Blackout Poetry

popular artI've been experimenting with some "blackout poetry" recently. You take some random paper-based text (e.g. a newspaper, magazine, whatever) and black out words until what you're left with is a poem or amusing sentiment. The one above reads: "popular art must be nourishing to people. the absolute ideal art form to sum up the world. explicitly."

Since I don't have much random English text available, I bought a cheap paperback (Sophie's World) at my beloved thrift store and have been destroying it for Art and Poetry. So much fun!


everyday life
You can see my whole set of blackout poetry on flickr. I don't think I'm done with this yet. It's a challenging constraint to play with.


doubts went even deeper

Photographs and artwork by Allison Gryski. © All rights reserved.

Haiku Postcard

haiku postcardAn awesome friend of mine suggested doing a haiku postcard exchange. This is what I came up with. I have forgotten everything I learned about my watercolour paints, so come September (and the Wee Lass begins preschool), I have artsy plans for myself.

Here's a sketch I did as part of the series of motherhood inspired haikus:

motherhood
Photographs and artwork by Allison Gryski. © All rights reserved.

The Sustainable Closet blog series

Accessories Montage

As I mentioned a while ago, I've been blogging for The S.W.A.P. Team every week or two. Lately, I've written a mini series called The Sustainable Closet:

The Sustainable Closet: A Guide to Decluttering your Wardrobe
The Sustainable Closet: My story of Decluttering
The Sustainable Closet: Accessorizing a Minimal Wardrobe

I had a lot of fun playing with different accessories for the most recent article. I'm actually finding that I'm really enjoying my minimal maternity wardrobe at the moment. Everything goes with everything else, and choosing what to wear is so quick when there's only a couple options.

For reference of anyone else planning a small wardrobe, here's the maternity pieces I have:
1 dress, 1 tunic top, 5 tops
1 pr jeans, 1 pr trousers, 1 pr leggings, 1 skirt

I also have a few other tops and a couple extra pairs of jeans that were hand-me-downs from a friend. Fortunately, I love wearing cardigans, so most of my regular sweaters are still wearable. The dress and several of the tops I purchased seem like they may well continue to work in my normal wardrobe just as more gathered or stretchier items.

I think one of the keys for me not minding this restricted set of choices is that everything fits my current style. So no matter what I put on, I feel cute and comfy. My regular wardrobe has a lot of older items that are "just okay" for whatever reason. I've learned a lot from reducing my clothing, both due to moving overseas and now due to maternity clothes. I think I'll try to keep this going when I'm back to my "normal" clothes. It might not be for everyone, but a small wardrobe is definitely for me.

Photographs and artwork by Allison Gryski. © All rights reserved.

Re-purposing Old Fabric

My latest blog post for The S.W.A.P. Team is up and this time it's all about What to Make with Old Clothing and Fabric. In planning the article, I put together a new photo set of all my Reclaimed Fabric Creations.

My article also links to a selection of tutorials for projects that are perfect for leftover bits of material. Lots of these projects are small (so it's easy to re-purpose fabric), which makes them great for those looking for quick projects for the approaching holiday season. Read about it here and Happy Crafting!


not-pants jean skirt


Photographs and artwork by Allison Gryski. © All rights reserved.

More Blogging Adventures

I have been rather sadly neglecting this blog of mine just lately. This Summer, it was travelling and first trimester exhaustion, then in the Autumn it's been more travelling and a series of long-lasting colds. However, I have one little blogging surprise up my sleeve. I will be joining a number of other writers in contributing to The S.W.A.P. Team blog!


SWAP Team Blog Screenshot

The S.W.A.P. Team is a Montreal-based non-profit that organizes clothing swaps in partnership with local charities, such as The Salvation Army. It's 100% volunteer-run, and all the un-swapped clothes go to the charity partner. So far, they've contributed over 21,000 clothing items to charity, and of course, sent many happy swappers home with new-to-them clothes. (One of my favourite clothing swap scores is shown below.) They have chapters around the world now (want to get involved?) and I'm so excited to be able to contribute to such a fantastic organization.


Fairyesque skirt suit with brooch

My blog posts over there will focus on themes like vintage and thrifty fashion and sustainable, eco-conscious consumption. My first post went up today, and it's entitled, How to Find "The Good Stuff": A guide to second-hand clothes shopping. I hope you'll wander over and check it out!