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Upcycling to Create a New Boho Daybed

Before: the old couch summerhouseart.com

Ah, Before and After. This is the story of an old hide-a-bed couch being replaced with an up-cycled Daybed very thriftily made and done up in Boho style.

After: New Daybed summerhouseart.com

 The old couch, with its unbleached cotton cover hiding stains, old age, many, many years of wear, not to mention large shreddy bits made by long gone cats, just had to go! It just so happened that we had most of the components for a new daybed, stored in the basement, waiting to be transformed. Something much more comfy and better looking than a lumpy, old hide-a-bed. We’d just been waiting for a little time to tackle it.

First, had to get the old couch hauled away by a company that would make sure it all got recycled. We had the rails of an old Ikea single bed, missing the slats. Not sure, but I think they may have been used for some other project. We had a couple of substantial wooden chair or couch arms that one of our sons had found years ago and brought home.

Will, stapling the slats made from pallets, summerhouseart.com

We had saved the two foam seat cushions from the old couch to make new back cushions from. We cut those in half with an old electric carving knife and made four cushions from them.

Old foam seats now backs for new daybed, summerhouseart.com

Will, in the mean time had ingeniously figured out a way to attach the arms of the chair to the rails of the bed. And like so many people these days…. he recycled some pallets into slats for the bed. The only new thing we ended up getting was the actual foam mattress. An Eco foam mattress, so no off-gassing etc.

The aforementioned unbleached cotton cover was sewn into “new” covers for the foam. And the material from a thrift shop duvet cover became new covers for the cushions.

And finally, a chance to get creative with all my fabric stash, collected from garage sales and thrift shops. Chaos while deciding on the fabrics I’d use.

Fabric chaos, deciding on fabrics for new pillows, summerhouseart.com

Lovely new pillows, in the Boho Style.

2 new Pillows for the Boho Daybed, summerhouseart.com

Love how the fabric looks with an iris.

Iris with new pillow fabric, summerhouseart.com

And tah dah! New daybed! We love it! Finally a place for napping where you can actually stretch right out and really relax. Makes a nice couch too.

New Daybed, summerhouseart.com

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We’ve Got a NEW Shop on Etsy called FoundMadeArt!

Beach necklaces by Will Bushell, summerhouseart.com

We’re a couple of artists who are always open to new ideas, new avenues even. In the last few years we’ve been exploring some new ways of selling our work online. We’ve got lots of work up in some Print on Demand Online shops like our Summerhouse Art on Society 6, Summerhouse art on Zazzle and Red Bubble. It’s been a bit of learning curve but lots of fun too.

Which brings me to our latest venture….FoundMadeArt

So, a little lead in….  We’ve always been in love with beach combing. I’m one for watching tide charts and finding just the right day to head out to Sidney to look for beach pottery and beach glass.

Sailboat in Sidney BC summerhouseart.com

And we’ve made a few things like Bird baths

New Mosaic Birdbath by summerhouseart.com

and mirror frames with it.

Beach Pottery Mirror by Helen Bushell, summerhouseart.com

One day Will started playing with the idea of making jewelry from driftwood and beach glass. Off he went researching and learning everything he could about wire wrapping online and at the library.  Honestly, there is nothing that hasn’t got a tutorial about it somewhere. We love that generosity. And with his natural sense of design he was soon creating some really lovely necklaces.

Beachcombing treasure summerhouseart.com

 Which brought us to where to sell it all? He’d made quite a few. So we looked into Etsy. This time though, we couldn’t use our usual name of Summerhouseart since it had already been used in one form or another. But Will soon came up with the perfect new name. So, drum roll…… our new shop is called FoundMadeArt.

I love the new name since its all about finding things, like beach glass and driftwood and making something artful with it. And it leaves a lot of scope for other things that we like to work in too, like collage, assemblage and mosaics. The plan is to start with jewelry now and add a variety of other “found art” as we go along.

Here is a little introduction to what he’s been creating lately. We like to think of it as Surfer, beach jewelry. You can just link to the Etsy shop by touching the pic. BTW, you may notice in the photo of us, we look kinda young. But never mind, we decided to use it anyway since that’s how we still feel as long as we stay away from mirrors. Young at heart, that’s us.

