Valentine Or Anytime Art

 

I have been waiting for the perfect piece of furniture to try out the Waterslide Transfers from Dixie Belle Paint Company. However, since my husband retired a year ago, & I closed my booth where I sold painted furniture, I've been a little lazy when it comes to painting furniture. So, I haven't actually been on an active hunt for that perfect piece. 

I've still been wanting to try the waterslide transfer so I thought it would be perfect for a Valentine project.

I first painted a 5" x 5" canvas with the chalk mineral paint color, Fluff. 

The colorful side of the design, that you will see when transferred, has a clear plastic sheet over it. The back is more like paper & is in shades of gray. Having the design on the back helps you line it up properly for your project. I turned the transfer over & used a pencil to trace the canvas on the paper side, then cut it out.

I then removed the plastic sheet from the colorful side of the transfer & placed it on the canvas with the colorful side down. Once I had it placed correctly on the canvas (this is where the gray side comes in handy), I laid a wet paper towel over it. I rubbed over the paper towel with my fingers to make sure the transfer was laying flat against the canvas. 

After letting it sit for 3 minutes, I removed the paper towel & pulled up the transfer backing, leaving the beautiful baroque design on the canvas.

Now for the Valentine part...

I used Sculpey oven bake clay. I conditioned the clay to make it soft & workable, then flattened it to approximately 1/4 inch thickness.

Once the clay was flattened out, I added texture with a stamp from Redesign With Prima.

I used a cookie cutter to cut out a heart. 

I preheated my oven to 275 degrees, then baked the heart for 15 minutes.

I wanted to stick with the neutral colors of the transfer, so once the heart was cooled I painted it with a brown acrylic paint that matched one of the colors in the design.

I didn't worry about perfect coverage because of the next step.

To highlight the texture in the heart, I rubbed on Silver Gilding Wax. I typically go for gold or copper gilding wax, but in this case I wanted to pull out the silver from the transfer. Copper would have been pretty too & given it a completely different look.

I glued the heart to the center of the canvas using E6000.

This is a pretty, neutral piece of art perfect for Valentine's decor if you don't decorate with the traditional red & pink. And, the neutral colors make it perfect for enjoying all year long.

Linking To:

The Cottage Market,  Funky Junk Interiors, The Answer Is Chocolate, Flutter Buster, Our Hopeful Home, My Thrift Store Addiction,  Confessions Of A Plate Addict, My Uncommon Slice Of Suburbia, Creatively Beth, County Road 407, Pieced Pastimes, Southern Sunflowers, The House On Silverado

Slikscreen Stencil Valentine

 I love it when an experiment turns out how I envisioned. This is one of those projects. Unfortunately, there are plenty that didn't. But, that's how you learn, right?

This project not only worked out how I wanted, but was super easy & quick!

I love working with the air dry Modeling Material from Re*design With Prima. Typically, I use it with their molds. But, in this case I wanted to create hearts & didn't have a heart shaped mold. I did, however, have heart shaped cookie cutters.

After rolling the modeling material out with a rolling pin, I cut 2 different sizes of hearts with my cookie cutters.

Another of my favorite things to work with are the Silkscreen Stencils from the Dixie Belle Paint Company. For this project I chose the Mandala design. Each pack has 3 different sheets of designs.

 The screen helps prevent the paint from bleeding under the stencil so you get a crisp image. But, I had no idea how it would work doing it on the modeling material while it was still soft.

I placed the sticky side of the stencil on the heart, then scraped on the chalk mineral paint color, Peony, from Dixie Belle.

When I peeled up the stencil, I was excited to see that it worked perfectly.

Now my mind is spinning with all the ways to use these. I have them on the table riser on my kitchen table. But while soft, they could be glued onto candles, vases, artwork...

The possibilities are endless!

Linking To:

Ginger Snap Crafts, Chic On a Shoestring,  Simply Sweet Home, The Cottage Market,  Funky Junk Interiors,  Sugar Bee Crafts, Flour Me With Love, The Answer Is Chocolate, Skip To My Lou, The Thrifty Home, Flutter Buster,,  Finding Silver Pennies, Our Hopeful Home, My Thrift Store Addiction, The Painted Hinge, Yesterday On Tuesday, Confessions Of A Plate Addict, My Uncommon Slice Of Suburbia, Creatively Beth, My Hubbard Home, County Road 407, Pieced Pastimes, Southern Sunflowers

Hope For The Chest

This hope chest was minutes away from going on a burn pile!

A friend called to tell me that he had a few things I might be interested in, but the fire was lit and if I wanted anything I'd have to come right over. Luckily I was able to get there in time to rescue a few things. 

This hope chest was missing the skirt around the bottom that forms the legs. 

 It was also missing the knobs on the faux drawers.

I gave the chest a fresh coat of paint using Dixie Belle's color Caviar.

 Rather than put new knobs on, I used re*design with Prima molds & modeling material to create medallions to cover the holes.

 I painted the medallions with Dixie Belle's Moonshine Metallics using the color, Gold Digger. Then I glued them over the holes using E6000.

 I also painted some small legs that I found at Lowe's using the Gold Digger.

 What a shame it would have been if this chest had gone up in flames!

The lesson...

Call before you burn!

There are plenty of us out there that love to rescue & revive discarded furniture.

