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dianecrafts

Here are A Few Projects to Share

dianecrafts
14 years ago

I dug out a few of my older class projects to share with y'all. I really need to get busy painting and sewing...craft show season is almost here and I have no inventory YIKES...I mainly have handmade purses and accessories in my booth but I always add some of my painted projects too :) Ohhh I painted the ornaments last week...wouldn't ya know I forgot to drill the holes first silly me :( I need to paint some more little ornaments as I plan to have a little tree in my booth again this year. It's been a few years since I've had it in there.



This is done on a piece of matte board. I couldn't find a wood surface the size of the pattern and didn't really want to spend an arm and leg to purchase one so while my friend and I were in and art supply store I noticed all sorts of these cut outs they had from cutting cutting mats for pictures. They were all colors, sizes, shapes and textures and VERY inexpensive. I thought...heck..no harm in trying it...I sealed it first then basecoated it. It took several coats, this one was originally brown and had almost a "canvas" texture. It worked really well. Only problem is finding a frame for it if that is what you want...or a hanger...i think you could glue one on...but I really like it on an easel. I also painted the back which took several coats because it's kind of plastic-y...but it could be spray painted. (again with the novel LOL)



I think this might have been the second project we painted after my friend and I joined the painting group. I did mine on a wooden plate there were lots of different surfaces chosen for this project.



One of the ladies in our group got these chairs for free. She donated one to each of us to paint on all we had to do was sand the back to prep them as they did have varnish on them...some people said they wanted to recover the seat so it would match the colors in the painting better...I don't know what I'll do...it is really in good condition.



These little guys were inspired by a free pattern from Susan Kelly's site. I reduced them a lot to fit on the little hearts and she used stencils for her snowflake background and the swirls in the scarfs...I didn't have any stencils like that (and especially any that small) so I just did it "my way".

That's it for now. Let's see what everyone else is working on or has done in the past. You know we LOVE looking :)

Happy Painting,

Diane

Comments (6)

  • luvstocraft
    14 years ago

    Thanks for posting pics of so many projects Diane. I'm smiling back at those cute little snowman expressions! ;o) Isn't it great that we can enlarge/reduce or even use just parts of patterns to create the design we need for our projects? You did that very well on these.

    Your hummingbird and kitty are nice too--not easy projects for beginners either! Kudos to you for such a good painting job on your first projects.

    Luvs

  • dianecrafts
    Original Author
    14 years ago

    Thanks Luvs, I love painting ornaments. I haven't painted any in some time but I think this year I will have a little tree full in my craft show booth again. They always did well for me. For the last several years a good seller has been painted ice skates...my best seller are two very primitive snowman designs. Nothing fancy but they are cute and can be kept up all through the winter since they are not "Christmas". I couldn't keep up with the orders for them for a while, but some other people are painting skates now so it is slowing down for me but I got a good 4 years out of it and am still doing ok. Thing for me is I like painting on the little skates and they are getting really hard to find. I have lots of the bigger ones.

    The hummingbird and the kitty are NOT my favorites. They were class projects and while I have been painting for a LOT of years the kitty is my first "realistic" animal project. It is not a project I would pick on my own but I'll paint any project we do in class, I always learn something. The hummingbird was the same thing. One of the ladies wanted to paint that project...I didn't "love" the hummingbird in the picture when she showed it to us but hey...there is always something to learn...that's one reason I didn't want to spend a lot of money on a surface.

    Happy Painting,

    Diane

  • phonegirl
    14 years ago

    Diane,

    It's so wonderful that you are posting so many projects. I hope you get everthing ready for your craft show. I love the kitty. You captured that look, like he's watching something. I bet your ornaments will sell well at the show. I have several of Susan Kelly's books and she is a great artist. I always enjoy painting her patterns.

    Your humming bird, chair and snowmen are also adorable so keep posting for us to enjoy. You paint on alot of different surfaces and I'm getting better at trying new surfaces. I have an old coffee pot that I'd like to paint something on but keep putting it off. I want to start on the old suitcase just need to take time. I'm never sure if I want flowers or a scene of something. Just call me the Procrastinator. haha

    GTG, Punk

  • dianecrafts
    Original Author
    14 years ago

    Thanks Punk, I do paint on a lot of surfaces. I have and old coffee pot around here somewhere that I have an Annie and "friend" painted on. I'll try to dig that up and post it. I also have a teapot that I painted a winter scene on (I think...it's been so long since I've seen it) if I can find that one I'll post a picture of it too. I aslo did an old teapot that i kind of "winged" old salt box houses, sheep, trees...I sold that one on Ebay years ago but I might still have a picture of it somewhere. I love painting on "stuff" LOL I don't paint too many flowers. I have little suitcase that I painted a Pam Grady design on, that I keep my 100's floppy disks that have my pictures. My old Sony digital camera takes those disks and while I love that camera it sure is out of "style" now.

    My motto is if it doesn't move paint it LOL

    Happy Painting,

    Diane

  • luvstocraft
    14 years ago

    Hey, Punk, you can't be the Procrastinator--I already resemble that title! LOL My hardest part is deciding what to paint and what to paint it on. Once those parts of the decision are made, the rest is easy.

    Diane, I'm glad you are doing well at your shows. I did one show with a friend but didn't really enjoy it. I got lots of nice compliments and some inquiries about special orders but I just never feel my painting is "professional" enough for selling! At the last craft show I attended, I was surprized to see lots of more primitive pieces again. Some are so simple and yet so darn cute. Be sure to let us know how your shows go and what kinds of items seem to be popular, okay?

    Luvs

  • dianecrafts
    Original Author
    14 years ago

    Luvs, craft shows have slowed down soooo much. A few years ago I switched from selling my painted stuff to selling purses and accessories. About 2 years ago I got an embroidery machine so I started adding some of machine embroidery. Those have been my "main" booth set up for about 7 years now and I always have a few painted pieces like my skates and a few other things mixed in to my display. I would love to go back to full time painting for shows but there was so many decorative painters trying to sell their work not many of us were making money. If you had original designs you could do pretty well...but mostly I can't draw anything...I can adapt things but not draw from scratch...I need a pattern to start from. Now it is getting to be the same way with purses. When I first started I was the only purse vendor at most shows now there are a lot of us. I just hope the shows start doing well again. I can remember doing shows when you could make a living at it (and that's when I did painted wood, yard signs, small furniture like benches, shelving, etc...my husband used to cut all my wood for me and we were sooooo busy we used to have our lumber delivered to our home. Ahhhh to see those times again :) I'll try to keep my eyes open and let you know what is selling. I have a friend who sells painted items at shows, but I'm not sure how many shows she will be doing this year as her husband is not in good health.

    Your work is certainly professional enough to sell. You never know what people are looking for. Often times a piece I don't like or don't think is well done will be one of the first to sell...one I think will sell first I still have at the end of the day.

    Happy Painting,

    Diane

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