Creative in Chicago: a decorating blog

Arty Farty Friday #11

noreply@blogger.com (Creative in Chicago) — Fri, 25 May 2012 11:30:00 +0000

Dear Chicago House,

With the sudden blooms appearing in my garden this week, I thought I'd share something floral for arty farty Friday.

Here is a simple budding ring in pencil and ink.

Love from

Creative in Chicago

XX

Make your geraniums last forever and more gardening tips

noreply@blogger.com (Creative in Chicago) — Wed, 23 May 2012 19:50:00 +0000

Dear Chicago House,

I do love a bit of gardening but plants are so expensive.

You have quite a big garden and during my first spring here I excitedly waited for things to burst fourth from the ground, what delights would I see? But alas there was hardly anything, you had been hiding no perennials ...except a single patch of these lovelies...

Beautiful pink peonies.

The single plant was in dire need to splitting so came fall I dug it up, gently split up the roots (tubas ??) and replanted them around the garden ... Now I am in a pink paradise with pops of pink everywhere... and I didn't spend a dime. Score!

But the pink points don't stop there. Take a look at these geraniums

Would you believe me if I told you they had spent the winter in a brown paper bag in my garage? Well that is their story!

Last fall I dug up all the geraniums I had planted the previous spring, gently shook the soil from the roots and then encased each plant in a brown paper bag, stapling it shut. The bags lived in a closet in the garage the entire winter, I didn't open them until a few weeks ago. I must admit the plants looked rather bedraggled but they all had a few green buds. I cut away all the obvious dead bits planted then and hoped for the best. Bingo more free plants!

Mr Chicago House told me his Granny used to dig up her geraniums every year and wrap them in newspaper until the following spring. Her little London garden was overflowing with them.

I wonder how many years I can make these geraniums last?

Love from

Creative in Chicago

XX

Arty Farty Friday #10 and another free card

noreply@blogger.com (Creative in Chicago) — Fri, 18 May 2012 11:00:00 +0000

Dear Chicago house,

My, my, the arty farty Friday feature is in double digits!

Let celebrate #10 with these fun snails.

And lets celebrate even more with a free card to download

This would be a perfect card for someone who has just moved house.

You really do not see many snails in Chicago, but they were in abundance in California when I visited a few months back. And no garden in the UK is complete without it's own little army munching away at anything tender.

This painting was done with water colors.

Love from

Creative in Chicago

XX

A bling pencil pot for my office

noreply@blogger.com (Creative in Chicago) — Fri, 11 May 2012 15:13:00 +0000

Dear Chicago House,

It seems I never have enough containers to keep my pencils so this week I rustled up a little something for my desk

Welcome to a bling pencil pot! If you think you have seen one of these before, you are right check out another one here.

Want to make one?

It is easy, here is what you will need.

1 clean can
Decorative vase fillers - marbles
Nail varnish
a sheet of white paper
Modge podge
Hot glue gun

Start by painting the backs of the marbles with your choice of nail varnish, I picked two blue (to compliment the decor in my office) but any colors will work
Cover the tin can with white paper, inside and out sticking it with Modge podge
Cover the can with your tinted marbles - use a hot glue gun

Love from

Creative in Chicago

XX

Arty Farty Friday #9

noreply@blogger.com (Creative in Chicago) — Fri, 11 May 2012 11:00:00 +0000

Dear Chicago House,

You may need your sun glasses on to look at this chalk pastel...it is rather bright. I created this quite a few years back...I wonder what was going through my mind at the time?!

Love from

Creative in Chicago

XX

A walk in the woods

noreply@blogger.com (Creative in Chicago) — Wed, 09 May 2012 11:00:00 +0000

Dear Chicago House,

I have to say the woodlands round here are spectacular in the spring.

I went for a little wander yesterday with my camera and this is a sampling of what I saw.

I am still learning the ropes with my camera but getting there slowly.What do you think?

Love from

Creative in Chicago

XX

A stencil prize

noreply@blogger.com (Creative in Chicago) — Tue, 08 May 2012 20:05:00 +0000

Dear Chicago House,

Remember this stenciled pillow I shared with you a while back?

...well it won me a prize over at The Gunny Sack,$25 worth of stencils from Cutting Edge Stencils

So I went shopping and look what arrived in the mail yesterday.

I can't wait to crack open the paints and have a go.

Thanks to Tonia for hosting the competition and Cutting Edge Stencils for providing the prize.

Love from

Creative in Chicago

XX

Arty Farty Friday #8 and a free card

noreply@blogger.com (Creative in Chicago) — Fri, 04 May 2012 11:00:00 +0000

Dear Chicago House,

I am so thrilled we have had some warm weather this week. I have been faffing around in your garden and all sorts of things are sprouting up including some nasturtium seeds I planted.