Linking To:

Ginger Snap Crafts,  Rae Gun Ramblings, Chic On a Shoestring,  Simply Sweet Home, Have A Daily Cup Of Mrs Olson, The Cottage Market,  Funky Junk Interiors, DIY Showoff, Craft-O-Maniac, Keeping It Simple, I Should Be Mopping The Floor, The Dedicated House,  Sugar Bee Crafts, Flour Me With Love,  Today's Creative Blog, Tip Junkie,    Domestically Speaking,  The Answer Is Chocolate, Skip To My Lou, The Thrifty Home, Flutter Buster, Nap Time Creations, The Foley Fam,  Finding Silver Pennies, A Stroll Thru Life, French Country Cottage,  Knick Of Time, Lou Lou Girls, Our Hopeful Home, My Thrift Store Addiction, The Painted Hinge, Savvy Southern Style,  Yesterday On Tuesday, Confessions Of A Plate Addict, My Uncommon Slice Of Suburbia, Dabbling And Decorating

Clay Plant Markers

Spring is finally here! And that means we'll soon be planting our gardens.

 Herbs are some of the most rewarding plants to grow. They add beauty and fragrance to our garden. And, there’s nothing better than fresh picked herbs to add flavor to our food. 

I've shared some DIY plant markers in the past...

like my Spoon Plant Markers...

and, my Fork & Cork Plant Markers...

But, these may be the easiest yet to create...

Preheat your oven to 275 degrees. 

Knead Sculpey oven bake clay until it is soft and easy to work with. Roll the clay out to 1/4 inch thickness.

Use cookie cutters to get the shapes you want.

Press metal skewers into the back of the clay.

Place the markers on a cookie sheet covered with wax paper. Press letter beads into the clay to spell out the herbs you'll be planting.

Bake the plant markers in the preheated oven for 15 minutes, leaving the skewers & beads in place. Don't worry... the beads won't melt.

Once baked, the skewers and beads are set firmly in place.

Stick the skewers into the dirt & watch your garden grow.

Linking To:

Ginger Snap Crafts,  Creations By Kara,  Rae Gun Ramblings, Chic On a Shoestring,  Simply Sweet Home, Have A Daily Cup Of Mrs Olson, The Cottage Market,  Funky Junk Interiors, DIY Showoff, Craft-O-Maniac, Keeping It Simple, I Should Be Mopping The Floor, The Dedicated House,  Sugar Bee Crafts, Flour Me With Love,  Today's Creative Blog, Tip Junkie,  Homework,  I Gotta Create,   Domestically Speaking,  The Answer Is Chocolate, Skip To My Lou, The Thrifty Home, Flutter Buster, Nap Time Creations, The Foley Fam,  Finding Silver Pennies, A Stroll Thru Life, French Country Cottage,  Knick Of Time, Lou Lou Girls, Our Hopeful Home, My Thrift Store Addiction, The Painted Hinge, Savvy Southern Style,  Yesterday On Tuesday, Confessions Of A Plate Addict, My Uncommon Slice Of Suburbia, Dabbling And Decorating

Love Grows Here

It's less than a week until Valentine's Day! There's still time to create this fun project which is fun for both adults and kids. 

Supplies:

 Air Dry  or Oven Bake Clay

2”-2 ½” Heart Shaped Cookie Cutter

Rubber Stamps

12” Skewers Cut In Half

2” Clay Pots

Floral Foam

Moss

Acrylic Paint

Glaze

Rag

Paintbrush

Roll out clay to 1/4 inch thickness. Press a rubber stamp into the clay to add a design...

Cut out a heart with a heart shaped cookie cutter...

Insert the skewer...

Let the clay dry completely.

Paint the flower pots.

When the paint is dry, add glaze with a damp rag to age the pots...

When the hearts are dry, add glaze. Paint it on with a paintbrush, making sure it gets into all the grooves of the design. Wipe away excess with a damp rag.

Add floral foam to the pots.

Place the hearts in the floral foam.

Cover the floral foam with moss.

These blooming hearts are pretty enough to leave out all year long as a reminder that love grows here!

Linking To:

Coastal Charm,  Someday Crafts, Ginger Snap Crafts,  Creations By Kara,  Rae Gun Ramblings,  Seven Thirty Three,  The Shabby Creek Cottage, Seven Alive, Made In A Day, Chic On a Shoestring,  Simply Sweet Home, The Shabby Nest,  Somewhat Simple,   Live Laugh Rowe, Have A Daily Cup Of Mrs Olson, The Cottage Market,  Funky Junk Interiors,  Tatertots & Jello,   Blissful & Domestic, A Vision To Remember  DIY Showoff, Craft-O-Maniac, Keeping It Simple, Homemaker On A Dime, I Should Be Mopping The Floor, The Dedicated House,   Coastal Charm, Reasons To Skip The Housework, Sugar Bee Crafts,  Nifty Thrifty Things, Cherished Bliss, Mad In Crafts, Flour Me With Love, Not Just A Housewife,  Today's Creative Blog, Tip Junkie,  Homework,  I Gotta Create,  Thrifty 101,  Domestically Speaking,  The Answer Is Chocolate, Skip To My Lou, The Thrifty Home,Cedar Hill Ranch, Flutter Buster, Nap Time Creations, Hope In Every Season, The Foley Fam, Our Home Away From Home,  Remodelaholic, Flamingo Toes,  VMG206,  Finding Silver Pennies, A Stroll Thru Life, Bloom Designs,French Country Cottage, The Scoop, Stone Gable, Knick Of Time, Lou Lou Girls, DIY-Crush, Charm Bracelet Diva,