Custom Hand Crafts and MORE by Sue Lane: Welcoming 2015 and Catching Up

With the holiday season now over, it is time to play catch up. I had many projects that I did not post in my blog since they were presents. Now that the gifts have been given, I can share the items and also showcase some other projects I have recently been working on.

This gray scarf was knit with acrylic yarn in a seed stitch pattern.

It is toasty warm and is being modeled by the recipient.

Three chalk painted mini mason jars are fun and cute. Sisal rope accents these display jars.

A birdcage and you don't have a bird? Of course! This started out as a white birdcage. After a good cleaning and disposing of the tray, it was time to have some fun. It was a freebie find so I had nothing to lose. I painted it with Americana Decor chalk paint in Treasure which is like turquoise. Silly me painted it by hand with a brush even though spraying would have been so much easier. After that I top coated it with General Finishes HP Topcoat. I tied an organza ribbon on the top and it flows over both sides. I made a new bottom for the cage and inside I have begun storing vintage mason jars (that will remain unpainted). It is a fun piece and a conversation starter.

For fun I wanted to letter a favorite verse onto a chalk painted end table. Using General Finishes milk paint in Coastal Blue, this went on so smoothly and only one coat of the paint was needed for coverage. I like using the GF milk paint more than acrylics for lettering now!

This is an ink and colored pencil personalized art sign. The wording in the background is all business related terms to showcase what Braeden is interested in. I superimposed the graph bars over top of the background lettering.

Zachery is interested in art and architecture so for his design I used ink and colored pencils also.

The background is zentangle inspired curves.

Zoe likes girly things so I created this flower zentangle for her with ink and colored pencils. The background is lots and lots of fine dots.

I have shown this blanket in an earlier blog post but I like it even more now that the special little one is modelling it!

This cowl was knit with acrylic yarn and worked in a seed stitch using two strands of yarn -

burgundy and gray.

This scarf photographed brighter than it actually is, it is a darker red. It is long and features fringe and made in a seed stitch.

This is a fine gray ski band - airy texture and more for fashion than for warmth. The center has a band that looped over it for extra detail.

This bright red and gray min cowl is for a toddler. I used two strands of yarns - red and gray, it will keep her toasty warm.

I got this yarn at the factory outlet and don't know what it is called but it is fuzzy and super soft. I made a double looped infinity scarf in one long strip then connected the ends to form a big loop.

This started out as a reddish-brown metal planter with an embossed pattern. I basecoated it with white chalk paint and then came back over it with the Americana Deco Treasure chalk paint. From there I sanded back to reveal white and also the original metal colors. Topped with two coats of Americana cream wax this is a cute decor accessory.

A new little boy will soon be arriving so here is a sign for his room.. It is a wooden plaque that I basecoated with white chalk paint. Then I used gray acrylic to paint an anchor. From there I used General Finishes milk paint in Coastal Blue to do the lettering and trim. For the floating color on the edges I just dipped my partially loaded paint brush into water to dilute the Coastal Blue color and then scruffed the mixture around the edges. The finishing was done with GF HP Topcoat.

Not to let any jars go to waste here is one that I painted with the Americana Deco Treasure color chalky paint and then drybrushed with white. After two coats of GF HP Topcoat I tied an organza ribbon along the rim.

This was a fun project - I layered chalk paints - Americana Decor Treasure and Grammie's Recipe Chalk Paint in Teal Lake. Then I white washed the entire shelf. From there I taped off random rectangle shapes and began by filling the shapes in with the two colors above. I did some light distressing and then completed the shelf with two coats of GF HP Topcoat.