So in honor of those little seedlings making an appearance, my art piece for Art Fart Friday this week is an abstract watercolor of nasturtiums.

This would make a wonderful wrapping paper for all those mothers days gifts coming up later in the month... or even a card. And yes guess what you can download this card for free!

It comes complete with cut lines, print it out on some quality card stock and you are good to go.

Enjoy!

Love from

Creative in Chicago

XX

I am going to get in trouble for posting this!

noreply@blogger.com (Creative in Chicago) — Thu, 03 May 2012 16:31:00 +0000

Dear Chicago House,

As you know by now I am an art snob. I don't like any generic art pieces within your walls. Everything has to be unique.

And how about this for unique.

This lovely little paper-mache cat sculpture sits in my office and was made by Chicago teenager when she was about 10. The thing is she hates it, so will not be very please I have debuted in to the world.

But I love it!

Love from

Creative in Chicago

XX

Craft Show Fail and a Wish List

noreply@blogger.com (Creative in Chicago) — Mon, 30 Apr 2012 14:29:00 +0000

Dear Chicago House,

So yesterday Chicago teenager and I took a trip out to a craft show billed as

"SPRING FESIVAL - An Arts &Crafts Affair" Hundreds of the nation's finest artists and crafters display and sell their handcrafted works. Voted one of the top 100 shows in the country.

Sounds good doesn't it and armed with my camera (to capture some blogging inspiration) we set off.

But my camera never left my bag as the show was filled with what I call "tat". Dried flower arrangements, pet clothes, light switch plates, and horrible wreathes made from gaudy ribbon. I was so disappointed.

So it got me thinking about the sort of things that would make a fabulous vibrant craft show, products that would make me want to part with my dosh.

How about this fabulous Union Jack drop cloth pillow made by Linda over at It started with paint and sold through her Etsy store

And the graphic artist in me just loves this fun wall art of Type Faces, It even has one of my all time favorite fonts, Gill Sans.

Or these fun kitchen towels from Pony and Poppy

A fun contemporary print from another Etsy store RetroMenagerie chocked full of lovely things.

I even think one of my rope ball creations would go down a storm.

I actually wish photographed some of the tat just to show you quite how bad this show was!

Love from

Creative in Chicago

XX

Art Farty Friday #7

noreply@blogger.com (Creative in Chicago) — Fri, 27 Apr 2012 11:00:00 +0000

Dear Chicago House,

When I am on the phone I like to doodle and sometime my doodles take on a life form of their own as happened here. I like to hide all sorts of things in my doodles too...then can never remember what or where I hid when I go back and look at them again.

This Doodle was done with a Rotring ink pen...just love those pens

Love from

Creative in Chicago

XX

Organize your Jewelry

noreply@blogger.com (Creative in Chicago) — Thu, 26 Apr 2012 13:14:00 +0000

Dear Chicago House,

Here is a little tip for keeping your jewelry in order. Use a fishing lure box.

Mr Chicago house enjoys the odd bit of fishing and with fishing comes loads of "stuff". When he upgraded his tackle box there were a bundle of these lure boxes going spare. So I "borrowed" them and filled them with beads and pendants and necklaces. No more untangling for me. This box is especially useful as it has compartments I can size to my hearts content.

Love from

Creative in Chicago

XX

Make a bracelet from an old t shirt

noreply@blogger.com (Creative in Chicago) — Tue, 24 Apr 2012 16:41:00 +0000

Dear Chicago House,

I always knew I was destined to be the shortest member of my household. I am 5'7" and Chicago teenager "over took" me about 6 months ago. Her closet needs a good sort out as there are so many things that don't fit.

So I had a little sort and ended up with a bundle.

But before donating to Goodwill, I thought I'd have a go at making something from old t shirts and this is what I came up with.

A braided memory wire bracelet

And you can make one too!

This is what you need

Old t shirts
String
Scissors
Memory Wire
Pliers

And this is what you do

Cut 1" wide long strips of fabric from your t shirts, mine were about 16"
Stretch each strip so they start to roll into itself.
Cut a length of string the same length as your stretched fabric strips.
Knot two strips and the string together.
Cut a length of memory wire (I used a loop and a half)
Place your knotted bundle at the end of the wire and start braiding
When braiding go under and over the memory wire to incorporate it.
When you reach the end knot your braid and snip off the ends.

I made three in total. The pink and blue one was from a stripy shirt.

What have you made from old t shirts?

Love from

Creative in Chicago

XX

Two Throw Pillow Ideas

noreply@blogger.com (Creative in Chicago) — Sat, 21 Apr 2012 16:57:00 +0000

Dear Chicago House,

There is nothing like a throw pillow for a pop of color in a room and does it surprise you that I like making my own. No thought not.