 SOLD Pink Sea Glass Pendant by Will Bushell, FoundMadeArt Etsy shopDriftwood pendant by Will Bushell, FoundMadeArt

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sea Pottery Pendant by Will Bushell, FoundMadeArtSea Glass Pendant by Will Bushell, FoundMadeArt

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Another Student Enjoying Mosaics

Summerhouseart Student Tanya's mosaic mirror

The first class in my mosaic classes is all about possibilities. First, I like to show students as many possibilities of what they can do with broken dishes as I can. I give them a tour of all my mosaics, then I show them lots of books of mosaics and for about 10 minutes I give them a taste of actually breaking dishes in my studio with my two wheel cutters. And then …. we go Shopping at Thrift stores for dishes to break! Everyone’s favourite part!

Some students are overwhelmed with all the possibilities and some just get even more excited to start. Tanya was the latter. In fact, between the 1st class and the 2nd one, she made a couple of small mirrors on her own at home! For her project she chose to make a pretty good sized mirror, which was going to be bit of work. But Tanya, who has her own studio/gallery in the Yukon where she makes jewelry, is quite used to getting down to work. And that she did.

As you many have gathered, I teach Pique Assiette mosiacs, which is a type of mosaics made with broken dishes and I always encourage students, when we go shopping, to look for color and patterns they’re really attracted to. I’ve always found that you tend to actually use those dishes, and may ignore the ones that you don’t have quite the affinity for. Tanya chose a lot of blue dishes, in a variety of patterns and I threw in a little donation of one of my hoarded abstract plates to use too.

She had the mirror ready for grouting for the last class. This is us cleaning up the grout and glue from each piece of mosaic.  And yes, that is an old toothbrush I’m using, works really well for this task.

Summerhouseart Student Tanya's mosaic mirror

We’d chosen a grout that would set off every piece. A little comparison here to show the finishing touch the grout makes.

Summerhouseart Student Tanya's mosaic mirror

Summerhouseart Student Tanya's mosaic mirror

One of the things Tanya wanted was to create a mirror that could be hung either horizontally or vertically as a diamond. And for that we devised a pretty balanced design so that it would look great either way.

Summerhouseart Student Tanya's mosaic mirror

Tanya had a far reaching plan too. She wanted to offer more than jewelry in her gallery. When she posted her little mirrors and her finished class mirror on her Facebook, she was already getting orders for more! And no wonder!  I think she’s a natural at mosaic.

She’ll be heading back to the Yukon in the spring and has been busy finding more dishes to take back to her studio there to create more mosaics.  She creates some lovely jewelry too at her gallery/studio Motherlode Jewellery.

 

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A Deceptively Delicate Floral Patchwork Mosaic

Floral Patchwork mosaic, Helen Bushell, summerhouseart.com

There is, to me, a visual connection between pique assiette mosaic and patchwork quilting. In fact, one thing I’ve noticed with many of my mosaic students, was that those who had previously worked with fabric patchwork, had no trouble at all visualizing a patchwork of patterns with broken dishes. They instinctively reached for dishes in the Thrift shop, that though very different in pattern, had a thread of color or style that could easily work together.

This little mosaic is only 8 inches by 8 inches. Before I started it I had been looking at fabric patchwork and as a change from my last much more abstract piece, I decided to use up a few of the floral designs I’d been collecting.

from Floral Patchwork mosaic, Helen Bushell, summerhouseart.com

As I was working, arranging bits of dishes and deciding on the patterns and colors,

from Floral Patchwork mosaic, Helen Bushell, summerhouseart.com

it occurred to me to introduce a bit of surface relief with lids, a bit roundness to contrast the square format of the mosaic.

I happen to have a rather nice collection of orphaned lids and was spoiled for choice. I left spaces for the lids as I went along,

 from Floral Patchwork mosaic, Helen Bushell, summerhouseart.com

but glued them down before grouting.

Floral Patchwork mosaic, Helen Bushell, summerhouseart.com

As I work in my studio, I like to play all sorts of music and I found that I seemed to be listening to a lot of music by women. Which got me thinking about quilts made by women and how floral patterns are so often associated as being feminine.

