Hey Bernice!

Bernice is crafty…. she can fashion something from nothing.

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Rusted wire fence and sewing patterns…..equals, artwork!

Upcycling artwork
This upcycling project has dragged on for more than a year now…it is now on the wall and out of my head!

Some of you may remember my excitement in February 2012 (more than a year ago), when I stumbled across this bundle of rusted wire fence. It was in a paddock being cleared for development near our house.

Wire fence wall art

Naturally, I pulled the car over and attempted to stuff it into the boot – luckily we have a station-wagon! And, naturally my husband looked at me with that usual look when I arrive home with something we hadn’t discussed. Since then it has been sitting in our garage driving him nuts … and secretly (well it’s no secret now) me too!

I had lots of inspiration for creating something with it, but a lot of trouble deciding what, and how.

I knew I wanted to use the tissue from old dressmaking patterns (was given this idea by something I saw in a shop once)… so started a collection of patterns I saw in opportunity shops:

Dressmaking patterns

My challenge with this artwork was how to keep the wire fence straight so I could hang it on the wall, and it wouldn’t scratch and leave rust marks on the wall.

I went to the local hardware store (heavily pregnant on a 35C day – yes, stupid!). All the store assistants were busy, so I sat down on a pile of wood to wait. I was then approached by a really helpful tradie who was loading his car with wood he had purchased, and asked if he could help me. It was such a lovely gesture, as I was about to give up and go home. I tried to explain to him my vision (whilst ignoring his facial expression when I said I was wanting to mount a 2m length of rusty fence wire onto a wall that would be covered in dressmaking patterns!). He was great, and recommended two 1.8m lengths of this wood which I then painted the colour of the wall it was to be mounted on:

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As an aside: It so happened this builder giving me advice had some experience in erecting unusual pieces of artwork on to walls. He proceeded to tell me how he was requested to build and mount an enormous cross made from railway sleepers onto a wall. This wasn’t any wall… it was a wall inside a church. This Cross would be sitting above the coffin of Carl Williams during his funeral. Those who are not familiar with Carl Williams he is best described as: a convicted murderer and drug trafficker from the Australian state of Victoria. He was the central figure in the Melbourne gangland killings.

Whilst at the hardware store I also picked up some of these to attach the wire fence on to the lengths of wood…

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And some of these to hang the masterpiece on to the wall…

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All that was left to do was decide how to use the dressmaking patterns with the wire fence. After a few experiments of different techniques, I decided on weaving folded length of pattern through the wire fence…

waeving dressmaking patterns

I had to do this before fixing the fence to the wood. I wove vertically, and folded the tissue over to the back and fixed it with a household stapler (very technical stuff!). You can see below how the fence sits slightly out from the wall thanks to the two horizontal (top and bottom) pieces of wood it’s attached to.
Artwork hanging on wall

My husband had his doubts the whole way through this project, he could really understand what I was trying to do. Even when I was weaving the tissue through the fence he still wasn’t sure about how it would look (neither did I!). My attitude with all my upcycling projects is “let’s wait and see what it looks like, and if we don’t like it we don’t need to use it!

We were both very surprised. I don’t think it would suit every house or wall… but it works in this space, in our home.

Upcycling artwork

Artwork on wall

Wire fence and patterns artwork

Cheers,

Bernice


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Decision time – butterflies or birds for my burlap canvases?

Months ago I re-covered 2 canvases with burlap (I didn’t like the creation from a previous crafty exploit).

I had two ideas for these two new burlap canvases, but couldn’t decide.

Many would describe me as having a ‘thing’ for butterflies and birds. Previous ramblings featuring birds and butterflies are testament to that.

Before making a decision between these two beautiful creatures, I wanted to see what they looked like on the canvases, so created them both in a kinda draft format (so excuse all the pins holding everything onto the canvas).

There has been a gap of three months between the first option and the second.

Rather than get my nickers-in-a-knot making the final decision, I thought I’d let my blog readers decide for me.

**MILD PANIC SETS IN ***

What if I am overestimating how many of you there are, or even worse, how much you care about my burlap canvas?

I have chosen to soldier on with the idea, despite this major concern… I know you won’t disappoint (wink, wink… nudge, nudge!)

Ta-da…. Presenting the two options for you to choose from…

1. Butterflies - I completed the first option at Christmas and took photos of it.
I used a butterfly-punch to cut butterflies from old atlas pages, then pinned them onto the canvases. I did add a few metal butterflies (which I hand cut), for a little interest.

