Head Bangin Coasters

This was another Christmas present project...personalized man coasters for my big brother. I made 4 sets of coasters this year (will post other pics later). These were prob my favorite because I like the black tile as opposed to the white, which yellowed a bit after sealer was sprayed. So all I did was high jack some old CD jackets, cut them up, glue them on home Depot tile, sealed them with a coat of glue, put some cork backing on to keep them from sliding/scratching and lastly polyurethaned them to give a moisture proof seal. Super easy, super cheap and super fun to do as a present. I have many ideas for many more, including some regarding Taylor Swift :) Feel free to comment, this has been one of my fav. Projects :)

La A Note To Follow Sew

This is one of my many Christmas present projects. I pulled it off in about 3 days and for the most part I'm happy with the finished results. This Christmas I decided to make all my presents (kicked myself once I started ahhh so much work!). I was utterly stumped when it came to my moms, but then it just hit me one day (and only days before Christmas) that this project was perfect. So I made her a personalized board to hold all of her thread spools for sewing (she's a crafty chick too, I get it from my momma). At least this way she will have it for years and it won't break or fade. Plus side of something home made and not store bought, plus I'm sure this would have costed a pretty penny to have made...but how would I personalize it so it speaks to her?? Well one of our favorite musicals of course!  I grew up watching so many but The Sound of Music has a sewing reference, score!!! Although I did botch a few things (including the lyrics, but that's just always how I sang them), it didn't come out too bad. I did realize how much I hate wood burning and I do have a new found respect for people that do it by hand for a living (if that's such a thing). She loved it despite me being anal when it comes to my artistic imperfections (I need to think things through a bit better sometimes). So this is the result of just how deep my craftyness flows, hope you enjoy :)

I am so excited to announce, I have a TON of projects in the works. They are Christmas presents I am currently working on so I will not be able to post them until after the holiday. So sorry!
Just to give you a general idea: some sewing and some crafty/thoughtful things. I decided instead of buying this Christmas, I would make something from the heart by hand (get it...lol). However, it is A LOT of work, but worth every effort in the end. I may just post one craft project before the holidays because technically it's not a present ;) So until then...
Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to you and yours. Be Merry, Love often, laugh insanely, and most importantly don't forget about the Lord during this time and all he has done for you and those you love. God bless!

My Real Legs Are Fins

After much searching for mermaid inspired heels and not liking too many (mainly my bank account not liking the price ha), I decided to make my own and do it to my liking in order to mesh with my mermaid style bridesmaids dress. Now these are by no means what I had in mind, but I used what I had in my craft drawer and this is how they turned out. I posted a few different angles of them, me wearing them, and me wearing them in my awesome dress, with the gorgeous bride of course :) It's not my best work but I'm satisfied with the turnout. Just used glitter, glue, and seashells. Fun shoes and a fun night :)
Thanks for checking them out and feel free to comment :)

Zen-Tangled ♥

So this was a new art venture for me and I loved every minute. Its called zentangle drawing and it was introduced to me by a friend :) So its basically glorified doodling,  shapes inside if shapes, but you can get pretty creative with it, there are no limits. Its mostly done with different line markers. Some people make crazy 3-d ones, but this is my first so I kept it simple. I have so many ideas now I can't wait til the next one! Haha. Maybe even in color :)

I know its been a while since I've posted, sorry been busy with the besties wedding. Its almost over, thank god weddings can be nuts...

Well please enjoy and leave a comment!

Child's Play

I designed and painted this for my neices bedroom. She loves cartoons, especially Mickey Mouse Club House, but I wanted to capture more then just one favorite for her. Each character is a letter of her name, as I'm sure you have noticed, and painted with water color paints. Each letter/character took a couple hours, give or take a little. Some did not turn out as I would have liked but overall I am happy with the outcome. Next time I will have to be more careful about measuring and cutting when it comes to matting. I'm sure if you have young children then you know who these characters all are. The best part of this whole project was to get to hear my neice tell me all the characters as she points to them :) I love knowing even a two year old can appreciate my work :) I even added some unique touches to some of the characters. For example, Tinkerbell has glittery fairy dust and Doc McStuffins has a glittery headband and shoes, just like in the show. I love cartoon design, but I am very excited for some more grown up projects I am about to embark on. One being Detroit themed :) thank you for viewing this and I hope uou enjoyed. Please feel free to leave comments and/or questions. Thank you.

Many Yesterdays

After a long month in a half I FINALLY finished my very first quilt. It was arduous, but its the project I am most proud of.

