Summer is upon us and I can't even tell you how exited I am to get creative! I'm all about lemons and watermelons, beaches, sunshine and all things BRIGHT and HAPPY!! I have some ideas, but I'll also be reaching out to you for some inspiration! So put your crafty hats on, peeps!!
My ideas usually spawn from someone else's crafty creations but I always find a way to make it my own. I won't lie, that's usually because something doesn't go my way so I have to settle for whatever fix saves the day! I don't know if I really have a style. I'm not big on the antique look, I like it, but it's not usually something I strive for in my crafts. I still have a lot of things to try but acrylic paint seems to be my favorite! My sister says I have more of a whimsical style. I can't think of a more perfect word to describe my style! When she said that I felt like Cinderella in her bibbity-bobbity-boo moment as she was being made into a beautiful princess, spinning around in her beautiful ballgown, surrounded by twinkles, sparkles and the happiest of melodies!! I WILL make it my business to incorporate that word into Sambo's Crafts!! In fact, I already have an idea in mind for when I start to take the business side of this more seriously!! Thanks, sis!! I always called my style 'elementary art' but whimsical sounds SO much better!!!
This past weekend was a long, holiday weekend and since things are not quite normal thanks to COVID-19, we didn't have our normal big family fun. We did spend some time with my inlaws, whom we haven't seen since the start of this epidemic. I was able to see my beautiful granddaughter and we had some fun of our own at home. My husband beat me 5 games to 2 in corn hole and I beat him by two games in pool. And WOW were my out of shape legs wobbly come Tuesday!! Since I had Monday off and we couldn't get together with friends or other family, I decided to work on a project that my step-mother-in-law asked me to make. She has a friend that just had her first grand baby boy recently and wanted me to make her something similar to a gift I made for her a couple years ago. For her, I found a great deal on some canvas panels and decided to make Mother's Day paintings that were kind of multi media, incorporating an actual 4x6 photo and mod podging over it to seal it. It turned out pretty cute!!
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She suggested making it so that the photo could be interchangeable. You know, in case her friend wanted to swap out the pic as her grandson got older. Obviously I thought that was an amazing idea...I just wasn't sure how I was going to do it. I kept thinking I was going to need to seal it, like I did hers. Not necessary!!! I took all my tools outside because what better light to paint in than natural light, right??
Thanks to Corona I had to buy regular canvas because they were out of panels everywhere. No
biggie, eh? I wanted to make some sort of hanger too, so it could be hung on a wall. The frame definitely helped with that.
I must have been sitting on the porch for at least 20 minutes before I put a brush to canvas. I had pictures in my head and had a tough time deciding where to start. But I knew based on all my sketches (yes, all...there were a ton lol) I knew I wanted a particular style, highlighting baby's name, preferably on top. These were a few of the ones I liked the most.
I started by painting a white strip across the top of the canvas, an inch or so from the top. I wanted it to look like a white band or ribbon going across the painting. To make the lines crisp I used, and you are going to think I'm nuts, but I used scotch tape! Seriously!! I just placed one long strip of tape an inch or so from the top, and then another about 1 1/2 inches below that one. I painted the rest of the canvas blue with some splashes of white and when I was done, I peeled the tape off. I knew scotch tape wouldn't hurt the white paint and I didn't have that crafting tape you use to wrap around the stems of flowers. That stuff would've been great!! And here is the result:
PERFECT!! It's actually not perfect if you look closely...but the less prefect, the more believable when I tell people I painted it! Ha!
As most of you know by now, I am very clumsy. I was holding my paint pallet in my left hand and dumped white paint in my lap 3 different times! I was concentrating on my right hand and what it was doing to the canvas, not my left, ok?!
We're not talking a little bit of paint either. There were pools of paint running down my leg, every
time!
Once the background dried I put the photo corners on. Michael's Crafts had a box of 250 clear adhesive photo corners for under $3!! I just put the top two corners on a 4x6 photo I had for measuring purposes and placed those on the canvas first. Then one at a time I added the other two corners. And Wa-la! Somehow, I only have 241 photo corners left. One was stuck to the canvas when I was cleaning up and the others probably hitched a ride on one of the wind gusts that blew through! That wasn't even the worst part of sitting out in the elements. It was around 90 degrees and super humid all day. I was on the porch, in the shade so it wasn't too terribly hot. Or at least, I didn't think it was the whole 4 1/2 hours I sat there painting!
