HAPPY EASTER

LITTLE DRAWER

It has come and gone. I can't believe it's been a year. 

The Davis family Christmas Art Exchange has passed and all the masterpieces are being revealed. 

I was assigned to create for: Christine!

My sophisticated and cultured sister in the Netherlands. 

And since I don't make it out there to visit very often, I had to guess what colors would best compliment her house. She likes it so I must have done ok. 

Here's what I made:

A tiny chest of drawers

(only about eight inches tall)

And here's how I made it:

Pick your object. I picked the drawers (of course). It was really inexpensive at Hobby Lobby, especially with a %40 off coupon from their website. Sand that sucker, a lot better than I did. 

Paint your base color. I picked a greyish off white and it took two coats. A cheap acrylic craft paint will work fine. And I like to leave some of the wood exposed if possible, usually on the inside. 

I didn't do that here but I wish I had. 

 

Pick the design you would like to apply. I had some Russian folk floral patterns I had done a while back which was perfect for my sister... right up her ally. Another fun idea if you want suggestions: monograms...  Could be cool to personalize it. But you can print any words, shapes or patterns off you computer. 

Buy carbon transfer paper, found in the drafting/drawing section of any art or craft store. (You can see I've reused mine a lot). And if you don't want to buy it, you could always just rub lead from your pencil all over the backside of the image you want to transfer. Place image where you want to apply it on your object and tape in place. 

 

Trace the outlines of each shape with a ballpoint pent. Use a pen that is a visible color so you can see where you drew. Remove image. 

Paint in your design! This is the fun part but it takes a while so if you're not committed, you might want to pick something less complex and that doesn't have too many fine lines. 

Polish it off by spraying it with a coat of varnish. I like a high gloss finish because it makes the colors bright, like they're wet. I use Krylon Crystal Clear high gloss varnish, in a spray can. 

Once it dries, it's done and beautiful!

SPOOK FEST

Painted this little doll on cardboard over my fireplace for the Halloween Party...

She glows in black light.

Happy Halloween!

IF YOU DARE . . .

Halloween invite design for a little get-together I'm putting on.

Font is free, found here.

PATCHWORK PUMPKINS

You know it's my favorite time of year! I love love love the holidays, and since I'm obsessed with ghosts and all things scary, Halloween is on my mind long before October. Some friends of mine and I were feeling festive but it was too early to carve pumpkins without them spoiling before the big day, so we opted for a more fine arts approach.

The large one is a real pumpkin. But I liked the way it turned out so much that I decided to make a few more that would last longer. The two little ones are foam pumpkins from the dollar store.

Two $1 pumpkins + $1 Cream craft paint + $1 black craft paint=

two awesome patchwork pumpkins for $4!

Thirteen frightful steps to painted patchwork pumpkins:

 Paint two pumpkins with cream color craft paint. Do two coats to completely cover the orange of the pumpkin.

 

 Using a fine brush, paint black lines on the pumpkin, dividing it into 11 unique shapes. Make sure the lines are clean and solid (former art teacher coming out of me).

Paint a spiderweb:

Paint fine black sunburst stripes. Connect the lines together with curved webbing.

 

Polka dot it!

Paint in some fishnet:

Paint fine diagonal stripes, paint diagonal stripes at a hard angle to create diamond shapes.

 

Paint some spooky spiders:

Paint watermelon seeds. Add eight legs to each.

 

 

Make it creepier with some skulls:

Paint narrow semi circles in a row (looks like teeth). Paint the bottom of each semicircle into a skeleton jaw.  Add teeth, eye sockets and nose cavities.

 

Add in some fun little ghosts:

Paint in ghost silhouettes. Fill in extra space with black paint. Paint in mouths and eyes.

 

  

Add bold horizontal stripes.

 

Paint in pointy bat silhouettes.

  

 

Finish up with some fine lined chevrons and sunburst stripes. 

Some other fun patterns to add in are:

eyes, moon & stars, bones, words, bold vertical stripes or bold chevrons.

   

 

Spray them with a high gloss varnish. It makes the blacks look wet black. I like Krylon Clear Glaze. Spray it outside though because it stinks! I elevated the pumpkins off my drop cloth (trash bag) by resting them on some small Tupperware lids. 

 

 Enjoy!

Happy Halloween!