So I promised my Dad over 3 years ago that I would make a quilt from my grandmas clothes. Actually, I was very adamant about the whole thing because he wanted to get rid of a lot. You know how it is after people physically leave us from this world, we need to let go and move on as we hope they do. Death is a hard thing for anyone, but its harder to have to look at the remnants of a loved one. So anyway, after I kept telling him for 3 years I was gonna do it, I finally found someone to help me and who knew what they were doin so I could learn the correct way. Now I've sewn before, but not in a very long time so naturally,  I was a bit nervous lol. Her name is Evelyn and I could not have finished or started this without her. She is a quilting mastermind :)

I'm most proud of this because I actually did it all by myself, the sewing and cutting. Ugh the cutting was the worst!! Evelyn warned me about that haha. But also because to put so much into making something from pieces of the woman that helped shape my life, I am most honored. She was an incredible person and I cherish every memory. Woman had a hilarious sense of humor too :)

...about the quilt

Originally my Dad wanted a queen size, I was like "no way its my first one and that's too much work," well it ended up being that size in the end anyway (your welcome Dad). So after all the painstaking cutting of each piece of clothing and pinning it all together then sewing each piece to each other to make one big square, the damn thing was too small! I was so mad, but my awesome instructor that she is, suggested just to do a thicker border and it would look just as good. I ended up doing a 3 inch dark denim border then a 7 inch lighter denim surrounding that. Although its not too noticable in the pictures, it really pulled together well. Evelyn saved my quilt with that suggestion :) thanks again :)
So after all that it was time to put the backing on (the print wasn't what I had in mind but it worked out really well in the end, sorry no picture), Evelyn quilted the front and back together on her rather impressive machine (this part can't be done by hand or on a reg sewing machine). It looked awesome! Oh yea! I also put photos of my grandma and other family on the quilt before sewing both sides together.  It was a nice touch. :) All that was left was the binding (the edge/trim).

I hand sewed the binding on xmas eve 2013 (I know the pictures tell a different date, my Dad needs to adjust his camers) and was up til 1am watching crime shows just to keep me awake to finish. See my heart was set to give it to him on xmas day and it was gettin real close lol. Anyway, I finished, he opened it xmas day (I tried to wrap it like an idiot so he didn't know what it was but he always knows so yea that didn't work) and he cried before he even unwrapped It all the way! I knew that would happen, my Dad cries when he opens a card haha. So naturally I laughed and said "told you so," outloud. I'm glad its over haha but now I have to make my neice one (doh!). So right now I'm on a little break to focus on her bday present (pics to come) and a few other projects.

Lastly, I do want to say Evelyn did sew the yellow tulip on for me, so that def saved me time. Its my grandmas favorite flower so it had to go on. And a huge thanks to her on the whole project. It means a lot to me that I had the help and insight I did and it will never go unoticed. You are an awesome lady and thank you for making the time for me :) I have a new respect for people that sew lol. So thanks again Evelyn!

Sorry but the pictures don't do this work of art justice. Hope my Grandma is astonished by letting me honor her memory and that you enjoyed this, please leave a comment. Good Night ;)

Lilly

I drew this White Lilly years ago when I was trying to get back into drawing. I've always loved white lillys, although I still don't know why after all these years. There is just a simplistic beauty about them that resembles purity and youth to me that I love and am absolutley mesmerized by. Maybe one day ill figure out the symbolism in my life that draws me to this gorgeous flower and makes me feel no others will ever match up to the White Lillys beauty and essence. When that comes I am going to create a work of art using this flower that looks much more amazing than this one. I cannot wait :) Enjoy and please leave a comment.  

Hand Painted Giant Wine Glass

It took a few hours but I did it! I painted this giant wine glass for my best friends wedding. Its a some what odd tradition I've done for her. Coincidently she broke the one I made her for her 21st birthday, which was supposed to be a joke but she refused to get rid of it, even after she broke it. So I made her a new one years later in hopes she would quit using her old one to display her cowboy hat. I'm not sure if she did in fact get rid of it, but I'd like to think so. The newer one isn't too bad of an eye sore. I  painted the dress to resemble her wedding dress and even put swarovski crystals on it. She is a red head just like the woman on the glass, but aside from being thin, really looks nothing like my friend lol. I kinda just followed my hand and that's what came out, but I am happy with it. The wedding colors were purple and silver so I incorporated that into the glass along with personalizing it with her name on the stem. I also made each of the bridesmaids one of their own as a thank you in helping me plan my friends bachelorette party. The set for the bridal party was my first attempt at painting glass. I didn't know how it would turn out. I think in the end they turned out better then some others I've seen. So thus, I have made it into a hobby, only getting better each time :) I've done many others so if you would like to see more please let me know. The giant wine glass, although hard to drink from lol is a working piece of art and holds I want to say almost 3-4 bottles of wine. They have a multi purpose as well. They are great for a fish habitat and center pieces. The possibilities are endless and apparebtly so am I :) thanks for taking a look. Leave a comment if you wish!

