Anj
Where are you located? I'm in northern Ontario. It was nasty windy and rainy/snowy today here also. But no time to paint today.

I'm in Utah, USA. Winter is finally here. Bleck. ha I'm from Mississippi originally so I'm not a fan of these cold snowy winters. :P How about you? Do you like the snow?

Well Anj I don't really like the snow but when you live where I do you kind of have to deal with it. You really do get used to it and you learn to take on winter activities like ice fishing, skiing, snowmobiling and stuff.

Of course as I get older I am not doing as much outdoors as I used to. Think about this. I lived over 20 years in the same one bedroom apartment. When it came to winter I just basiclly went stir crazy because I stayed indoors except to go to work in winter and do a few minor things. Then we bought this huge house November 30th of last year and I could probably fit 3 of my apartments in it. I can hide anywhere in it. It's great. So now I basiclly go outside for some fresh air and a litte excercise - I might shovel the driveway when the snow is light. Otherwise DH blows the snow.

The worse part is driving to work. If I could only solve that problem I'd be set. LOL

Glad to hear you're painting Anj. Doesn't it just feel sooooo good to be doing what you love. It does for me, I've finally picked up some brushes and got some things basecoated right now. I need to sneak it in on everything else going on.

As for snow, none yet in MA (thank God). The older I get the more I don't want it, especially when I have to shovel or use that super small snowblower. My sis in OH said it was 70 deg there yesterday (10/8) and we usually get their weather coming this way so I'm hoping for a gorgeous Fri (day off - holiday) and a good Saturday hopefully. Maybe, just maybe, I can get those mums and daisies in the ground before it freezes.

Sal

Hi Anj, what a good way to spend a cold, snowy day! All nice and warm and cozy inside sipping a hot cuppa ??? and creating a thing of beauty! Been a lot of years since I've experienced a snowy day--but we do get some pretty chilly rainy ones. Can't wait to see your new projects. Hope you totally enjoyed yourself. Luvs

Well, Vi, I've been in Utah for 17 years and I'm still not into any winter "fun". ha I just cannot stand the cold. I hibernate inside most of the winter. Congrats on that big house. It must be nice not to be cramped up. I can't wait until we can add on to our house.

Sal~ I just saw your shutter project. I'm glad you are getting some painting in as well. Enjoy that good weather when you can!

Thanks Kay~ I did enjoy myself. DH said I seemed happy and relaxed when he came home last night. ha I can only blame it on my day of painting and movies (with a little chocolate thrown in!) ha I watched an old 1930's Nancy Drew mystery on Turner Classics. It was fun since I was really into Nancy Drew when I was younger.

Hope you can all get in some relaxing paint time. We deserve it from time to time. ~Anj

Hi ladies,
I'm very busy doing craft shows right now
but when they are over, my goal this year is to do more painting. I am a beginner and just learning.
Haven't taken any classes and am self taught.
Have studied the one stroke tapes and books
and have some good books....so with practice hope to improve.

Maybe the painters here can help me.

I painted these soaps this summer to put in
a gift shop where I place some of my crafts

Help you what, soso?? They look terrific!! I love them all.
Now how does that work? Do you paint directly on the soap? And are they just for looks or can you use them? Did you make the soap? I tried making some with my friend who does it as a work from home job, but I was allergic to the scents. It's fun to do though.
Great job! Glad you shared. ~Anj

You did a beautiful job soso on your soaps. I'm very interested to know how you painted on them. Did you have to prepare the soap in any way? Was there a special medium you used?

Thanks for the nice comments.

I bought boxes of soap at the $ store that has no name pressed in. There are 3 in a box at Dollar tree.
Apply 2 coats of waterbase varnish on the side you are
going to paint, being sure to stroke in same direction for both coats.
I then painted antique white for a background.
Use acrylics to paint picture and seal with waterbase varnish
Tag with something that says
use from bottom side only,
til only a sliver remains.

These are nice in guest bathrooms
This site shows some packaged nicely.

Here is a link that might be useful: soaps

Soso, Welcome to the painting forum, and I just love your painted soaps! Those are the most unique ones I have seen. You certainly don't need any help from us--your painting looks great! I'm going to go check out the link you posted. I had seen some painted soaps packaged in clear cellophane along with a washcloth--thought they would make nice "girlfriends" gifts. Thanks for telling us how you did them--I thought you had to buy a special candle/soap medium. Water based varnish is much more versatile and probably less expensive too. Please keep coming back, want to see more of your projects too.

Anj--chocolate helps everything! LOL I used to love reading Nancy Drew too! I didn't know they had made any movies of those stories. Would have loved to see it. Just saw a Nancy Drew book today at the shop. It was "The Mystery at Lilac Inn". That was the very first one I read! Thought I should buy it and save it for GD. Forgot about it when I left tonight--sure hope it will still be there tomorrow.

