A woman who was 'broke' after moving into her new flat saved £2k by making her own artwork - costing just £33. Ellyse Jay, 25, decided to put paint to paper to create her own masterpiece after finding similar pieces she loved online which were upwards of £2,000. To create the look she was going for, she bought three 150cm by 100cm canvases - costing £19 each. She also spent £42 on paint and baking soda - for a textured effect - before using a pallet knife to spread the paint across the canvas and using the sponge to add extra texture. Ellyse worked out that the canvases cost just £33 each - and £99 in total - to create and is 'thrilled' they achieved the 'bougee' look she was going for. She filmed herself creating the artwork and uploaded it to TikTok where it quickly racked up 24k views. Ellyse, a creative manager for a fashion brand, from Southampton, Hampshire, said: "I was living at home with my parents before I bought my flat. "I now have mortgage and bills to pay it is quite a drastic change, I set aside some money for furniture but once I bought the bulk things I didn't have much money left over for anything else. "I liked the colours of the canvas I saw, I have a lot of greys and beiges in my apartment so I needed something top incorporate it all. "Plus my apartment is very white so I needed something to fill the walls, It was mainly the colours I like, the ones I saw were quite abstract." "I am very particular with what I like and what I want, the things that I was finding that I liked were upwards of £2,000. "I was like 'this isn't going to work for me.' "I am quite a creative person anyway. "I thought it would be a fun activity to do, I have done little bits of painting before as it is something I do for fun sometimes. "So I just thought instead of paying £2,000 for a painting I would go out, get the materials and do it myself. "I'm thrilled with the results - it looks expensive." Ellyse said she was 'shocked' by the response she received on social media after posting a video of the process. She said: "Obviously I liked them, I painted what I would pay for but I had other people say that they look great and people were saying that if I sold them they would buy them. "I could maybe start a little side hustle one day. "I am a bit entrepreneurial as well, not that I want to monetise everything. "But for people my age who are in the same situation as me, being able to create art for a cheaper price - I think that is really nice and there's a personal element to it too." She added: "When I was looking for artwork for the wall, I made a Pinterest board of things I liked and things I didn't like. "I saw one painting I loved that had the same colours. "I then sat down with the canvas and thought I would copy it, but as I started I thought I am just going to have fun with it, do what I feel and work with the flow of it." In Ellyse's day-to-day life she runs the social media for a small fashion brand. She said: "I am a photographer, so photos and videos are basically my life. "People seemed to love my artwork hack." This is not the first time Ellyse has turned her hand at being creative - in March 2022 she upcycled a cheap vase that she already had. She said: "I basically did the same as what I did with the canvas, I got some bicarbonate soda and some acrylic and dabbed it on to add a texture. "I guess I have got quite a unique style and finding things I like in that style is naturally quite expensive so I am trying to find cheaper ways of doing it." Ellyse can be found on TikTok @ellysejay.
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Fun