Artistic Place Cards
My talented friends over at the Handmade Home created a genius series of Art Books. The basic concept is they gathered lots of talented artists, compiled their work into three books & made all of the art perforated⦠yep, if you see a piece you like you simply pull it right out of the book & frame it! Rather clever those two⦠Well they challenged a few of us to think outside the frame & find a new use for some of their art included in the book & this was my solution.
Obviously the holidays are swiftly approaching & I have table settings on the brain! So I thought that their artwork would be a great way to interject a little color & pattern onto my fall table. I simply took the artwork out of the book & cut it up using a notecard as my template. I then used a thin oil based sharpie to write the name. I like to use oil based as they tend to work better on slicker surfaces.
Now if you are thinking to yourself “No one can read my handwriting!!” I would suggest getting some transparent vellum & have your printer do the handy work for you. I would layer the vellum over the art & fold a bit over on the back adhering with some tape or a glue stick.
I have also been known to print out the name & place the printer paper over the surface I would like the name to appear on. I trace over the outline of the letters with a pen, making sure to press down hard enough to leave an impression on the intended surface. This way when you remove the printer paper, you are left with an imprint that you simply fill in with your pen or marker⦠Cheater Calligrapher over here!
After doing the math, these come out to around⦠40 something cents a piece. So well worth the little bit of effort to stand out this holiday season! If you have a large table I would even mix up a few of the prints to give you that gathered look.
To learn more about Ashley & Jamin’s books head over here <<
Melanie from My Sweet Savannah is sharing her idea next, but be sure to see what the rest of the group does with their art too!
xo – K
Kristen,
So pretty!
You have the best photography on the planet.
End. Of. Story.
karianne
Perfectly elegant!
So pretty Kristin! xoxo
I like the idea of personal art as place cards and often create my own for special events. You have presented your idea so beautifully through your photographs.
I'm just not so sure about cutting up an artist's art reproduction to create it. Unless the artists in this series of books have signed away their copyright on that specific work, they still hold it even in reproduction. That means you can't alter the image in any way. Because I'm an artist and arts advocate as well as a decorator, copyright is an ongoing issue for me , and I would never sign it away. I even hate it when someone reframes my work because I choose the framing to complement the intent of the art.
If you have the books, I would love to know what the copyright statement says. Just plain curious. Sometimes artists make business decisions and forgo their intellectual property rights so they can live.
SO pretty. I really want to take a calligraphy course.
http://www.designsbykaty.com
LOVE it, Kristin! So elegant! And as to the comment above, the copyright is just fine. Anyone who purchases a book may do with it as they please. That's the point. All rights were signed over. This was not meant to be a controversial post. And for what it's worth my own art was used for this as well. It's just a fun take on it all, for something a little different. There's a big difference between original works, and reproductions. When you purchase the book, you own it. Carry on with your awesome ideas!
Hi Margaret,
Thank you! I completely understand your comment & had trepidations cutting up the art as well, but as you can see from Ashley's comment above (one of the creators & artists included in the book) the copyrights were all signed over.
Thanks Ashley!! xo
Thanks for responding to my query . No worry about controversy. I've just been personally bitten along these lines in the past. Sometimes people aren't aware that there is even an issue.
Looking forward to checking back in future. Your blog photography has inspired me to do better on my own blog. I'm breaking down and getting a new camera!
Very cool! On my way to check out the book next.