So here are a couple of ideas to rustle up a pair of unique throw pillows.

First We have a fun "dotty" pillow.

I made a pair of these for the "Teenage penthouse" in the basement.

I started with a nice thick cotton in fushia ( two 19"x 19" pieces) and cut circles of various sizes from the old curtain lining I salvaged when I ripped down the disgusting drapes originally on all of your windows.

I used the zigzag stitch on my machine to sew on the circles. When that was down I sewed the two squares of fushia fabric together...remembering to leave a gap so I could turn it inside out and stuff it with a pillow form.

Next we have a little more ambitious pillow.

This one is made using home made stenciled fabric

Like an idiot I was so engrossed while making this I completely forgot to photograph the process (how many of you blogger ladies do this!).

The swirl idea was born from my recent discovery of a bundle of long lost painting in a closet. ( see my pinspiration)

I sketched out my swirl design, transferred it to a piece of thick acetate then with an X-acto knife cut out the image area.

Guess what the white fabric is ...yes more curtain lining! I cut out two 19" square pieces and gave them a really good iron. I stuck my stencil down with blue painters tape and using a short bristled stencil brush and pot of fabric stencil paint got to work. Each time I moved the stencil I gave it a quick wipe as the paint tends to build up along the edges on the stencil resulting in not such a sharp look.

When the fabric was dry I ironed it to fix the color. The color was a little deep so I gave it a wash and was much happier with the softer look.

I sewed the two squares together even adding some piping to give it a little more pop.

And here they are posing in the garden!

Love from

Creative in Chicago

XX

Arty Farty Friday #6

noreply@blogger.com (Creative in Chicago) — Fri, 20 Apr 2012 11:00:00 +0000

Dear Chicago House,

My goodness I have kept up this Arty Farty Friday series for six weeks now and I still have lots more to share.

Today I have a chalk pastel piece in my favorite color, colbalt blue.

Anyone know of any perennials that produce flowers with this depth of color...and survive the harsh winters of Chicago? Let me know if you do.

Love from

Creative in Chicago

XX

Tutorial: Paint a Terracotta Pot

noreply@blogger.com (Creative in Chicago) — Thu, 19 Apr 2012 19:37:00 +0000

Dear Chicago House,

I just love spring time. Call me a dork but there is something very thrilling about seeing pansy seeds I sowed a few weeks back burst into life.

I have not spent nearly enough time in your garden yet but I have made something pretty for it. Take a look at my painted terracotta pot.

So easy to do, you will need

A terracotta pot
White latex paint
Pencil
Acrylic paints
Paint brush
Polyurethane

Start by painting the entire pot, inside and out with a couple of coats of white latex paint. When the paint is dry sketch on a design and "color it in" with your acrylic paints. When it's all done give it a couple of coats of polyurethane to seal everything.

Love from

Creative in Chicago

XX

Blogging Help over at Trade School

noreply@blogger.com (Creative in Chicago) — Tue, 17 Apr 2012 12:58:00 +0000

Dear Chicago House,

I am over at Adventures of our Family today giving a little blogging advice on what you can do to make your images more friendly to the search engines.

Hop on over and join the lesson ...its even got a video!

Love from

Creative in Chicago

XX

p.s. I have started a new Pinterest board just for blogging advice.

Arty Farty Friday #5

noreply@blogger.com (Chicago Web Designer) — Fri, 13 Apr 2012 13:40:00 +0000

Dear Chicago House,

Time to switch up art Farty Friday this week. We have had bold chalk pastel, abstract pencil art, a subtle water color pattern and even some vibrant ladybugs . Can you tell I love color?

But the simplicity of a simple pencil drawing can be so appealing too, I really enjoy sketching faces.

This old man is no one I know...I think it was from a photo I saw in a magazine.

Love from

Creative in Chicago

XX

Free Greetings Card: Hedge Hog

noreply@blogger.com (Creative in Chicago) — Fri, 13 Apr 2012 01:30:00 +0000

Dear Chicago House,

Remember when I shared a page from my sketch book and how I turned one of my idle animal scribbles into a greeting card?

Skinny cat was a big hit, so I thought I'd take a look at that page again and create another card.

This time we have Hedge Hog...not an animal I have once seen in my 16 years in the USA but they are quite common in the UK.

You can download it for FREE here

or just click the photo below.

If you download please leave a comment.

Love from

Creative in Chicago

XX

p.s Get ready it is Art Farty Friday tomorrow

Going Dotty with Nails

noreply@blogger.com (Creative in Chicago) — Thu, 12 Apr 2012 04:00:00 +0000

Dear Chicago House,

I am going to let you in on a little secret ... I can not bear to have my nails long. This is about as long as I let them get.