2. Birds – I completed these last week. I chose some very colourful quilting fabric. Then painted the back of the fabric with craft glue (to stiffen it, and to allow me to cut the fabric without it fraying – once it was dry). I got my bird inspiration from some stencils pinned on my Crafty Ideas board on Pinterest.

You can leave a comment below with your preferred option, vote in the top right corner of this page, or simply click on the VOTE button below and whisked away to my facebook page to place your official vote…

Surprise me, and cast a vote… but more importantly help me decide what ends up on my wall!

Cheers,

Bernice


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Upcycling: egg carton muffin box

I guess you could call this Part II of Upcycling: Transforming garbage. I have ‘a thing’ about throwing things away that can be used for something else – it drives my husband crazy.

All around our house you’ll find items I have saved from the trash that are being stored until I get around to doing something with them.

A few months ago I posted about a collection of household garbage I had transformed into useful home storage items (see post: Upcycling – transforming garbage).

Below are examples of the baby formula tin becoming a cooking utensil holder, and the bulk washing detergent bucket turned into toy box….

Here’s another option you can add to that list, the egg carton muffin box.

This one is a piece of cake (or should I say muffin – haha). Anyone (even those that shout from the rooftop that they haven’t a creative bone in their body) can achieve this one.

All you need is:

- An egg carton (one that doesn’t have packaging/printing all over the sides, or where you can peel off the packaging/sticker)
- Some colourful paper (I used wrapping paper)
- Craft glue
- Scissors
- A ruler

1. Where you can, peel off the sticker/packaging… otherwise you might have to stick the coloured paper over the sides as well.

2. Measure the size of the top of the egg carton and cut a piece of paper to stick on the top.

3. Use the craft glue to evenly cover the top of the egg carton and place the paper on top.

4. Press down firmly to ensure that all parts of the paper will stick to the carton

5. Leave to dry

Once covered you can place mini cupcakes or muffins in the egg carton. You will need a small muffin tin so they they will fit. In this egg-sample (the puns are getting a little annoying now aren’t they?). I made my delicious banana, date and bran muffins

So there you have it, one of the simplest transformations you will ever encounter – go on, give it a try.

While we’re on the topic of transforming garbage, I thought I would share with you a great idea I stumbled across. The entrepreneur behind this new product probably had the same addiction to reusing garbage that I have!

They are stickers that can be placed on different pieces of garbage to turn them into toys for kids! The company is called Box Play for Kids, here are some brilliant examples from their website:

The Juice carton truck…

The egg carton zoo…

The shoe box fridge…

That’s more than enough garbage-talk from me…. see you next time.

Cheers,

Bernice


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On the first day of Christmas… I finished my Christmas wreath!

Actually, on the first day of Christmas my true love said to me…. “Now we’ve moved house can you finish off some of these crafty projects you have started (and never finished)!”

Amongst the box unpacking (we moved into our new house last week… you can visit my blog about building the house at www.lot271.com) I found some time to make my toilet-paper-roll-Christmas-wreath as I promised I would in my Christmas decoration post. I couldn’t have made it any earlier because I needed the extra time to collect enough toilet rolls! I think that is a good enough excuse, don’t you?

I can’t take the credit for the idea, it was a Pinterest discovery (care of the wonderful tutorial on the site See You There Designs)…

It seems there are a few crafty people out there making some creative stuff with toilet paper rolls. Check out this AMAZINGLY enormous wall art from Tibble Fork…

So here’s my Christmas creation. I’ve gone with a beachy Christmas theme this year. You will see over the coming weeks that I have chosen predominantly light blue, white and silver… with the addition of sand, shells, star fish and drift wood.

I used Kikki K Christmas gift tags to compliment the natural cardboard tones of the toilet paper, along with a star fish and some raffia and ribbon. Fingers crossed we don’t have a wet lead up to Christmas or I might end up with a rather soggy wreath (will keep you posted!!).

If you want some more ideas for your Christmas theme this year take a look at my Pinterest Christmas inspiration board .

Fa la la la laaaaaa, la,  la,  la,  la….

Bernice

 


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Upcycling – Transforming garbage

Every day I am reminded of the disposable lifestyle we live – constantly chucking out packaging (glass, plastic and metal). So many of the things we put in the rubbish bin could be used for other purposes in our house – so I started collecting them.

For some reason it seems a lot worse with a baby… formula tins that seem to multiply, washing detergent packaging, empty wine bottles (they seem to mysteriously appear after all the washing and feeding is done for the day!!).