Floral Patchwork mosaic, Helen Bushell, summerhouseart.com

And it occurred to me as I worked away, cutting and gluing, sometimes singing along, and sometimes pondering, that quilts, fabric, flowers and women are often associated with being delicate and only beautiful. But women know that that look of delicacy may be very deceptive. Women, far from being the “delicate sex”, have a strength of their own, often shown by their nurturing skills. And fabric quilts, while beautiful and fragile looking are often made in hard times, and still survive  for many years, a bit frayed but still strong and warm.

from Floral Patchwork mosaic, Helen Bushell, summerhouseart.com

Flowers too, while being delicate and having a short life, are sometimes the crowning glory of robust plants that have pushed up through hard soil and even the cracks in cement! OK, I suppose, I was having one of those feminist moments.

But, as I broke dishes and reassembled the pieces into other patterns, I also thought of the strong women in my life that have dealt with and are dealing with breast cancer, and just how strong you have to be to come through that challenge.

At any rate, back to my little mosaic. It is a mixture of delicate flowers and even delicate china, as in that fragile golden cup handle that just felt right attached to the side. It is probably the most “feminine” looking mosaic I’ve done for a long time, and I love it.

Floral Patchwork mosaic, Helen Bushell, summerhouseart.com

 

 

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Not Another Christmas Tree! No, Something Much More Fun!

Christmas Chandelier, summerhouseart.com

Last year, as an alternative to the ubiquitous tree, we decorated a bamboo birdcage with rather nice results. And this year, we again pondered whether or not to get the tree out… or do something else. And once again,we unanimously decided not to do another tree for Christmas.

We like to do something different now and then, for instance, this year, we didn’t even unpack our collection of over 100 Santas.

I’d been seeing the occasional decorated chandelier on Pinterest and it brought to mind a chandelier that we’d picked up in a free box at a garage sale a few years ago.

Christmas Chandelier, summerhouseart.com

It had been languishing in large basket in the greenhouse ever since. It didn’t work, since it needed rewiring, but I could see it dripping with little lights and way too many decorations.

Christmas Chandelier, closeup, summerhouseart.com

Not to mention a rather nice collection of crystals that I’d been collecting. Of course, they took a bit of searching for, but eventually I found one batch in a drawer in the kitchen and found more in a dish in the studio.

Christmas Chandelier, summerhouseart.com

Then loads of colorful beads. And jewel colored baubles.

Almost everything has been found at thrift stores or garage sales. But, amazingly, I found I needed even more beads! Thank goodness, just in time, I got an email announcing that all the Christmas decor was on sale for 50% off at the Thrift Store. We wasted no time getting there and found a wonderful long string of LED lights for the entry way for $5 as well as more bags of beads for only $4.  As I’m always saying, the world is an abundant place, especially if you like 2nd hand.

The  chandelier is definitely over-the-top, just the way I like it!  And it looks lovely to us in the day time…

Christmas Chandelier, summerhouseart.com

as well as the night…

Christmas Chandelier, daytime, summerhouseart.com
We had such a good time taking photos of it, that I just had to share.

Christmas Chandelier, summerhouseart.com

 

Christmas Chandelier, summerhouseart.com

One thing we did notice, when we were trying to take photos, is that it takes a while to stop swaying, once disturbed. So, probably, just as well, that we no longer have a cat. Can you imagine how much temptation this would be for a cat? Oh, I don’t even want to think about it!
Christmas Chandelier, summerhouseart.com

Hope you are having just as much fun decorating your place for the Holidays!

 

 

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Playing With Collage on Quiet Afternoon

Round the Bend, collage, by Will Bushell, summerhouseart.com
Round the Bend, collage, by Will Bushell

We look for old magazines at garage sales, but with a difference. Not necessarily to read, although we often do, but we are looking more for interesting papers and colors and images to use one day in collage. Lately, I’ve fallen in love with the inside of business envelopes, they often have such lovely textures to use. My favourite for now is Speckle #10.

Map line with speckle, collage, by Helen Bushell, summerhouseart.com
Map line with speckle, collage, by Helen Bushell

I’m also afraid that I hardly ever throw anything out. So I also have a box of scraps from former collage afternoons. Just in case we might need that particular letter or color or texture.