But left to their own devices I think they would reach a monstrous length ... they like to grow, and fast.

Chicago teenager however is dabbling with a more glamorous hand look. Just look what she let me do with her talons this past weekend. Painting is not just for walls or paper. Time for some creative body art.

I have seen all those fabulous pins on Pinterest so I thought I'd have a bash at some nail art myself . This was pretty easy to do and I think would have been even easier if our pots of nail varnish were not so gloopy.

Here is what I did

Painted each nail with two coats of white.
When the white was completely dry I dipped the head end of a pin ( the sort of pin you use in sewing) in a pink polish then dabbed it randomly over each nail. The pin required a dip per dot.
Sealed everything with a clear top coat.

What fun!

Love from

Creative in Chicago

Arty Farty Friday #4

noreply@blogger.com (Creative in Chicago) — Fri, 06 Apr 2012 12:00:00 +0000

Dear Chicago House,

It's Friday and time for some Arty Farty, look what we have from my collection today. With all the gardening I have done this week I thought it would be fun to share some outdoor critters.

This watercolor of ladybirds would make a great wrapping paper.

Love from

Creative in Chicago

XX

Polymer Clay Easter Eggs

noreply@blogger.com (Creative in Chicago) — Thu, 05 Apr 2012 15:56:00 +0000

Dear Chicago House,

With Easter this weekend I thought I'd have a bash at making some funky decorated Easter eggs. I have seen so many fab ideas on Pinterest and I am a bit late to the game but here we go ...Polymer clay covered Easter Eggs

and so easy to make!

Here is what you will need

Plastic eggs ( or you could use hard boiled real ones)
Polymer Clay in a number of contrasting colors
Knife and cutting board.
A bit of patience!

You need to start by making polymer clay tiles like these

I have already written two tutorials outlining techniques for creating these the spotty tile here and a marbled tile here.

Once you have your tiles stick them all over your eggs and don't worry about the gaps.

Then roll the eggs around to flatten and smooth out the clay and the gaps will disappear.

I didn't bother to bake the eggs, I was a bit worried the plastic egg would melt.

Enjoy!

If you make any I'd love to see them.

Love from

Creative in Chicago

XX

Spring clean up for your garden

noreply@blogger.com (Creative in Chicago) — Wed, 04 Apr 2012 01:34:00 +0000

Dear Chicago House,

With this lovely early spring I have been enjoying messing about in your garden so I thought I'd share with you today how I get you ready for the coming months with a spring clear up. The garden really hasn't changed much since we moved in but I have big plans this year to introduce some perennials as guess what...the garden is void of color most of the year.

So this is how I go about my grand spring clean up

Get a really good pair of gardening gloves, your hands will thank you later.
If you have trees in your yard it doesn't matter how good of a job you do clearing up leaves in the fall, you can guarantee your beds will need a good rake again.
When your beds are all clear, edge them with a sharp spade to create a nice clean line
Cut back any dead bits on plants, stalks, old flower heads etc.
Take a hoe and give the soil of your beds a good working,

and that is that..simple isn't it!

And now for some gratuitous garden pictures.

I can't wait for some summer color and to get things rolling I filled a planter with gorgeous blue pansies today

But wait...I think I may have jumped the gun because when I checked my computer after coming in this is what I saw, a high of 39 deg on Friday with a low of 23..arggghhh. I will be out covering my baby plants.

Love from

Creative in Chicago

XX

Come to the beach with me

noreply@blogger.com (Creative in Chicago) — Mon, 02 Apr 2012 19:22:00 +0000

Dear Chicago House,

Did you miss me? I have been gone for a whole week and spent it exploring the fantastic Californian coast. The forecast was for rain every day but as usual the weather man got it wrong and we only had a single wet day.

I got creative with my camera.

Just look at those fabulous colors (and just for the record none of these photos are enhanced by photoshop!)

and these crashing waves

wish I could grow these in my Chicago garden

A sky so blue

And I couldn't not help but take a quick snap of this drift wood tree for my friend Karah over at the space between

Returning back to "the real world" after a vacation is always hard but I combed the beaches while I was there and have a bag of sea treasure to play with. Not enough sea glass to make one of these but maybe enough to do something like this.

Love from

Creative in Chicago

XX

Arty Farty Friday #3

noreply@blogger.com (Creative in Chicago) — Fri, 30 Mar 2012 22:29:00 +0000

Dear Chicago House,

Welcome to Arty Farty Friday.

I guess I have always been a sucker for blue, greens and cool colors.

This was painted in watercolor and I think it would make a gorgeous duvet or comforter cover.

Love from

Creative in Chicago

XX