Decorative Art Change

Change is what this old washstand needed......from Brown to White with a coat of paint.

 Silver stencil ( bought at the Dollar shop), then a gold layer....

 Next an image transfer on the top left side....

Another stencil, some gold text this time on the right hand side from Seth Apter from thealteredpage.blogspot.com

A bit of distressing & a watery layer of gesso over the transfer....part of a poem about stars (author unknown) hand written over the transfer......

 Dry brushed silver & gold on the legs......some more distressing with sandpaper on the edges of the washstand.....

 & what a difference this easy makeover  made to a tired old washstand!

(raylee).

Suitcase Art

 1. Gesso

 2. Naples Yellow Acrylic

 3. Yellow Ochre, Burnt Sienna

4. Trial & error with the composition

5. Add the Blues - Ultramarine & Cobalt with White

(raylee). www.facebook.com/RayleeSyrchArt

Fabric for Chairs

Poor tired old chairs...

fabric worn through...

foam stuffing getting picked at by littlies...

dig out the old pale jeans...

chop off the seams...and maybe they fit...

stitch them in place...

and a denim flower now adorns the worn...

then there are the dining chairs..

old patchwork chair covers cut..

and stapled to the straight...

a new life from the old...

Faux Rust Effect

 A very easy tutorial for this Faux Rust Effect can be found at thicketworks.

 This is my first attempt.......I started with a gesso undercoat on the paper/cardboard figure. Let this dry.

 Next I mixed Prussian Blue & Burnt Sienna acrylic to make a black & covered the figure.

 Tore pieces of paper napkin & stuck these on with heavy gel medium,

 Next I placed Burnt Sienna acrylic randomly, sprinkled cinnamon over the wet paint & pressed it in with my fingers.

 With a stiff dry brush I removed the excess cinnamon.

The big patch in this photo shows where I put gel medium on top of the Burnt Sienna & sprinkled cinnamon over it & again pressed it into the gel, this added more texture.
I like this effect, with some more experimenting this could become a favourite......many surfaces could become Rusty!
Thanks to Heather from thicketworks. A comprehensive  tutorial can be found on her blog.
(raylee).

Where does the inspiration come from?

A collage acrylic on canvas that I had forgotten to post. Out of sight out of mind as they say. The little deer was from a magazine & the trees I cut from a piece of scrap wallpaper. The texture of the design on the wallpaper was very soft to the touch. The leafy patterns worked well for the trees. As usual I started with an idea which was to incorporate the colours from the floral fabric I had made slip covers from for the outside chairs.

Add caption

After a lot of experimenting with colours the painting became a lot more snowy but included all the colours from the fabric used on the chair covers.

The fabric is so different from the finished painting but started the process that created the snowy scene. In some of my first art classes many years ago we were given pictures to paint from, not to copy but to interpret in our own way. A valuable exercise that I use sometimes when I am not sure what I want to paint. (raylee).

Reveal

Just a little peek at a corner of my room.
(raylee).

Happy Mothers Day

Hope you all enjoyed your day!
(raylee).

Makeover, Almost New Again......

hello all , nice to see you here.

 spring has sprung , birds are singing, flowers blooming, sun shining & the sky is blue, i do love a blue sky. thought i would share this kerbside find with you. the after photo.

the chair was a bit sad looking but was only missing the back rest.

gave it a scrub with soapy water, some pretty tropical fabric ( a great find from the op shop, brand new fabric)

 & a lick of paint did the trick!

  i painted the canvas  seat  & made a tie on cushion. 

 the before photo.

 finished it with a new back rest.

now a nice cuppa tea!
(raylee).

Blanket Jazz

 

I found this old blanket in the cupboard...

don't know where it came from...

had it floating around for many years...

nearly went to the shed for use as whatever the shed may have needed it for...

 

as you can see here it was very moth eaten...

so not very pretty to use on the bed...

and mine always complained of the scratchy wool...

so..

 

 

I got out an old doily tablecloth which was too small for my table...

and an old doona cover for the backing...

sewed them about a bit...

and ta-da!!...holes hidden...

From the Lake to the Garden.....

 we live close to a lake where a lot of leisure time is spent.

 we go out in an old boat that husband has restored.

 he likes to go fishing, i just like being on the water.

 sometimes he brings home fish or mud crabs.......
but this one time he brought home a chair that he found in the lake almost submerged. being the inquisitive type he had to investigate what was sticking up out of the water!
it was muddy & yukky, but after a good scrubbing & some new cushions made from fabrics that i had unpicked from a couch cover, a piece of floral curtain fabric(found in my art tutor's rag box for cleaning oily paint brushes) much too pretty for that!, & trimmed with some piping i found at the op shop.

 the chair now  looks quite comfortable in the garden.

 i had to save this floral piece from being destroyed by oil paint. it just happened to be the right size for the chair seat cushion.

(raylee).

Garden and storage

we recently had a need to move some old furniture out...

it should go off to a new home at the tip...

but we had an issue with the how?!....

so...

it's become a sculpture in the blank bit of the garden...

anyone for a cuppa and a bit of telly??..

 

only one has noticed with a hiccup of a laugh...

and a - what is that??...

Raylee often asks what's on your work table?...

well she sent me some lovely jars she decorated...

and now they are waiting to be filled with stuff...

on my work table...

and this lot is holding some more stuff...

I cut the tops off the 3 litre milk bottles...

they make lovely containers for little bits and pieces...

and sit nicely in a wire basket...

or the pretty cane one...

on my work table!!...