It's all in the wrist, collage by Will Bushell, summerhouseart.com
It’s all in the wrist, collage by Will Bushell,

Someone once commented on the fact that we’ve got an awful lot of stuff saved, from magazines, to scraps of stained glass, old dishes and ornaments, and even a stack of old furniture. They asked if we are hoarders. Well, I replied, artists are never hoarders, we’re just collectors with plans.

Grid with color, collage, by Helen Bushell, summerhouseart.com
Grid with color, collage, by Helen Bushell

So of course, if we decide on a quiet afternoon to make some collages, we’re ready to roll, or should I say cut and paste in minutes. We have old Train mags, old Wallpaper mags, all sorts of old magazines, we have a big glue stick and a few pairs of scissors. So the kitchen table is cleared and the fun begins! And sometimes, the chaos of magazines, scraps and glue stick might remain on the table for a few days and we eat our breakfasts around it all. Until……one day we say, let’s put it away until another collage day comes along.

Speckle #10, collage by Helen Bushell, summerhouseart.com
Speckle #10, collage by Helen Bushell

As you can see, we have very different styles, even though we are both working intuitively. I’m sort of the type who likes to keep piling it on until I like it, the more color the better. And Will, he works slowly, more deliberately, finally creating a perfectly balanced, minimal composition that I always love immediately. Even without the titles, it’s pretty easy to tell which collages are whose, right? Hope you enjoy. BTW you can find some of these images on Home decor products like pillows, wall art and even furniture in our Society 6 shop.

Tornado, collage, by Helen Bushell, summerhouseart.com
Tornado, collage, by Helen Bushell,
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What a Difference a Grout Makes

In the summer, Will and I often work together on a big mosaic project, facing each other across a worktable, under the pergola, which is covered in vanilla scented clematis. It’s a time that we enjoy as we chat and work, while listening to music and enjoying the aviary that is our summer garden. Usually, the project keeps us at work for a few weeks.

But this summer we didn’t get a chance to and missing that time of working together, we decided to spend some time together instead in my studio each creating a small mosaic, but still enjoying our chats and music. There is something very companionable about working with another artist even if on different projects.

We’d picked up some 8 inch x 8 inch wooden box panels at the artist supply store and after a quick gessoing to give us an undistracting ground, we set to work.  We work in a type of mosaic called Pique Assiette, which uses broken dishes.  I’d saved a lovely plate of black speckles on white, precious to me because I only had the one. I also had a small amount of black plates with a jagged white line that I’d set aside long ago for some special project. Today seemed like the time to use them. Will, on the other hand, wanted to create something with mostly white dishes, with a minimal design and color. We save the middle of dishes just for the great supply of whites, once you’ve used up the fancy edges on top of the dishes.

So after snatching time in the studio over a few weeks, we finally got to the grouting stage. And then of course, the big question is, what color grout?

I’d already pretty well decided on black since I wanted to set off the white bits with black grout and create a contrast with the lines created on the black dishes with white lines. Here is the piece without grout. I especially enjoyed how often the piece of black plate had these wonderful little x’s or crosses that I could feature in the design.

Ungrouted Speckle Mosaic by Helen Bushell, summerhouseart.comshell, summerhouseart.com

And then, voila, the difference with grout.

 

Speckle mosaic grouted by Helen Bushell, summerhouseart.com

And Will also decided on black grout to create even more interest in the design he’d created. And as I alluded to in the title, I’m showing how different the look of each piece is after grouting. In his piece the contrast is the greatest and I couldn’t resist showing the difference. Without the grout his white areas are as one, a white background united setting off the arcs.

Ungrouted Blue Over mosaic by Will Bushell, summerhouseart.com

With black grout the whites are suddenly set apart and create a whole new texture. A whole new composition!

Blue Over mosaic by Will Bushell, summerhouseart.com

 

One thing that we have learned is that with black grout you have to be ready for surprises and be able to use them. The surprise is that all those little scratches on your white dishes that you were unaware of, suddenly show up when you apply black grout. You can look at them as a blemish or you can look at them with an artist’s eyes and see them as line work that adds texture to the whites. So the latter is what we expected and used.

The other interesting design element that I like about working on this type of a panel surface is that you get to play with the top and sides too. So I thought I’d share those with you too. Love those little x’s!