Now I had to decide which animals, what size and where on the canvas to place them. I was torn between the momma and baby elephant, just a giraffe, and a group of animals all together. This was tough, guys. I love zoo animals, especially the babies!! I couldn't decide so I did a group....a giraffe, an owl and momma and baby elephant. I wish I'd made them bigger, but I started with kind of a shadow of each animal.
This was my favorite part! Guys, I don't know what I'm doing, I'm just doing it. That's art!! I had to paint over and over until it looked the way I wanted it to look. I changed things up so many times but in the end, it's adorable, right!? Forgot momma elephant's ear until right toward the end but at least I noticed before I mailed it out!
In hindsight, like I said, I should've made them bigger. But I think you'll see how this size works too!! There's a spot, just behind the giraffes head where there's a splash of white that kind of washes out his snout in the photo on the right. Especially from a distance. I didn't notice that until it was done or I would've tried to do something to make the snout stand out more, like maybe outline it? I don't know. Still cute. Blah. Something YOU won't notice is the big line I accidentally drew all the way across the canvas when my table easel slipped! I was using a wooden fold out dinner table for your living room so not a lot of space. I had the paints and water on a separate table. Not the best set up, I'll admit but I was pretty comfortable. Aside from spilling the paint all over my lap and having to fix the accidental line, I had to wash my brush after dipping in my coffee. Brown just wasn't in the color scheme!
Once I had the animals done I wanted to do the name. This was somewhat challenging too. One thing I'm learning about myself is that my proportions are usually off. The name is too small too!! Hey, I'm my own worst critic, right? STILL LOOKS CUTE!! But it would've looked GREAT if I'd made the letters fatter. Just sayin'. Maybe in the future I'll incorporate more media...like maybe making the letters with my Cricut and adhering them somehow. I'll have to put more thought into that!! I also decided at that point to add some polka dots. I had to do something to maximize the space around the animals. I didn't want to paint more animals and I really didn't want 'scenery' behind them. I was too afraid to draw the eyes away from their cuteness. So polka dots seemed like a good option.
Drew, what a cute name! Right?! The picture I used is from my middle son's birthday party one year when he was teeny. I think this was his 6th birthday. He's almost 19 now so my memory could be seriously defunct. I'm rambling again...'sigh'.
I started to get a little carried away with the dots. Big dots, small dots, open dots, filled in dots...it was getting pretty busy! But apparently not busy enough because I knew there was still work to be done! There just wasn't enough going on, even with all those dots!! I needed another bigger object, right in the middle!
Aside from the filler I was trying to create in all that space, I wanted to add another something special, I just didn't know WHAT! I went with a heart, because who doesn't love hearts?? I freehanded the heart, as I did with the lettering and the dots. I think that's obvious but worth noting. Eh hem. After adding those things and touching up the animal details I added even MORE dots as well as baby's birthdate. That really tied it all together for me. I'm sure there was more I could've done and I'm sure some may think I over did it in certain areas. This was fun, guys. That's really all that mattered to me. But overall, I think I did a pretty good job of bringing my ideas to fruition.
I sat in the heat for a while after I was done and played with the idea of a bow but decided against it and just used some blue rope so she could hang it up. I hot glued the ends to the back of the canvas and added push pins for extra stability. I don't know if that will help, but I'm hoping!
I grabbed my big cup of ice(less) water when I realized how parched I was only to discover in one gulp that when I cut the blue rope, pieces of it dropped into my water cup and I was now drinking them. The rope is nylon and the inside is kind of feathery....it wasn't pleasant. And it wasn't refreshing. But it sure was funny! Ha ha ha ha...
This was a super fun project for me and in fact, I think I'll make more without the names. I've been toying with the idea of doing a ton of different crafts and maybe attempting to sell them at a craft fair or something. I love doing it, but there's only so much room and necessity in my home. I mean, I will make ALL the things. But I don't think my hubs will let me display it all. I'd probably rank somewhere up there with crazy cat ladies.
Thank you so much for stopping by and sharing in this fun experience by reading all about my adventure! Please let me know what you think because my crafting is fueled by others ideas and opinions!! My next craft will be a Facebook live so if you are not already in my group, head on over to Sambo's Crafts!! I'd love to have you in the group!! In fact, feel free to invite anyone that you think would be interested or entertained! With all my clumsiness and the crazy mishaps, we could all use the giggles!!
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