Shabby Chic Inspiration

I read somewhere--and I'm paraphrasing--that "We should look in the past in order to accomplish something extraordinary". I really agree with this phrase because when we look at our surroundings and appreciate the beauty of nature, the song of the birds, the warm sunshine upon our faces, etc. we try to keep the feeling of joy, and happiness that emanate from it. The artist captures the image of what he is seeing and reflects it on canvas, giving it his own interpretation of what he is seeing and feeling. In the end, all of us are trying to emulate, and imitate what is already created in front of our eyes. I try to imitate what is good for me and gives me joy. In the scripture we are exhorted to emulate Christ's life so we can be what our Father in Heaven expects from us, and live in harmony with His Spirit. That gives me joy too. So we are inspired by others in what is created and by looking in the past to conquer what makes us happy. What makes something original? The wonderful thing about art is that if we place a rose in front of five artists, each artist will capture the rose differently, and so each painting will differ. That makes the painting unique. Even though when we try to reproduce a painting it is really difficult to paint it exactly. In painting clases all the students are following the same instructions to paint a painting and each one turns out diferent from the others which gives me pleasure and joy because each of us have a divine nature, a personal sense to see and create things, and that makes us unique--and we all can learn so much from others. I think its wonderful.

 I visited Shabby chic Couture and everything is just beautiful. I love her accessories-accents, but like Dave Ramsey said : That's below the line... in other words, its not in my budget. I decided to make the items that I would like to buy and make them my self. I didn't spend a penny. I looked around my house and I found all the materials that I needed. I bought some canvas at 50% sale last year.  

I used watercolor, it was so much fun to play with the colors and to spash them on the wet canvas; each time that I spashed watercolor my little boy shouted: "Rain!!!" For me the secret of working with watercolor on canvas is to use a hair-dryer, the air will mix and spread the color making  the effect that you see above. I used a  wet sponge instead of a brush to apply the watercolor. Tip:Wet the canvas before applying the watercolor and have fun mixing it with the hair-dryer. 

To paint the dresses I used acrylic and applied it with my art knife. I didn't use brushes in this project. If you want a heavy texture you could use oil paint.

The color palette that I used made a great combination with my mural on the ceiling. The good thing about making my own Laurence Amelie Tutu painting is that I can customize it to my own taste. I painted a big pink rose and a little rose brooch on one of the dresses. 

I painted this beauty in watercolor on canvas, I signed this painting because its an original of mine. One year ago I went to a painting class of Wet On Wet Bob Ross oil technique and we painted a beautiful stormy sea. All the students signed their paintings but I didn't sign mine because for me it was a reproduction of Bob Ross' Painting, not an original.

Being inspired from Shabby Chic I made my own round petticoat pillow. I added a rose on center. I then crocheted a pillow.

I found a round light lamp shade for free. I tore it a part and I kept the two rings of the lamp shade to make this Dreamcatcher, I decorated with paper butterfly. I love it.

You can find wonderful tutorials in YouTube on how to make your own dreamcatcher.

I made this rosary out of acorns. Mother nature and the squirrel shared some with me :)

I opened the holes with a drill with the smallest drill bit. I used two pieces of wood and glued it together with wood glue.

I displayed it on my garden conservatory.

This is the last rose bouquet that my garden will produce. I pruned my roses and they are ready for winter. I will not enjoy their sweet smell until next year, I'll miss them.

I wish you success in all you do and remember  that only you put the obstacles in your way to creativity. I know that you can accomplish anything you want because all of us are daughters and sons of the great creator, yes, our Father in Heaven.

~Have a wonderful day ~

Making furniture appliques

Not long ago I was looking for shabby chic furniture and it surprised me that all of them were decorated with appliques. So, I searched to see how much those furniture appliques cost and oh my goodness, they are expensive. I'm a frugal girl, so I decided to make my own furniture applique for my furniture. Some of you had left questions on my prior post asking if these appliquee made of All Purpose Compound are durable. Well, they are strong enough as an applique, I really recommend to paint the applique with primer-sealler before painting. These appliques are like everything else--if you give it a good hit obviously it's going to break. So start small and practise your skill of cake decoration.

I made this mantel from leftover wood that I found in my garage. I 've been seeing many bloggers using salvage mantel as a decoration spot and I think they look beautiful. You don't need a real fireplace to have the same feeling with this wonderful idea. I love it because I don't have a fireplace. So far I have made two faux fireplace mantels.

I decided to add a chic look to my mantel making a wreath and two swags. I drew a circle and half circle with a pencil were I wanted the appliques.

Here are some projects that I made using my idea of using All Purpose Joint Compound, also called: Drywall Mud, Drywall Filler in Canada, Joint Filler in the UK, Fugenmasse in Germany, Joint Finish in Australia to make furniture appliques.

I used an old window to make an ornamental frame.

I wanted to make a vintage scrolled frame on my window. I made this base support of papier mache and glued it on top of the frame window to support a shell that I wanted to put on top. This base support I covered with compound to make it strong to support the shell.

I used my cake decorator kit to make the roses.

I'm thinking about making a mirror out of my glass window, like a verre Eglomise.

I made a little change hanging my cone with dry roses in front of the window.

~Wish you a wonderful day and keep yourself crafty~

Sea Shell Crown

I got a desire for crowns so I decided to make a couple. I have been collecting sea shells and I decided to decorate one of the crowns with shells. I'm not finished with this crown yet, it needs more shells and I want to glue sea stars on each star on the crown. My husband and I decided to make a trip to the coast and I wanted to take some photos of the crown in front of the ocean, so, I had to take the crown with me unfinished. I want to share with you how I made this crown.

I made a crown of cardboard.

I covered the cardboard with newspaper dampened in a mixture of flour, white glue, and water.  The cardboard crown becomes flexible because of  the wet newspaper, so I put a support under the crown and let it dry completely.

Then I covered the entire crown with All-Purpose Compound. I put two sticks underneath for support, because it was bending a little, and let it dry.

When it is totaly dry it is good to rub it with a wet sponge to smooth the compound.

Then I started to decorate the crown with shells

I really like how the crown turned out. It looks like a crown made of stone-- I think it looks wonderful with the shell.

I wish you a wonderful day and surround yourself with beautiful things that make you happy.