Combine my frustration with the amount of garbage our house produces, with some rather nifty upcycling inspiration I gained from Pinterest…

:\\****abracadabra ****//:

and this is what you get:

Empty wine bottle(s)… yes, there have been several occasions where a glass of wine was the reward after Heidi was in bed asleep!

Turned into vases or decorative ornaments…

I stuck different coloured ribbon around the top of each bottle.

Cling wrap packaging/box…

Now a mini muffin gift box…

I covered the box with beautiful wrapping paper from Mozi, and lined it with tissue paper (and filled it with my banana bran muffins)

Baby Formula Tin…

Now a [insert purpose here] holder (in this case cooking utensils)…

I covered the tin with burlap. I used two layers stuck together with iron-on webbing (so you can’t see through to the tin). I then sewed the burlap around the tin with red embroidery thread (holding it around the tin as I sewed to ensure it was firm enough to stay on). If you use the finished edge of the burlap, you don’t have to hem the burlap at the bottom of the tin.

Any tins can also be easily covered with contact…

Washing detergent bucket…

Now a toy box…

I covered the bucket and lid with patterned contact.

There is one more Pinterest inspiration I wanted to make (and still will), this one…

Using toilet paper rolls to make a christmas wreath. Details about how to make the wreath can be found on See you There! I think I have allowed myself just enough time to save up the rolls to have it completed by Christmas… naturally, you will be seeing the end result in a month or so!

Cheers,

Bernice


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Heidi’s Nursery – an eclectic crafty heaven…

Heidi’s nursery (whilst temporary) is quickly filling with amazing hand made items, and gifts – making it feel more like home for her.

Knowing that we will be moving in a few months (when our new home is built), I didn’t spend a lot of time decorating her nursery…
a) because I will be packing it all up soon, and,
b) because we will be leaving the bright blue walls behind, and welcoming an entirely new wall colour in our new home (giving me more freedom with colours!).

In addition to the few items I did make, many other crafty people have contributed in their own unique way to making her nursery feel homely (many have also crept out of the woodwork. The quilting fraternity is still alive and well – it seems to be the hidden talent of many!). And those that aren’t crafty (or just can’t find the time – fair enough!) have also provided simply adorable gifts for our little Heidi. This post is a pictorial display of the eclectic hand made items, and gorgeous designs that together make her temporary nursery a warm and welcoming home…

Quilts & Blankets
My first attempt at making something for Heidi was to try my hand at a (very basic, especially compared to what Heidi has been given…) quilt. I had never made one before, and with my new sewing machine (thanks Santa!) I needed to remind myself how to sew again, having been almost 15 years – so a quilt was my guinea pig:

Since making this I have been put to shame by two of Mum’s friends who made Heidi the most beautiful quilts (and I hear there are more on the way from family members on my husband’s side). I am barely an amateur next to these exhibits, and how could I be expected to compete with members of the Australian quilting Association! I have great respect for quilters, it takes so much patience with the detail they include – amazing!

This ‘little dress’ quilt was made by Judy Cave… (All that diagonal stitching is done by hand… hours of work!)

This butterfly quilt was made by Naomi O’Shea. The butterflies are crafted from various liberty prints …

I had no idea Gaynor, a work colleague, who I have sat next to for 2 years could crochet. She made this brilliant (and ever so warm for winter) green and white woolen rug…

Wall Decor
I did make several items to decorate Heidi’s (future) walls, however currently they all sit on the chest of drawers to avoid making more holes in the rental property wall …

The paper butterflies frame is a regular item for me, however, I had never made one for myself!


The stenciled book pages were a great way to cover the wall without needing big hooks or nails to hold them up, and very easy to move to the new house …


The (seed pod) Robin red breast mobile was one of my creations …


The babushka Russian doll print is made from a Kaiser Craft paper sheet placed in a picture frame – easy peasey, Japanesey! …


The ruby slippers were a purchase from Made It (an online hand made craft site), I had spied this gorgeous print by Flowerpress before I knew I was having a girl. I simply placed it in a frame, and wrest it on the chest of draws (to be placed on the wall when we move)…


This print titled ‘Safe Passage’ was a gift from the very talented Twirling Betty, but was not one of her items, instead she had this sent from June at Noon in the United States – it is just beautiful, and is now framed and sitting in Heidi’s nursery…


The string of ten red and white chickens were a gift from Mum’s neighbour… made in India and sold through the Oxfam shop, the patterns and colours are so bright and cheery…


Toys
Heidi has received such an array of toys, from golliwogs to meerkats – soon I’ll be able to open a toy zoo exhibiting a hippo, rabbit, bumble bee, elephant, bear, duck, dogs, centipede, birds and mice! Below is a small selection…

Hand made bird by Twirling Betty (not one of Betty’s standard items available on Made It, but just as colourful and creative)…


So white, and cuddly – the Easter Bunny…

An elephant that reminds me a little of Baba …


An adorable limited edition doll…


An environmentally friendly duck, made from bamboo….