Top side Speckled mosaic, by Helen Bushell summerhouseart.com

Right side Speckled mosaic by Helen Bushell, summerhouseart.com

Bottom side Speckled mosaic by Helen Bushell, summerhouseart.com

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Getting onto Bloglovin

Follow my blog with Bloglovin

As with most things I do, it’s always a learning curve.  Today, on a whim I decided to get on to Bloglovin, which to tell the truth I know very little about.  But I’m learning.  I do wish the info was a little easier to find.  As with a lot of things on the internet, it seems that it’s assumed that we all know what everything is or what it does or why it’s so good.  Ah well.   But I see that it’s a place for you to keep all the blogs you’re following in one place and keep up with their latest posts.  OK!  sounds like fun but now back to the studio….and hopefully more posts on mosaics and art to come soon!

 

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Having Fun Creating Collage Faces

We recently had our grandson Andrew, out for a visit.  It’s always fun to see life from the point of view of a 6 year old. Being the “artist grandparents”, we like to encourage him to be creative. Last summer we gave him a little sketchbook and lots of pencil crayons to use and this year we did the same. But I wondered about something else we could do, that would be easy and uncomplicated, but still lots of fun.

I remembered some really great collage faces done by a grade 3 class that I’d found on Pinterest. You’ll have to look at this link, just click on the pic. The faces are just fantastic!  Please feel free to check out my collage board on Pinterest too.

3rd grade photo "humanimal" montages | by wimomz/kari
3rd grade photo “humanimal” montages | by wimomz/kari on Flickr

And….to give ourselves a little practice and ok, have some fun too, we thought we’d better try some out ourselves before he came over that day. Well, although the ones done by the Grade 3 class had lots of animal noses, we had to make some adjustments. In our stash of old mags we mostly found lots of people faces and very few animal faces to use. But never mind, all was good. Making one led to making another and before you knew it we had a small collection..

Ta dah!….

Collage faces Summerhouseart.com
Collage faces Summerhouseart.com
Collage faces Summerhouseart.com
Collage faces Summerhouseart.com

When Andrew came over that day, it turned out he was much more interested in playing with all the toys we save for him instead and we didn’t get a chance to make any collages with him. But all is well, he has the collages to put on his wall at home and he really likes them.  I’m pretty sure Mum and Dad will be sitting down soon with him to make some odd but interesting faces too.

Anyway Grandma and Grandpa had lots of fun and hey, there’s still lots of face parts and magazine clippings left over.  We could make some MORE!

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New Scarves on Red Bubble

Royal Jester Scarf by Will Bushell, on Red Bubble
Royal Jester Scarf by Will Bushell, on Red Bubble

We’ve been adding new products on some of our Print on Demand sites.  Red Bubble has come up with a lovely scarf and we’ve been having a bit of fun applying some of our designs to them.  As you can see, they are HUGE and would look lovely wrapped or tied. The fabric is soft and light.  Here is Red Bubble’s description.

  • Large 140cm square ( or almost 56 in x 56 in.)  so a lovely size for wrapping and tying.
  • Full print is visible on the front and reverse
  • Microfiber polyester with a slightly transparent effect
  • Hand wash only. Do not dry clean or tumble dry.

Another example is my design Spread Sheet Tango on both a scarf and also matching Pencil Skirt.

Spreadsheet Tango scarf by Helen Bushell on Red Bubble
Spreadsheet Tango scarf by Helen Bushell on Red Bubble

Pencil Skirt,Spread sheet tango by Helen Bushell on Red Bubble
Pencil Skirt,Spread sheet tango by Helen Bushell on Red Bubble

Then another of my Painted Daisies design….

Painted Daisy scarf by Helen Bushell on Red Bubble
Painted Daisy scarf by Helen Bushell on Red Bubble

And also of a Collage done by Will titled “You May Know One”

Collage scarf by Will Bushell on Red Bubble
“You May Know One” Collage by William Bushell on Red Bubble

and another lovely collage by Will, Tuesday Afternoon, which is really a favourite of mine.  But we hope you’ll have a look at all the other designs we’ve posted too.  And if you see something you would like made into a product we haven’t done, just drop us a line.

"Tues Afternoon" collage scarf by Will Bushell on Red Bubble
“Tues Afternoon” collage scarf by Will Bushell on Red Bubble

 

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