Sam...Saturday, June 20, 2015

 I thought it was time to share another FREE project using DecoArt Chalky Finish...OK, I cheated and used Americana Raw Umber because I was too lazy to dig into the bottom box to get out the brown...lol  BUT, this shows you how you can easily use Americana Paint with the Chalky Finish Paints...

I wanted this to be a PRIMITIVE piece, since I was making it to sell on my Etsy's Primitive and Folkart Team (FAAP)...We are having an AUCTION today on our Page on Facebook...go join us...The sale ENDS on Sunday, June 21,2015 at 5 pm Central Time.... 
FAAP AUCTION AND SELLING PAGE (click here to go there)


I started by adding a coat of CARBON (Black)...notice that I put tape where the hat brim will go...I also left the back of the hat brim unpainted on the back so I could wood glue them together...Glue will not HOLD pieces that are not glued raw wood on raw wood!

 I taped off the two stripes to leave the stripe that would 

be painted LACE (White)

At this point, I took an old white stick candle and put wax 

where I wanted the paint to peel.

I added the wax heavier on the edges and I avoided the area that would be the face...that is just MY preference...

 I painted the center stripe and the bottom half with LACE (a white).  I used 2 coats to get a better coverage...I KNOW, it is going to be sanded, but I think it looks better to have a good foundation.

 I removed the tape and put it on the INSIDE of the white stripes to paint the 2 red stripes...

on the sides, I painted the red down to where 

the hat brim would go...

I used 2 coats of ROUGE (RED) to paint this.

I wanted a darker blue, so I added some 

CARBON (Black) to LEGACY (Blue)

This is ready to SAND...I use my hand sander...WHOOSH.....

 Perfectly Prim!

 I drew on the features with a pencil so you could see...

I used a wooden plug for the nose.

 I made the fleshtone by mixing

 LACE (white) with Smitten (Peach)...

I showed the scruffy brush that I used to add 

ROUGE (RED) to the cheeks and nose...

use VERY little paint...this is where people can make a BIG mistake...wipe almost all of the paint out of the brush for this step!

I added the mouth with CARBON (Black) and

the lips with Rouge (Red)

 I added the eyes with Carbon (Black) and 

shaded the face/moustache with RAW UMBER.  

I added highlights and the lettering with LACE (white)...

I went around the piece with my Raw Umber to give it more of an antiqued look...you could antique this if you want...

I will add 3 coats of DuraClear Ultra Matte and

 put a hanger on the back...That will be IT!!

You can EASILY paint this project 

with regular Americana Acrylics, 

but I LOVE to use the Chalky Finish Paints!!

 

Be sure to visit DecoArt's Website (click here).

See their AMAZING products AND

look at all the FREE patterns they offer to use these products!

 

Below, is the pattern...to save it to your computer, Right Click on the picture and choose SAVE AS...your computer might say something different, but there should be an option to save!

You are MORE than welcome to make these to sell, but PLEASE do NOT claim the pattern/instructions as your own...give me credit...Do not mass market this pattern/item...feel free to resize as you need and enjoy this quick and easy project...feel free to add YOUR STYLE to this...

I hope you have FUN with this...As you are painting, remember those who have gone before us to keep us free...LIVE your life THANKFULLY...Treat others as YOU WANT to be treated, and it is NOT your problem if they choose not to return the kindness...hang in there because KINDNESS does MATTER!!  I wish GLORIOUS...BLESSINGS to YOU...~charlotte

Barbadora's Bunnies...Monday, April 6, 2015

I cut the wood from 3/4 inch Pine...Oh how I am sure it frustrated Daddy to explain that 1 inch wood was NOT one inch...WHY???

FIRST of all, I want to apologize for misspelling Lynn's last name in the pictures...I KNOW better and I am TOO lazy to redo the pictures...sowwy, Lynn, BUT for some reason, I BET I am not the FIRST one to misspell it, says the girl whose first name has been SLAUGHTERED so many times that I have lost count! I don't think my Aunt Polly EVER learned how to spell my name...sigh...I am just NAUGHTY...

NOW on to the FUN PART...

Now, I am feeling guilty since I didn't want to re-edit my pictures BECAUSE I shared with you how GENEROUS Lynn was in sending me a box FULL of goodies!!

In this box were 3 of her patterns and I could NOT wait to get them cut and painted...SO I did!!

JUST BECAUSE Easter is over, the BUNNY SEASON continues!

This is one of my favorite techniques for making something look Primitive...using candle wax between the layers!

 I am so lucky that I can cut my own wood...It wasn't something that I ever planned to do, because I am TERRIFIED of loud noises...

When I was small, my parents took me and the middle child to be on the BOZO show...I was chosen for a game and IF tapes exist, it would WIN America's Funniest Videos (really...am I the ONLY one who thinks that FEW of those Videos are FUNNY...guess they haven't seen a life lived like mine...)