Luvs

OK, I got the soap and I got the patterns I want to paint on, but where do you find water based varnish? Is it just by the acrylic paints?

Luvs~ I think the first Nancy Drew book I read was the Sign of the Twisted Candles and I was hooked. :)

Hi Anj, Good for you! Enjoy!

I found the varnish at Michaels over by the paint section. Mine was in a white plastic bottle. There may be other kinds too.

Those will make cute gifts for your neighbor exchange too. I've seen them wrapped with a washcloth in clear cellophane and tied with a pretty bow. I think those little decorated cellophane bags that Dollar Tree has for candy and stuff would be cute for the soaps too.

Just a couple tips: Some bars of soap may have little rough edges--I just used a small piece of fine grit sandpaper and gently rubbed the rough edges off then ran my fingers over it to smooth it. Also, the painted edges will "chip" easily until you have put the varnish coats on top, so use caution when handling them. Hope this helps.

Happy Thanksgiving, Luvs

Hey luvs. Thanks a bunch for the tips. I left some other questions over on your soap post. ~Anj

Your painting is very nice, keep it up. I shiver when I hear of the snow - I live in Florida and today it was in the 70's. For me, I love to paint no matter what the temps are.

Welcome paintingfool!! Happy to have you here with us! Wish I was there in FL with you. That's my kind of Thanksgiving and Christmas weather! ha It only snowed twice in my memory as a child and it was fun for the day it lasted and we got out of school, but living with it all winter is another story altogether! ha Hope you'll continue to post. Happy Thanksgiving! ~Anj

Welcome Paintingfool, Glad to have you join us on the forum. Please hop right in and join any posts, and please we'd love to have you post pics of your projects on our gallery, we love to see any and all kinds of painted items. Luvs

Thanks, I have been a member of the forum for about 6 years but rarely post. I am a decorative painter (20+ years) and I teach on occasion. Right now I am painting Christmas items for family, some my own design and others from magazines. I haven't figured out how to post pics yet. I love our weather here but last night it dropped down to the 40's and anything below 70 is freezing to me.
Thanks again

Paintingfool, If you have a digital camera, take a look at the instructions Anj posted for us. That is how I learned to post pics. I just followed her directions step by step.

Wow! I am so excited to have someone with your experience on here. Most of us just paint for pleasure and gift items. A few do some craft shows. I don't think anyone else has taught classes. I know you will be a big help with our questions.

I agree about the temps dropping. Where do you live? I am in So.Calif. and we are about 54 degrees this morning and foggy. Not really complaining, actually wish we would get a good rain. Plus the cooler weather helps me think about making Christmas decorations.

Hope you will join in on lots of our discussions, and tell us about your projects. Have you checked out our gallery yet? Just look towards the top of the discussions page, and in the middle you will see gallery and conversations. Click on them and see what else is going on here.

Luvs

OK, let's try this. I painted a flamingo on a porcelain ornament. I used triple thick varnish just on the front of the ornament, that is why the photo shows an irridescent mark above the flamingo's head and the dot in the middle of the ornament. Hope this works. {{!gwi}}

Love the shade of pinks you chose. It looks so soft and feathery. The holly was a nice touch and I like the ornie you painted on. I haven't seen anything like that. It looks metal. Where did you find it? It's a wonderful piece. I'm glad you got the pics to work. We will now be hounding you for more so just get ready for it. ;) ~Anj

The flamingo is a Willow Wolfe design from the Painting magazine. It is painted on a porcelain ornament from Michaels but unfortunately, they do not carry them anymore. I painted the back of the ornament with a Champagne Gold (Americana). It is like gold and silver mixed together, a favorite of mine. Glad you like him.

Great painting on those feathers! Actually look fuzzy. Your painting is great. Ohhh, would have loved some ornaments like that. Don't you just hate it when they quit carrying something you really like? That Americana color sounds like a good one for the holidays. Do you prefer Americana over other brands, or do you use a variety? Glad the picture posting worked for you--Anj gave us good instructions to go by--thanks again Anj. Paintingfool, we're glad to have you sharing with us. Luvs

I love Americana paints. I don't know if it is the binder in the paints or what but they are more opaque and can cover in one coat. But since I have over 700 bottles of paint on hand, I use whatever is in my bins. I have taken a lot of classes over the past few years from "Royal Brush Ambassadors" and they provide the paint for the classes at no charge. We have a painting chapter in my town and we use the extra paints for paint ins. Do you have a painting chapter where you live?