On behalf of Heidi, thanks to everyone that’s sent gifts – the toys, clothes, books, CD’s, puppets, wraps, rugs …  such a thoughtful bunch. Having a baby opens your eyes to how generous people can be, and how they love the arrival of a new life… we have received presents from people we have never met “thrilled to welcome Heidi into the world” having a baby is a time that is filled with a lot of Love… it puts a smile on my face.

Bernice

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Butterflies for babies

Let me start by clarifying that I am not obsessed with butterflies… but they are such wonderful subjects for 3D artwork. I made this recently for a friends little girl Maddison who was born several months ago.

Let me take you through the easy steps to beautiful butterfly artwork… you will need:

1 box frame (where the glass doesn’t sit against the artwork inside, leaving room for the butterfly wings to sit open, away from the paper.
1 (or more if you make a mistake) piece of firm white paper, or any other colour you prefer
1 pencil for drawing the butterflies
1 ruler to make sure even placement of the butterflies
1 butterfly stencil (purchased, or made yourself)
1 cutting board, plastic is preferable (an old magazine can also be used)
1 cutting/Stanley knife to cut out the butterflies
1 piece of patterned paper to sit behind the white paper
1 roll of masking/sticky tape

1. Tracing the butterflies
Take your white paper. Not photocopy paper, preferably something a little thicker (I used a piece of paper from my art sketch book). Card board is too thick, as it will be harder to cut with the knife.

The size of your paper will depend on the size of box frame you have chosen. You want the paper larger than the display area within the frame.

Take your butterfly stencil and trace the butterflies onto the space that will be displayed within the frame (remember there is usually a cardboard insert that sits within the frame, so your butterflies need to sit within that area). You can place the butterflies wherever you like – just make sure there is enough space between each one to allow the paper to hold its shape once you cut around the butterflies (aim for at least 1cm between each butterfly).

2. Cutting the butterflies
Take your cutting/Stanley knife and commence cutting around the outline of the butterflies. Make sure you don’t cut around each butterfly completely, you need to keep each one attached in several places. I found leaving the ‘body’ of the butterfly attached was the most effective, whilst cutting around the wings.

I also found it easier to press the knife into the paper to make a cut, rather than dragging the knife along the paper. Dragging can often tear/gather the paper, and make the cut a little messy.

3. Making the butterflies come alive
Once you have cut around all the butterflies, push out each of the wings from behind (the back is the side with the pencil makes on it from tracing your stencil!).


4. Placing in the Box frame
Take apart the box frame from the back. Most frames will come with a cardboard inner frame, that will border your artwork. You will need to attach your butterfly creation to the back of this cardboard with tape to make sure that it sits in the correct position (take a look from the front when everything is in place).
Once everything is attached securely, place back in the frame (check that the positioning is the right way up in the frame for hanging/standing up), then secure the back piece of the frame.

Butterflies are not he only animals you can use for this type of artwork, but based on their shape (with wings) it makes them perfect. You could also use birds, dragons with wings, bats etc.

 

I hope you enjoy doing this as much as I did. Good luck with your first attempt.

Bernice


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Butterfly Mania


I have a thing for butterflies at the moment – maybe it has something to do with the current metamorphosis my life is undertaking right now. We have sold our home in the city (Melbourne), and bought a block of land within a golf course, about 800m from the beach in Torquay (all in the one week). Hence the reason I have been a little quite lately.

My husband and I joke that we have brought our retirement plans forward about 30 years – and I can’t think of a reason why we shouldn’t. After all, life is to be lived – isn’t it?

Yes, I did say land (no house – yet!). You will all be blessed with living the exciting experience of designing, building, decorating and landscaping our new home – the next year will be Hey Bernice! on steroids.

OK. Back to butterflies.

My most recent wall decorations were inspired by my many butterfly sightings (in life, my sister’s creation, magazines, on Made It, and various international artists).

I used Asian patterned paper to cut out Butterflies. My sister had actually made me a canvas in this way before, and was the donator of the Asian paper.

