).

Variety is the Spice of Life

I have drawers and drawers full of wallpaper samples in a variety of design styles including:

  • Art Deco
  • Cubist/Abstract
  • Floral (modern & traditional)
  • Children’s Designs
  • Striped Patterns
  • Plain (in a huge variety of colors)
  • Textured & Embossed Wallpapers
  • Natural Designs (trees, butterflies, plants, shells, clouds)
  • Animal Print (zebra, leopard, cow)
  • Leather & Suede 
  • Victorian, Edwardian & Baroque Designs
  • Unique (holographic, foils, metallic)

You get the idea! I’ve even used wallrock which is a type of foam backed insulating lining paper to create stencils, 3D and relief images. When it comes to using wallpaper in your artistic projects, you are only limited by your imagination…and if you are an artist you shouldn’t be short of that!

Homemade Christmas Gifts

| October 30, 2011

Even if you’ve got two left hands, you can make these homemade Christmas gifts.

I was laid off about six months ago and, with the coming of the festive season, realize I won’t possibly be able to afford the 40 or so Christmas gifts I usually buy. The only thing to do, I thought, would be to apologetically write to everyone explaining my circumstances. Then, the other day, I was browsing the web and came upon a couple of articles on how to make perfume and one on turning everyday foods and beverages into delicacies using essential oils.

Because I love to create my own massage oils and face masks, and enjoy the benefits of my aromatherapy diffuser, I own an abundance of essential oils. With only the addition of a few cheap ingredients, I could give my friends and family unique eau de toilette and liqueur.

So, I’ve just finished making two batches of eau de toilette, one for men and one for women, and they are amazing. I thought they’d smell kind of strangely homemade, the sort of thing those ‘green’ people wear, but they don’t.  My devise has always been to either wear a high-end perfume or none at all. These smell as good as anything by Chanel, Dior or D&G, so I’ll be wearing them myself. I’ve followed the recipes exactly, but now I’ve got the bug and want to start designing my own perfumes.

And the thing people appreciate about homemade Christmas gifts is the thought and effort that goes into them. Actually, less effort has gone into these perfumes than ever went into traipsing around stores and lugging heavy bags in and out of the car.

Next I’ll be making the liqueur recipe I found, so maybe everyone will get two homemade Christmas gifts instead of one. And who needs to know they are homemade Christmas gifts? I’m calling them ‘custom made’.