DIY Abstract Art

I was raised in a very art filled house.  My mom is an art teacher and my dad is an architect turned artist.  Somehow, it took this little blog of mine to get my creativity going.  My sister wanted some art for her house.  We started with a canvas from Michael's that we painted with blue house paint. 

I somehow mangaged to not get a single picture of us in the process.  I used some of the leftover Decoart paint which I love.

I just dragged a paintbrush over the canvas.  I love the mix of some of the metallic paints.  The day after we did the painting, she found this little vase at Target.  It's like if we would've planned it.

I kind of improvised as I painted. We had no real plan or idea, but it seemed to work.  I'm loving it and my sister does too.  We had my nephew on his own canvas as we painted, which was great.  What do you all think?

I'll be linking up to these parties

and Beyond the Picket Fence, Between Naps on the Porch, DIY Showoff, Remodelaholic, Addicted 2 Decorating

Cherry Blossoms - Sister Files

I found these two frames at Goodwill for $1.00 each a while back. They've been sitting in my pile of stuff for my sister.  As I mentioned in yesterdays post, I am clearing stuff out of my house.  Which means, tons of painting and back breaking work.  I loved the frames (plastic again), but the paintings were not really what I had in mind.  

I used Rustoleum white spray paint for plastic on the frames. On the canvas, I used Rustoleum's Aqua.  I love the color choices and selection available in Rustoleum products.  They are my go to spray paint choice.

I then did the same technique that I used on my sister's chandelier with Annie Sloan Chalk Paint.  I filled a cup with about two fingers of water and then I dipped the tip of a paintbrush in the can of paint and then dipped it in the water and mixed it up.  I then brushed the canvas over and over. It's a weird finish at first, kind of bubbly, but just keep brushing and brushing.  Eventually it evens out and softens the color on the canvas.  It's hard to tell in the picture, but the finish is beautiful.

I got out my paintbrushes and started mixing paint. I had to call my mom, the art teacher, about color mixing. I only had a few colors on hand and was covered in paint.  I then drew some branches and cherry blossoms. 

I was inspired by this image at the House of Giggles.

The finish was a little harsh, so I did the same brushing of chalk paint and water over the painting. It gave it a soft, feminine feel.  I'm loving the look of it in these frames. Here's my version.

They will be hanging by the mirror, I posted about yesterday. I'm loving the softness of these paintings and for $2 total cost, you can't go wrong.  Have you tried painting?

Click  here to see where I'll be partying!

Birds and Branches

One of my best friends asked me to help her with some lingering projects in her house. My friend is one of the handiest girls I know. She bought herself a sewing machine and taught herself to sew, she can change light fixtures, and build anything.  She had these canvas prints hanging in her dining room that she had grown tired of.  She wanted to give them a new life and asked for my help. 

We spray painted them Rustoleum Lagoon, which is a beautiful bold aqua color.  We did some sketches to get an idea, hers on the left, mine on the right.

She enlarged and printed some birds found on Google images.

I free handed the branches using pencil first and then outlined them using white house paint.  We traced the birds with pencil and then just carefully painted on the lines.

Here we have the most adorable helper filling in the white part of the branches.  She wants to be an artist when she grows up.

Here it is.  We connected the branches between the three canvases.  The birds represent Mom, Dad, and two kiddos.  Cute, huh?

 Here it is hanging on her wall.  I love it!

It is totally changing the feel in her dining room.  Now, to change that light fixture.  My friend happens to have a chandelier in her garage that she bought online a few years ago and it wasn't quite was she had envisioned when it arrived. I am getting my hands on it.  I can't wait.  It's going to be a mini dining room makeover at no cost.  I got home and remembered Lesley doing an adorable bird art, go check it out. 

Cute, right?  Well, so my friend's project was really not difficult. It just took time and patience. What do you think?

I'll be linking up my project to all these parties

DIY Black and White Heart Painting

I've been wanting to try making a piece of art.  I'm loving black and white stripes lately and hearts are my favorite.  

I bought a piece of wood/mdf in the scraps at Home Depot. It cost me $1.00 (I bought like 2 more).

I gave it a coat of white paint from my stash.

I got a poster board folded it in half and drew half a heart on the poster.

I cut out the heart and then used some tape to measure out my lines. I know there is a mathematical way to figure this out, but I do things my way.

I then laid the heart on the painted wood and just taped the outside edge of the heart. I did not trace it out because I didn't want to have to deal with repainting the white.  I tore small pieces of tape at a time to get the rounded edges.

Then I laid out my stripes evenly spaced.  I wanted the black at the top and the bottom to give the heart shape.

I painted the inside of the heart black.  Be very careful to attach the tape as best as possible to avoid bleeding of the paint. It happened to me and I had to go back and fix it.  Double the work.

Here it is. I think it's really cute and I'm happy with my first painting attempt.

Cost breakdown:
$1.00 for wood
$4.00 for black paint sample at Home Depot (I have a ton left over)
Total $5.00
I'm trying to figure out how and where to hang it.  I'll keep you posted.  What do you think? Have you tried painting?





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