Showing posts with label transformation with paint #GeneralFinishes. Show all posts
Showing posts with label transformation with paint #GeneralFinishes. Show all posts

Friday, January 16, 2015

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.

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 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.




I am just about caught up now, will post again soon.  Thank you for looking.




You can find me on Pinterest at 


and also on Facebook at 



If you wish to contact me I can be reached at penandinkwell@yahoo.com

Friday, November 28, 2014

Santa Claus is coming to town!

Tonight is our small town's Santa Claus parade. It is always a fun event and the Christmas lights on the floats and vehicles twinkle in the dark sky. We have just enough snow to make it festive...if you were to rewind the calendar to last week, we would have had too much snow!  I am trying to keep busy with the projects since December is right around the corner.

I am pleased to share some of my latest work.

I bought a wooden file cabinet (in need of a bit of TLC) from an estate sale and wanted to do something completely new and unexpected. I have been chalk painting but didn't want to do that this time around.  Just in time I received my package from General Finishes that included two colors of their milk paint and a can of High Performance Topcoat in a flat finish.  Of course I had to open the paint right away (it was like an early Christmas present!)

As the cabinet had been in not so great shape I first had to wash it.  (Because you just never know what's in there when it's been sitting and unused for a while.  . After it had dried I gave it a light sanding with a medium grit sandpaper. Yes, I took the drawers out to do this....   

Now the fun begins!

Woohoo - I opened the can of Linen color milk paint and loved it....but was it going to be a nice paint to work with?  Oh yes it was! It went on so smooth and didn't drag like some other paints I have used. (Not sure if drag would be the technical term but the brush just flowed like it was skating on ice.)
I did two coats of the paint, it really covered well and I could have gotten away with one coat but I think I am so used to doing at least two coats I was stuck in that rut.

Anyhow, after the paint had dried, I did rough measurements for line placement but wasn't too concerned that they be an exact distance from one another. This is a fun plaid and I wanted it to be unstructured.  After the markings were in place I drew a bunch (that is a technical term!) of ideas for plaids using colored pencils. I always like navy and red-burgundy together so those were my starting points.






I used flat artist brushes to do the lines....I got a rhythm going so that I could make the plaid come together in a way that I liked.  It is a lot of tedious work but I was glad I took my time because where the lines intersect  you are able to see that they do.


After a few days of painting lines, it came together the way I envisioned.  For the topcoat I decided to use the flat finish High Performance Topcoat that I got from General Finishes.  I used a plastic spoon to stir it and then used the spoon to put it into a separate container (so that I didn't somehow contaminate the topcoat in the can in case any paint transferred to the brush).  I used about 20 teaspoons per coat of the topcoat. You sure don't need a lot of this to get good coverage.  I did two coats and am so happy with the results.

A shout out to General Finishes https://generalfinishes.com  This is my first experience using their products (and actually my first experience with milk paint!)  I am more than happy with the quality and ease of application.  Guess what is on my list to Santa now???

*****


You know that I use a styrofoam head sometimes but it lacks a real neck so sometimes I will hang a scarf on a hanger with a shirt/sweater as the background but this time I used a real model.   She is a but shy so I cut her head off...don't worry, only for the picture!

This is a double strand acrylic yarn wrap scarf.  I did a nice ribbing detail (my own design) and knit for days and days til I finished it. (Ok, I knew it would take a while so I am not really complaining).  It is secured with four wooden buttons and I made yarn loops to put around the buttons.  It is really toasty warm to wear.

*****

That's it for now, I have more projects on the go and also some of the ones I have recently completed can't be posted on-line until after Christmas as they are for gifts.

You can email me at penandinkwell@yahoo.com or 

find me on Facebook at Handcrafted Projects by Sue Lane  
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Handcrafted-Projects-by-Sue-Lane/105487656209042?ref=hl




I am also on Pinterest so follow me! I will add my new projectst to the  "My Creations" board soon.  http://www.pinterest.com/sue_montgomery/



Thanks for looking!