Dragonfly Art With Terra Clay Paint

 One of my favorite things about summer...

dragonflies!

I also love creating art with Terra, a clay based paint from the Dixie Belle Paint Company. So, I combined my love of both dragonflies & Terra to create a pretty piece of art.

I started by painting a wooden canvas with Dixie Belle's chalk mineral paint in the color, Caviar. Then I used a Re*design With Prima decor stamp  called, Handwritten Note, along with Dixie Belle's metallic paint to add an all over design to the background.

I used my Cricut Maker to create a vinyl stencil of a dragonfly, & placed the stencil on the center of the canvas.

Now for the fun... I started finger painting with Terra.

Terra is perfect for furniture, especially if you want a blended or ombre look. It reactivates with water so once you mist it with water, you can move it around. Because it reactivates with water, it is very important to seal it, especially if you use it on furniture.

Once I laid out a few colors, I used my mister bottle to add a little water so I could easily blend the colors. 

If I had painted the background color with Terra, it would have blended with the dragonfly colors once I wet it. That's why I used chalk mineral paint as the base. Another option would have been to use Terra, then seal it before painting the dragonfly.

Once the Terra was dry, I added Chameleon Wax to the body of the dragonfly. This is an iridescent wax that looks  different depending on the color it is applied over.

I used my finger to apply the wax.

I peeled up the vinyl stencil to reveal my pretty dragonfly.

Here is a piece of art I created after watching a video by Melissa of  The Top Drawer RVA. She shares the steps to painting beautiful roses with Terra. You can find her tutorials HERE.

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, The House On Silverado

Problem Solving With Mud

 At first glance, this table I picked up at a yard sale appears to be in good condition. It's one of those pieces that some would say, "It's real wood. Why are you painting that?" Well, first of all, some pieces just look better painted. Second, some pieces have issues & painting them is the best option to save them from the dump.

Upon further inspection, I found that this table had a lot of issues that needed attention. The top was not only scratched, it had large patches of white areas.

And, then there's the drawer pull. I like vintage pulls & try to use them when I can. But this one was missing the ring that hangs down to pull the drawer open. So the only way to open it was to grab the sides of the drawer & pull. So, I knew it had to be replaced.

Not only did I have holes left behind from the screws, the drawer pull left an uneven finish. The best way to fix it? Dixie Mud.

I started by filling the holes left from the screws.

To hide the uneven finish, I decided to do a raised stencil on the front of the drawer using the Lotus Bloom stencil from the Dixie Belle Paint Company.

I held the stencil in place then went over it with the Dixie Mud.

I pulled the stencil up while the mud was still wet, then allowed it to dry overnight. 

Once dry, I gave the mud a light sanded to remove any uneven areas or peaks.

I was using Dixie Belle's acrylic based paint, Silk, on this piece. Silk requires a light scuff sanding. After sanding, I decided better safe than sorry, so I also did 2 coats of Slick Stick on the base of the table. Slick Stick helps paint adhere better to slick or shiny surfaces.

I waited 24 hours after applying the Slick Stick, then painted the base of the table with the color, Hampton Olive.

Since I had to replace the original drawer pull,  I grabbed a mold & air dry modeling material from Re*design With Prima, created a medallion, & glued it onto a wooden knob. 

After painting the knob with Hampton Olive, I drilled a new hole for the pull, & added it to the drawer. I used Dixie Belle's water based Voodoo Gel Stain in the color, Tobacco Road, to accentuate the raised detail on the drawer & the knob. I did this by painting the stain on, then wiping it back with a damp rag.

For the top of the table, I used Dixie Belle's oil based No Pain Gel Stain in the color, Walnut. No Pain Gel Stain can be applied directly over a factory finish. I did 3 coats waiting 10 hours between each coat. It completely covered those white patches. 

I sealed the top with Dixie Belle's Gloss Clear Coat.

Silk has a built in sealer, so I did not seal the painted base.

Another piece saved from the dump!

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, The House On Silverado

Bunny Carrot Basket

 I love Easter. I love an easy craft project. So, I absolutely love an easy Easter craft! And, it doesn't get much easier than this decoupage craft.

I started with this little basket. It has a rope loop on the back so it can sit or be hung on the wall.

I painted the basket with the color, Fluff, from the Dixie Belle Paint Company. I didn't want full coverage. I wanted a little of the basket color to show, so I only did one coat.

It's no secret that I love to decoupage with napkins. As a matter of fact, I've become quite the patterned napkin hoarder.

After perusing my stash of Easter napkins, I settled on this simple, little bunny to add to my basket.

When using napkins for decoupage, you have to separate the layers or it won't adhere properly. Most napkins have 3 layers.

Once I separated the layers, I tore the napkin around the bunny. I could have left more of the white background because, since I painted the basket white, it will disappear.

I could have used ModPodge as my decoupage medium, but I grabbed my Dixie Belle Clear Coat & used that to adhere the napkin to the basket. Once the napkin was on the basket, I gently used my paintbrush to push it down into all the crevices of the basket.

Now, you can see why I painted the basket white. If I hadn't, the bunny would have blended in with the original color of the basket.

I used some paper to fill the basket about 3/4 to the top. Then I used Spanish Moss from the dollar store to fill the basket to the top & added some little carrots that I got at Michael's

Super easy. Super cute!

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, The House On Silverado

Adding A Little Shine To The Cotton: A Tray Makeover

 I couldn't resist this pretty tray from Target with the unique handles. But as usual, I couldn't leave it alone. I had to add a little something to it.

If you saw my last post, you saw how I used the Cotton & Eucalyptus Transfer from the Dixie Belle Paint Company on a tobacco basket makeover. There are so many design elements to the transfer, that you can do a lot of different projects with the one package.

So, I decided to use another design from that transfer on the tray.

There are 4 sheets in the package with multiples of several designs. I cut out the design that I wanted & peeled off the white backing.

I placed the design with the clear overlay where I wanted it on the tray & rubbed over it with the applicator stick provided in the package.

The tray was pretty with the cotton, but again, I can never leave well enough alone. And, there's a new product from Dixie Belle that I wanted to use, & this was a great project to try it out.

Dixie Shine gives the look of gold leaf but without the mess or waste. It comes in 3 colors, gold, silver, & copper. I chose to use gold to go along with the gold handles on the tray.

To use Dixie Shine, you first have to apply the glue, Stick With Me. I used a small artist brush to areas where I wanted the cotton to have a gold highlight.

Once the glue is added, you have to wait at least 15 minutes before adding the Shine. You can wait longer if you want. The glue will stay sticky until covered with Shine

Dixie Shine comes on a roll with plenty to do lots of projects.

I cut off a small piece of the Shine, then started laying it over the glue, rubbing over it, then peeling it up

Like I said earlier, there's no waste. The small piece of Shine that I cut can be used over & over until all the gold is gone. You can see here where the glue has pulled off the gold & there is more left that can be used.

Dixie Shine gave just enough gold shimmer to tie in with the gold handles of the tray.

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