Ariel

"The seaweed is always greener in some body elses lake. You dream about goin up der, dat is a big mistake. Just look at the world around you right on the ocean floor, such wonderful things around you. What more is you lookin for? Under duh sea..."

How can you not jam to that it is a classic and it's also on my running play list :) gets me pumped! Haha

Well obviously I am a huuuuuuge fan of the Disney movie, The Little Mermaid. I can find tons of inspiration when it comes to her personality and I can relate. She looks at our world in awe and amazement, not caring about the danger or the consequences that developes from ignorance or carelessness. Shes driven by passion amd knowledge and well eventually, love. Shes amusing, kind, and predictable. Shes also careless in her quest, much like the rest of us with life. But imagine if you will...looking at the world not knowing any of its things and not caring because your engulfed in its knowledge and beauty that your utterly amazed and astonished by it and it's occupants that your willing to take any risks to experience it...its a fresh perspective on life completely. Its mesmerizing. Id envy her if she were real. I feel its how we should all look at life, but then again it does help to know what your getting yourself into. And well having good friends to do it with is just a bonus. This is a great Disney movie and my favorite. So I felt the need to capture this character when she was most astonished.

This painting took a few months, but realistically it was probably only a few hours because I only paint when compelled...In  this scene she's soaked and wringing out her hair. It may be when she first really notices Eric. I started with a sketch, then moved to water color. I used cheap paints at first so it did not come out to my liking. I fixed that mistake by using prisma watercolor pencils over what I originally painted. Its a high pigment pencil that blends rather well. It was my first attempt at using them. I'm not sure I nailed it, but it definately came out much better then what I previously tried and a big difference at that. So after I penciled/colored everything in, I painted water over the whole picture (You can pencil then paint or you can dip the pencils in water then draw and paint. Its rather cool). And voila! This Is the end product. I hope you like it.

Feel free to leave comments,  constructive critcism, or whatever your heart desires. Thanks for taking the time to look :)

Repurposed File Cabinet

Last year many things happened, but one important thing that NEEDED to happen was to completely redo my bedroom. I wanted to change it from a grey scale with splashes of maroon to splashes of yellow and black. The darkness needed to be lightened up...well just a bit, I prefer dark colors:)

The one thing about my room is that is small and I fill it with a lot of crap! Soooo the need to stay organized is vital to my sanity.  When I changed everything to match my age (finally) and the colors all worked harmoniously together, I had an eye sore of a filing cabinet. It was burnt orange and was most definately the ugly step child that behaved so badly that you had to march  them to the corner only to later forget you put them there in the first place. Loved the color but it had to go. It didn't match at all! (P.s. I dont believe children are ugly, it's a joke people)

So I was thinking I could do chalk board paint on the whole thing...then I thought naaah chalk is messy. Turns out I repurposed my old childhood dresser into a bench and completely repainted it :) it also just so happened that I bought drawer liner for it (which was silly because I store shoes in it so what would be the point in trying to keep it clean or pretty lol) in a floral patten with greys and yellows. So I grabbed that and started cutting it to fit each side of the file cabinet.

It took some smoothing out with a putty knife but I was surprised that the paper stuck so well. I also had to redo a side, but mistakes in cutting are very easy to make :/ Anyway, so when all was said and done I took a step back I realized it just didn't pop how I'd hoped, sooooo I grabbed my black duck tape (I make wallets from various patterns out of duck tape, ugh yes its been done but hey I'm good at it. Pics to come soon) and went to town on making an edge or border I guess to give it some extra pizzaz. Voila!  Not only did I not have to throw out my old eye sore of a file cabinet and lose all my important documents but it also doubles as a cute night stand and all I needed was a razor blade, one-in-a-half rolls of drawer liner, and duck tape. No purchasing required (these are the best kind of projects).

It was a last minute idea that actually worked out well for me, which doesn't always happen. Plus ill have it for years to come. Bonus! So as you can probablly tell I'm happy about it :)

Thanks for taking the time to read my short novel about a once mismatched file cabinet repurposed into a fabulously functional bedroom piece. ;) feel free to comment!

About heArt by hand

heArt by hand  is a company I created to showcase my many artistic talents. Its basically an idea or momento from your heart transformed into something by my hand, whatever that may be...

I free hand EVRYTHING if I am painting/drawing. No stencils or shortcuts. I don't beleive in them and take great pride in doing it by hand. It means more to me and when people know that,  I think they take pride in the creation a little more too.

So what I am goung to do is post something new each week that I've created along with the inspiration behind it. So it would mean a great deal to me if you, the viewer, would let me know exactly what you think. Criticism and/or compliments are welcome along with suggestions. I can pretty much do almost anything so if you would like to see something in particular please feel free to comment.

Thank you and enjoy :)

-Rachel