The game was the one where you tie a balloon on a string around your ankle and try to be the LAST one remaining without their balloon popped...GOSH, there could NOT have been a more nightmarish game for me to be chosen to participate!  I can still remember standing with my fingers in my ears, with LITTLE interest in trying to pop ANYONE's balloon...

I was ALSO afraid that Romper Room would call MY NAME at the end of the show...COULD I have ISSUES for some reason???!!!

Oh, Well...Daddy had always cut my wood for me and when he got sick, I had orders for some hearts and I made an attempt to cut them with the band saw...LORD HAVE MERCY ON MY SOUL...I was a NATURAL at pulling that blade RIGHT off track and I was SO GIFTED with not being able to put it back on...ugh!!!!

When Daddy died, I became very good at using a jigsaw...You would be amazed at the small stuff I could figure out how to cut with that thing!!  BUT, I also faced the reality that I would not be able to do what I had always done, so I thought I would just give up painting...it made me sad, but I was sad anyway...

The Christmas after Daddy died, Mother gave me some money and I really didn't KNOW what I was going to buy with it.  I had gone into Lowe's and was looking for something, SO I just wandered over to the power tools, a habit from being a Daddy's girl and I found a scroll saw that was one sale for an AMAZING price...the AMOUNT Mother gave me would COVER it.  I found a man who worked with tools and at the store asked him several questions and he was so kind and helpful.  I decided that I WOULD take it and he went to find one ONLY to discover they had no more, SO I asked IF he would sell the display at a DISCOUNT to me...He found the manager and I went home with a NEW Scroll Saw!!  It took a little bit for me to get up the nerve to try it, but slowly, with time, I learned how to use it and I am SO THANKFUL...I STILL use the CUT and PRAY method because when that blade breaks, I LAUGH at ME for being afraid (another possible video moment)

Isn't this the most lovely scene?  It has most of MY favorite things all in this one little painting!

 Sometimes we NEED to be pushed out of our comfort zones to FIND what we are CAPABLE of doing...NO, we don't like it, but OFTEN we surprise ourselves!

I LOVE that the tag was painted onto the design instead of being added...I used some antique buttons to add to the penny's

 I am SO THANKFUL for the people that have been placed into my life.  I have learned so much from being in their circle of friendship...NO, I will PROBABLY never meet most of them, but they are TRUE Friends!

I have learned techniques and have embraced the different style of painting that exist!  Very few days pass that I am not in awe of the talent of my friends...

I SURE HOPE they all know that I appreciate them...

This is the finished SPRING THYME IS HARE....

Click HERE to buy this pattern as an INSTANT DOWNLOAD.

Click HERE to go to Lynn's Etsy shop for ALL of her patterns

OR 

Click HERE to go visit Lynn's Blog...it is one of the BEST that I have seen!

This is a BIG BOY!!  I painted him with 

Chalky Finish Paint by DecoArt (of course)

Click HERE to purchase the PATTERN for Sir Hopsalot!!  He is so easy and FUN!!

The PATTERN for Mr. Bobtail can be purchased by clicking HERE

Thank you, LYNN...I HOPE you know how special these gifts were to me and how they helped to INSPIRE me to be creative...

ALWAYS take time to do SOMETHING that YOU LOVE...We have been given our gifts for a REASON...GOD KNEW the importance of resting and being refreshed...He did NOT create us to work around the clock...

Thank YOU for stopping by my little corner of the world...YOU are LOVED and appreciated and I am THANKFUL that you took just a few minutes to spend with silly ole me...

...Blessings to YOU...~charlotte

My HOPPY FRIEND, Monday, March 30, 2015

 I went to the Post Office the other day and picked up a VERY heavy box.  I could NOT imagine what was in it, but I couldn't wait to get out my scissors and open it!

 I was BLOWN away!  It was the awesome bunny noodle board that I had watched my friend, Lynn from Painting Thyme Needfuls, painting over the past few days.  My package was PACKED full of goodies from the Cape.

She put a candle, dog treats for Charcoal, candy, Chocolate, and patterns that she had designed!  I could NOT wait to get them cut out and painted.

First, I had to find the perfect place to put the treasure.  I chose to place it on the washstand that is a family antique.  My Mother refinished it YEARS ago, when THAT was the thing~~NOW you are NOT supposed to touch antiques.  

On this washstand are some china pieces that belonged to My Aunt Jenny.  She PROBABLY bought them with stamps or got them from the bank of maybe even from Oatmeal...we are not sure, but they are beautiful and remind me of her.

There is also a Chinese Rice Bowl that has a butterfly, a symbol that was so important to Mother, that was given to her by her dear friend, VV, when VV was cleaning her Mother's home after her death.  It was VERY special to mother.