I then pinned them on canvases I had prepared in a unique way (to create a little more interest!). Before I go into the detail of how I made mine, let me share with you the creative works that have inspired me (from local Made It artists to international exhibitors):

This Little Fish Creations butterfly mobile is simply stunning, and perfect for the babies nursery. You can buy these on Made it.

If you want to invite butterflies in your home then Vinyl Design wall stickers are the perfect way to do this without damaging your wall. These too are also available on Made It.

Almond Tree Frames sell these beautiful paper butterfly frames in various patterns and colours. Another Made It Artist.

Paul Villinski is a New York based artist whose “pieces explore themes of transformation and recovery through the metamorphosis of crushed beer cans from the streets of New York into flocks of realistically crafted butterflies.” Below are two examples of his brilliant work using vinyl records and aluminum cans.

Finally Justine Smith “has exhibited in galleries and museums internationally, and has work in the collections of the British Council, the UK Government Art Collection, financial institutions, international corporations and numerous private collections. She lives and works in London.”

You must now understand why I had to try my hand at butterflies? They are simply stunning as a feature in the home.

So, what did I do?
I used 2 canvases 30cm x 30cm (12″ x 12″).

To add a little more to the background I searched for some material with a textured pattern to glue to the canvas. In this instance I chose a thin synthetic satin material that had a velvet raised pattern on it. After gluing the material to the canvas (just to the front, not the sides) I then primed the material with Gesso (used to prepare materials for painting) when the glue had dried . It required several coats because the material was absorbing the paint, and the colour of the material was showing through. Several coats also ensured that you could not tell that the raised pattern was velvet.

To emphasize the pattern on the material I used a fine gold pen to trace around the edges of the velvet raised pattern.

To attach the butterflies it is better to pin them instead of gluing or taping. I used short dress making pins, whilst they are exposed at the back of the canvas, they are very short, and if the canvas is hanging on the wall no-one should get injured!

So how did I cut out all the butterflies?

Some specialised tools will give you a clean and delicate finish when cutting the butterflies.

I bought this interchangeable knife kit from a craft shop, along with the plastic butterfly stencil. Alternatively you can search for butterflies on Google images, and print out something you like to use as a template.

There are so many way you can use butterflies in artwork, another alternative is setting them in a box frame like ALmond Tree Frames have done. Or attach them directly to the wall with wire, like Paul Villinski above.

However you bring them into your home – they create a very special feel … something magical and mysterious.

Bernice


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Animal collaging for kid’s rooms

With so many friends having babies lately I have really struggled to find quality (and aesthetically appealing) nursery decor for presents. I don’t know about you, but I can’t buy a present I don’t like myself, and because of this little idiosyncrasy I was left with no option than to start making nursery decorations to give as presents. (there will be several future posts about the options I have come up with)

A recent present I made for a great friend (for her new little boy) was a version of these collage animals.

I cannot take the credit for ‘creating’ the collage animal designs that I have used – I found these in a shop in Port Douglas 6 months earlier. Whilst on holiday I was ferreting in one of those incense burning, crystal shops and saw a bowl of these tiny hand-made cards with different collage animals on the front.

To the surprise of the shop assistant, I purchased about 30 of these cards (they were as cheap as chips!). I had no idea what I was going to do with them, but knew I had to squirrel them away for future use have them! Try to picture the conversation I later had with my husband attempting to explain why I had to add to the hord of things sitting untouched at home buy 30 cards for a reason I have not yet established … needless to say, he is getting used to this behaviour (he has recently witnessed a spate of creative endeavours that have utilised many items from my crafty archive – however not at the same rate that I am accumulating).

So, back to nursery decorations. I proceeded to cut the back off the cards and then went about arranging them on small canvases (as pictured), and also did one within a picture frame (a bit more formal).

When I ran out of animals, I used the coloured card from the back of the cards to cut up and create more of my own animals.

I love the colours, and the simplistic animal structure.


Here’s what you need:

  • Some coloured card (not too thin or it will bubble when you glue the pieces onto each other, and firmer card is easier to manage.
  • Craft glue
  • Ideas about what animals you want to create, or simply copy the ones I have used
  • A canvas or picture frame to arrange them on/in.
  • Some imagination!

There is no right or wrong, it is simply cutting pieces of paper and sticking them on top of each other to make it look vaguely like an animal. If your kids are older than newborn, this could be an enjoyable activity for them to do themselves!

Good luck,

Bernice

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