Those soaps are darlin'. Makes me want to paint some too. And the pink flamingo is stunning! Looks so lifelike! GREAT JOBS everyone!

Ok, I need help. I went to Roberts over the weekend and Michaels today and none of the people in there seemed to know what the heck I was talking about. Looked at me like I had just sprouted a second head when I said I was going to paint on soap. I finally found some water based varnish and ended up getting the matte finish?? If you got yours at Michaels would you be so kind as to tell me the exact name brand and what finish you got? The kind I got was J.W. etc. RIGHT-STEP water based clear varnish matte finish. The lady said I can return it if it's not right. I'll be waiting to hear from somebody. :) I'm going to post this over on the other side too. ~Anj

Anj, That's it! Just needs to be water based because you will be using it with acrylic paints. I'm using the same one. Mine says satin finish. Sorry, I should have mentioned the brand name on my other post--there is more than one brand I think.

The reason they looked at you like that is because there is a Candle & Soap painting medium now. It is just a small 2 oz. bottle. This water base varnish is a larger container and can be used for multiple things such as sealing your wood, or the finish coat on a project instead of the spray on finish. This should be cheaper and last longer.

I am going to try it on a candle too--should work just fine.

You could send Soso an email to see if it is the same as she used. If you do, would you also ask her if she used tape around the bar of soap to get those neat edges when she painted them? I just stopped mine at the top, but her pics look like hers goes down the side a little.

Can't wait to see what you paint on yours.

Luvs

You all are so talented!

Soso, those soaps are wonderful. Will have to give them a try this summer when things slow down.

Paintfool......as with the Santas you showed us on another post, all I can say is WOW! I am usually not at a loss for words, but when I look at your pics, I just sit with my mouth open for a few minutes!!

On the site that Soso posted, there is one of the cutest snowman faces I have ever seen, on an Ivy bowl. For those of you that love snowmen..take a peek!

Oh, sorry I missed this before luvs. I have only had seconds to jump on here and there. I went online after I posted this and they all just said water based varnish so I just decided I probably had the right thing. Some sites even said you can spray it with the clear acrylic sealer when you are done if you want a shiney look.
The 2 ladies I asked at Michaels directed me over to actual candle paint. It comes in different colors, but not what I wanted of course. I ended up finding what I got on my own so I'm glad I got the right thing.
One of the books I got at the TS the other day is called 'Hung Up on Love Chunks'(mini series) and all the patterns are just the right size for soap!! I was so excited I almost did a happy dance right in the aisle. Another girl came right behind me and was snapping up all the ones I discarded. Glad I didn't get there 2 seconds later! ~Anj

Sorry I didn't get back to this subject sooner,
I use ceramcoat water base acrylic varnish from Joannes
or Michaels. I use the gloss or matte on almost all my painted projects.

I make lots of decoupauged signs for craft show and use so much of it that I buy it it quart cans from Home Depot or
Lowes.......just make sure the can says water based acrylic
It goes so much further than spraysor the little bottles
from craft stores.

Hi Soso, glad you checked back in. Hope we will get to see more of your projects. If you'd like to show us non-painted items, just post them over on the conversations side--it's for chatting and off topic things.

Anj, that's great that one of the books had the perfect patterns for soaps. I think I might remember that book--who is the author of it?

I'm not doing so good on getting any painting done this week. Time goes way too fast. I did take some pics of my painted items as I took them out of the boxes. I'll try to get them posted tomorrow.

Luvs

Ha Soso~ I was just going thru some bags of stuff I had bought the other day and guess what I found! The ceramcoat varnish that I bought at Walmarts as a backup in case the Michaels stuff was the wrong thing. haha Forgot I even bought it. I guess I'm covered. ha Now if I can only find some time to paint.

Luvs~ the book is actually a collaboration of artists: Gaye Shoell, Rebecca Carter, Emily Dinsdale, and Kathryn Distefano Griffiths. It's c 1993.

~A

Okay, I bow to Soso's expertise. Her soaps turned out so great! I just painted some snowmen on bars of soap. I think mine look terrible! For me, it is so much harder to paint small items than large ones. I thought I would paint the soaps and matching ornaments. I couldn't even figure out how to transfer the pattern onto the ornament! How do you guys do that????? Kathy's looked wonderful. Not mine! I tried outlining my snowmen and that just looked worse. I should post a pic of them to show how NOT to paint! LOL Have to say painting the one stroke roses on the soap wasn't so bad. I think I had better just stick to bigger things! Luvs

Luvs I feel exactly the same way. I'm no good with small things and I can't ever get a pattern transferred to a rounded object. I suspect a soap has it's own set of problems. Maybe the answer is to do some one stroke things. You know things that you don't really need to transfer but plan as you go.