The Rose bowl is another antique given to Mother by a friend.

The moustache cup was a funny story that Mother would tell with a twinkle in her eye.  When a friend, Mrs. Johnson, who was the first woman judge in Robertson County, was having to sell her home to move to a smaller place, she asked Mother if there was anything in her house that Mother wanted to buy BEFORE the auction...We went over and Mother bought a HUGE mirror and a loveseat.  While there, Mrs. Johnson asked Mother if she would be willing to buy the cup at the auction since it had belonged to her Daddy and she wanted it to go to someone special.  Mother agreed...she took it home for $25, which was a HUGE amount for Mother to spend on something so unnecessary back in the 60s...

It was only fitting that I should place this NEW treasure on this wash stand because NOW I have another special story to share...Thank you Lynn!!

I gathered my supplies to start this project.

I stained some tags to hang on the bunny...

I used coffee, vanilla and cinnamon...

I painted the bunny with RUSTIC Chalky Finish paint.  I sanded it offer after I had a good coverage.  I then put wax on the piece.  When that dried, I put Golden Brown Creme Wax on to make the exposed wood darker...I WISH I had the darker wax, but this turned out just fine...it gave another texture to the piece...

I am SO BLESSED to be able to cut my own wood...NORMALLY, I would NOT have cut this with the knot, but since I knew it would have a bow and I was going to make it look prim, it was ok THIS time...I DID put sealer over the knot...

I sanded the piece really well before I painted it...EVEN if I am going to PRIM something, I STILL want the foundation to be the best it can be!

I put 3 coats of paint on the from so the coverage would be good...I KNOW, some think that is silly since it was going to be sanded, but I just stick to the theory of a good foundation makes a better product!  That is my story and I am sticking to it!

I added a burlap bow, rusty wire, rusty bells and a tag...

I LOVE this pattern!!!

You may order the pattern as an

 INSTANT DOWNLOAD ON ETSY.

This gift has meant the world to me...it is just an example of how special a serendipitous moment can be!

Miss Lynn, YOU ARE SomeBUNNY VERY SPECIAL...

A Friend LOVES at ALL time...Proverb 17:17 NIV

PLEASE PAY IT FORWARD every chance you get...Blessings to YOU...~charlotte

On the ELEVENTH Day of Christmas, Sunday, December 21, 2014

I shared on my Facebook Page today that we don't usually have a White Christmas in Middle Tennessee.  The last one on record was in 1974, but we have had snow on Christmas, just not much!  I laugh because it seems that no matter HOW WARM it is on Christmas Day, the weathermen always put a 30% chance of mixed precipitation...This year is NO different...it is to be 43 and yes, we have a 30% Chance of mixed precipitation...not sure WHAT it will be mixed WITH...

The only kind of snowmen we get are ones we paint, so I decided to show you how to paint a snowman that is VERY quick and Easy...I did the frame and painting in about 30 minutes.  If you are not used to painting, you still should easily be able to do it within one hour.

Burlap is so popular, that I had bought these burlap boards...turns out they are NOT easy to paint on, so this project is perfect.  I used a frame that I had gotten at the thrift store for a couple of bucks, so all in all, this is a CHEAP project also.

I used those CHEAP brushes that you get in CHEAP packets...some call them chip brushes...they will probably shed as you paint, but no worries, when it dries, brush them off.  You will need one fairly decent liner, but if you get one of those cheap packets of brushes for about $5, then there is one in there that will do.  I have gotten some pretty good basecoating brushes out of those cheap packages, so you just never know!

Gather your supplies: I use DecoArt Americana Paints because they are WONDERFUL quality.
 Frame
Burlap Board (or wood or canvas)
candle, optional
Larger flat Brush
2 chip brushes
1 liner Brush
White Paint (I used Warm White)
Orange Paint (I used Canyon Orange)
Brown Paint (I used Milk Chocolate)
Red Paint (I used Santa Red)
Black Paint  (I used Lamp Black)
Treasures Chalky Finish Paint (you can use whatever color you wish for the frame)

A Note before we start:
I used the Chalky Finish Paint in Treasure, which is a Turquoise-type color.  You do NOT have to used Chalky Finish Paint, but I love how easily it sands off and the matte finish it leaves.  Also, I often use BLUE to Shade my snowmen, but you could EASILY use another color such as Brown or Black...There are NO rules...Painting should be a reflection of WHAT YOU LIKE!!

If you choose, place wax  randomly around the frame before you paint it.  This will allow the paint to sand off easily in spots.  Paint with the Treasure Chalky Finish paint.  Set Aside to dry.

This is what the burlap board looks like.  It is 8 x 10.

