Sparkles

What is it about glitter that just makes everything look so pretty? You just have to love sparkles, they are always festive! Found In The Art Cupboard....

A Box of Rainbow Happiness

This made me smile when I took the photo. Just a box of pastels, in a rainbow of happy colours.

I am 163 days in to my 365 Day Project. So, please head over to In the Art Cupboard to see what I've been up to!

A few of my favourites so far, over the progression of the project.....

Day 141

Day 81

Day 64

Day 124

(All Images Photographed by and Copyright of: Jennifer Michie)

Bringing the Outside In

It is always nice, but especially, at this time of year, to bring the outside, indoors. I can appreciate that it is not always easy for some of us. I live in a very tiny cottage and there is not always space to have what you want.

This idea, however, would work for anyone. I saw it on the lovely One Pearl Button Blog. Everyone has bits and bobs laying around the house they can use. It doesn't have to be an apothecary jar, it could be a giant old jam jar, or your Nana's favourite mixing bowl. It could be old plastic farmyard animals that are laying around, your children don't play with any more, instead of the cupcake toppers.

It is simply, just a little way to bring the outdoors in, to create a whimsical world and bring a smile to your face every time you see it!

Go to Alli's site for further information.

A Book

One of my colleagues in the Art Department is a wonderfully delightful woman. She usually marches into my cupboard in the morning, singing "Hello" to me, like my own personal Ethel Merman.

She was commissioned by a county museum to create a piece about books. She used a vintage book and then began to take it apart. Drilling through it, slicing out interesting text and images, putting it back together in an accordion fold, that when opened creates the most fascinating scenes as you peer through the "tunnel" into the book. One of my favourite bits of text is the one used in the image above, "A constant source of surprise, was the joy of doing it".

A resourceful artist and one who does not waste, she stacked the circles that were drilled out of the book on top of each other and screwed in a acrylic holder to make a resting spot for the book when it is closed.

It is a truly charming piece of work and is something that I will be photographing and documenting over on In the Art Cupboard this week, so please come over and take a look!

Are You Watching?

Have you been over to In the Art Cupboard lately? I have just finished my first month of posting all the Art Cupboard treasures I am finding and there is so much more to come, so please tune in...

Come on over and visit me at my 365 Day Blog!

Come In...

Knock, Knock, Knock! Come in, the Cupboard door is now OPEN!

Come one, Come All...

Step right up! Step right up! Come one! Come all to In the Art Cupboard.

Enter through the magical cupboard door  October 1st and see what awaits you!

I'm getting ready for the "grand opening". Entry is FREE, grab your popcorn, get your peanuts....Step right up! Step right up!

(Image: Flicker Sabine&cats')

The Art of Simplicity

I have gone through so many changes with my new blog, In the Art Cupboard. I had so many different ideas of how I wanted it to look. It would be cleaner, simpler, not all the girly flowery things that exist here on Jenny Wren's.

I mocked-up a "board", trying a background that looked like a cork board with my designs pinned on it and lived with that for awhile, although something about it never felt right. I tried a stretched canvas background, a solid color in a variety of hues. Like Goldilocks, I just new they were not the right fit.

And, then it hit me! I was trying too hard, too hard to make it look like something it wasn't, this is a blog about simplicity, about finding one thing a day you want to photograph and putting it up for the world to see and so, the site itself, should be just that. I lost my way for a little bit, but I found it again, simplicity is key.

Into The Cupboard

I ventured into the cupboard yesterday and began to get the lay of the land. I wanted to straighten some things up, clean some things out and just get a general idea of where everything is supposed to be!

In the process I brought along my camera with me to start to get a feel for how I want to shoot things: in a collage, by item, a mixture of the two? Do they look best on my work table? My desk? With a fabric background?

So, I played around a little, grabbed a few things and started to shoot. I had so much fun, cleaning and discovering some of the items in there, like an original box of violin strings from what looks like the 50's or 60's, there is a handwritten note on the side stating they are 20p each.  I also found an original handheld camera from the 1960's with the original receipt of purchase and Japanese instruction manual still intact.

These are just a few images from yesterday. Some, might be used in my new blog, others not, but I wanted to get a feel for things and how they would best work and be photographed. I can't wait for school to start!

Visit my new blog I will be beginning my 365 day project soon...

(Tape & Tag in image are Pugly Pixel Freebies)

Lost & Found 4

*"London Brick Company", toy truck found on a windowsill.

Lost & Found 3

*"Fetch", plastic dog with a ball found on a windowsill.

Lost & Found 2

*"I Ain't go noBody...", a Dora the Explorer head found on the sidewalk.

Lost & Found 1

*"Stuff It", resin dog found on top of a garbage bin

Lost & Found

As you know, from my last post, I am beginning a new blog called, "In the Art Cupboard". It is here that I plan to do a 365 day project through the medium of photography.

I am making a point to be armed with my camera more and more as I go out to run errands, shop, or we take a walk through our beloved woods.

This is a small test, dipping my toes in the water to see what I think of doing this project, is it best to leave my photos as they are, do I like the idea of tweaking some of them, do I want them all to have a certain feel, or will that change depending on what I am shooting?

So for the next 4 days I will place one image on my blog in a miniature series of "Lost & Found". These are all items that I have found out and about while talking a walk. Some still remain where I found them, others have either been taken by someone else or swept away....

In the Art Cupboard

You might have noticed recently that I have a new button in my sidebar. It is a link to my new blog. I have decided to take on a 365 day project in conjunction with my new job and if all goes well, I would like to continue taking photographs of a chosen theme for a set amount of time. Sometimes a picture really can say a 1,000 words!

I still have some tweaks to make and cleaning up to do, but the bones are there and the structure is slowly being defined. My new job is a position within a school Art Deparment and my office is literally "In the Art Cupboard".

It is filled with the most delicious items vintage and new, that are used to set up still lifes or for use in the students personal work. There are tons of old car parts, lanterns, ancient suitcases, doll parts, vintage bottles, old-fashioned typewriters, just to name a few things that are contained within those walls.

I shall begin, with what I hope to be an ongoing project by photographing the items hidden within my cupboard for 365 days. I hope you join me on my journey as I begin to discover what exactly is "In the Art Cupboard"!