Primitive Stacking Boxes

Here, I've taken 2 paper mache boxes and painted them a barn red. I also took a brown stamping pad and antiqued it on the lid, edges and corners. It made it look so much better than just plain painted. I hope you can see the stamping effect.

Then, I have a small 'holiday' file of vintage ephermera that I obtained from The Graphics Fairy and picked out, what I think are, the perfect graphics for these 2 boxes.

These would look wonderful on a mantel, as they are not too large or bulky, as some pantry boxes can be. It's so easy to make a vignette out of items like this...putting some pine sprays, teddy bears, and such, to complete the theme of what the graphics imply. I have set these on my primitive hutch...which I love, for the photo.

Total measurement of these is 11" x 6, and will be available in my Etsy shop very soon. You can always get to my Etsy shop by clicking on the bright blue button in the right column of my blog.

I hope this inspires you to try the same thing, and techniques, to create this warm, primitive Christmas decoration!

Christmas Sign

Working on a nice design for a Christmas sign. 

Sorry, this one is still a work in progress. The reason I took this picture of an unfinished project, in the first place, was to see if I could notice any 'shaky' areas of painting, i.e., any lines that need to be straightened up and looking for areas of the design that need to be balanced better. Sometimes you have to add more design to get the right balance, etc. When I'm painting in such detail and looking closely for hours and hours, I lose a little perspective. So standing back, taking a picture or just leaving a project for a day and coming back later gives it a fresh look. So, yes, I definitely have some straightening to do!! 

The 'Christmas' graphic is from The Graphics Fairy. This is the original Graphic...

 I have adapted it, a little, from the original to suit the sign. I have a large typography file on my computer, so I looked for the perfect style for the word 'Merry', printed it out and transferred it to the sign in the same manner as I did for the large graphic.
 It does take a long time to paint freehand especially when you're doing line art, but it's worth it in the end...and very satisfying :)

The background is crackled, using an undercoat of dark brown and ivory over the top. I can never get a good coat of paint over the crackling medium...it's always streaked and 'gloppy' in certain places. I've come to the realization that I'm never going to get it right, so I adapt. After it's dry, I just go over it again until I get a nice, even coat. I know you're not supposed to do this, because it defeats the purpose, but on most of the signs you can still see part of the crackling and you can always 'rough' it up after it's done by sanding or chipping away some paint in select areas. Maybe you can tell in this picture.

After the lettering is completed, I'll add a holly sprig at the top and put some mica flakes over just the sprig. I'd like to be able to finish this soon so I can show you, but have to take a short break to finish some other customer orders......hope you remember to check back!

If you have a little more time, there is a really cute Halloween sign that I painted and that you can see in the previous post....just scroll down.

Thanks for stopping by!

Halloween Plaque

What a sweet Halloween design by Jamie Mills-Price. 

I painted this a couple years ago and after much consideration, I decided to put it up for sale.

For those of you who are not familiar with Jamie Mills-Price, she designs holiday and seasonal pictures for us to paint. In art books, she provides the design to copy and then proceeds to instruct on how to paint it.

I love her designs and I've never had one that didn't turn out nice.

When cropping and getting the photo ready, I added a grungy black overlay for a border, which makes it a little "smokey" in some places around the edge...so if you notice this, please know that it is not part of the plaque :)

Here's a closer view...  there is a slight glare on this photo.

It measures 9" x 7" and is 3/4" thick with a beveled edge.

If you'd like to purchase this, you may do it right here. Just click the Paypal button and it will direct you to the payment cart.

$20.00

Tart Candles with Jar Labels

Well, I finished printing out the Christmas label, as I said in the previous post, and applied it to the mason jar. Since I had made enough candle tarts to fill 2 jars, I decided I wanted to get a label ready for Thanksgiving. No real design, here, I just took one of the vintage postcards that The Graphics Fairy had on her website and I made a .png image out of it. I added a deep red-orange border around it and then printed it out on craft colored paper.

Have any questions on how to achieve the same results on any part of these items...just email me and maybe I can be of some assistance.

Candle Jar Label

Today I finished a jar label. Adorable vintage Christmas graphics in vibrant colors. This has a white background, but I am going to print it off on a craft color paper to make the candle jar more country-ish or primitive. For now, I just have the graphic ready...later I'll post a picture of the label applied to the jar and full of candles and country Christmas charm!

Of course, for those of you who follow my blog will know that I've used many of the images for my graphic designs from The Graphics Fairy...www.graphicsfairy.blogspot.com. And this time is no exception. Below, I've added the graphics that I obtained from Karen's (Graphic Fairy).

Hope you like it as much as I do!

...until next time!