This is the chip brush that I used.  AS you can see, it is a size four...not too big, not too little...JUST RIGHT!

Load the brush with White and draw your outline...The head is basically a half circle...IF you don't feel comfortable free handing this, then use a plate...a dessert plate would probably be about the right size....Go ahead and do the outline for the nose too...come on...you can do it!!

Paint the nose white.  It will take quite a bit of paint.

 

 Paint the head next.  I just poured a blob of paint on the head and brushed it in because it takes quite a bit of paint...now don't go CRAZY with how much paint you squeeze out...about a quarter size at a time is enough.

Load a VERY SMALL amount of the Treasure on your brush and add it to the edge of the snowman's head and around the nose.  When you have finished this, wipe off as much of the Treasure as you can on a rag and then add more WHITE to the brush and go back over it to blend the blue into the white...

With the same brush, Paint the nose Orange.  I have it turned upside down to paint the bottom side.  I added JUST a tiny bit of Brown to ONE EDGE of the brush and placed THAT EDGE on the edge of the nose and painted around the entire nose...this is called shading.  It does NOT take much paint at all.

I wiped as much paint off of my brush with an old rag as I could and then loaded a TINY bit of Red.  THEN I wiped as much as I could off THAT paint off and then lightly painted in my cheek.

I switched to a little better brush that the bristles didn't flare out so much to paint the eyes and mouth with Black.  If you are new to painting, you might want to use a round brush to do this...it REALLY is easier with a better brush, but this ole gal is tough and liked the challenge...BWAH!!  After I painted the eyes and the mouth, I used my hair dryer to dry the paint because you don't want your eyes to turn GREY when you add the white.

I switched to my liner brush to add the eye details with White.  You will notice that I place a line of the LEFT side of each eye and then just made a CROSS and then an X on top of the cross, and a DOT to the center where the lines intersect...in other words, I made a SNOWFLAKE for the eyes!  I then added a white line to the top of the mouth and 3 dots to the top of the cheek.  I added the snowflakes as described for the eyes to the empty place on the canvas and then just some random dots and NO, mine were NOT round...it doesn't matter!!

The last thing I did was to add JUST a touch of the Treasure under the mouth and on the outside RIGHT side of the eyes...do NOT get this dark...I used a DRY chip brush to do this...

The frame has dried while you we were painting our snowman, so to finish, I just sanded over the paint to remove some of the paint to make it look primitive and wiped it off, place the canvas in the frame and THAT is IT!!  What an EASY and GREAT gift to give to a friend!!  

It may not SNOW at my house, but really, this is the BEST snowman EVER because I was able to paint it in a WARM, DRY home!!

I wish Blessings to YOU today...~charlotte♥

Chalky Finish Paint Holder, Monday, June 30, 2014

I have been having SO MUCH FUN with DecoArt’s Chalky Finish Paints.

For this project, I used Romance (similar to Santa Red) and Serene (similar to Soft Blue) and the Clear Crème Wax.

Today I transformed an old Grey Drawer that I bought at Goodwill for $4 into a container for my extra bottles of DecoArt Americana Paints…I’ve been using Americana Paints for YEARS…the colors are superior and coverage is good.

I simply cleaned the drawer well and it was ready to paint~~no need to sand or add a sealer…just paint!  Charcoal seems to think I have things under control, so he is taking a nap…

BUT he woke up to INSPECT…I have an old piece of sandpaper and a cheap brush that I get for about $1 at Walmart or any paint store~~don’t worry that the bristles come off…with chalk paint, you USUALLY want to sand it to give it that SOFT primitive/Cottage Chic feel…Charcoal LOVES my sandpaper... ;)

I used only one coat of Romance to cover the entire box.  I’m not worried about getting a GREAT coverage because I will be sanding it off and I like the color combination of grey/red, so this is JUST PERFECT for me…it has a Nautical feel to it I think…PERFECT for summer!!

After the paint has dried, I sanded it off to reveal some of the grey below…

I added some of my favorite words with Serene and my stencils that I get from Laurie Speltz.  Click HERE

to go to her website.  I added the serene with a make-up sponge that can be purchased at any make-up counter…a bag of 100 costs about $5.

Again, I sanded it off after I stenciled the words…

I applied a coat of wax and let it dry…I buffed it after it dried.

This is JUST the Perfect size to put my paint in AND it fits nicely onto a shelf in the old TV stand that I use for my painting table!

I MIGHT add an old handle when I find one in the junk drawer and I might NOT…doesn’t matter to me because I really like how this turned out!!

This is SO EASY and is a great way to update a piece that you have in your home or that you find at a bargain...Chalky Finish Paints are PERFECT for a quick pick-me-up...I hope you will give them a TRY!

Have a GREAT week and FIND the MAGIC in LIFE...Blessings to YOU...~charlotte♥