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).

Birds & Bees

 Spring is here!
Time to give this old stool a new coat of paint.

 All white with a black pattern on the top. I just used painter's masking tape to make the design.

Hand painted a leopard print with some coloured spots onto the legs.

 Found a tutorial for the leopard print at Tracey's Fancy.

Tracey has lots of really great furniture painting tutorials.  

 Used the same colours for the trims on the legs.
 Stenciled little spots around the edge of the top.

Pretty little bird stickers complete this makeover. 

The stool will be used as a bedside table.

(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

Paint & Paper Chair Makeover

 my brother gave me this second hand office chair more than twenty years ago. i am not sure how old it is. it's still going strong, i use it every day at my messy desk.
 when he gave it to me it had a grey vinyl seat & brown varnished back & legs. i gave it a makeover many years ago, but it needed another.
 above is how it looks now.......much bluer,  lighter & summery.
 below:  the back of the chair before i removed the old orange  suede seat covering, then some sanding, a few coats of paint, used wrapping paper from my grandson, an image from a newspaper & a decoupage paper image of a mermaid painting was all it needed for a new look.

 the back in progress....

 & the front......i cut some fish from the wrapping paper & glued them over the sides of the mermaid image.

 old style image on the back......& older still on the front.

 i stitched a new seat cover from an  old pair of  denim jeans courtesy of Simonne, & the blue spots on this piece of new fabric matched the blue of the denim & the fish paper.

i am always amazed at how paint & (paper) can make such a difference.
(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).

"The Red Bird"......

acrylic, gel medium, moulding paste, stencils, masking tape, bubble wrap all used to create texture over an old acrylic painting on board.

started as a vase of yellow flowers.

but it just wasn't happening........so i decided to try a different subject & try the colour green again.

  the background started.......now for the bird.....

 some of the texture from the flowers on the bird's back....

 & a close up of the texture created by using strips of masking tape.

i have been trying some of the  texture techniques in paintings that i used last year for the 365 creative challenge.
 these were much smaller  exercises on old book pages. putting the techniques into larger paintings is much more rewarding.
(raylee).

Moulding Paste Mixed With Acrylic Paint..........

...... to create texture on a canvas.
to begin i used a previously painted canvas that had random lines drawn into the paint while it was still wet with an old fork.
 i repainted over the canvas roughly with white acrylic.
 when dry i taped around the sides (green masking tape), to make a border.
 at this stage i had no idea what i was going to paint. so decided to challenge myself & use green, not my favourite colour!
 i just mixed colours with the moulding paste to see what would happen when they went onto the canvas.
the  green was a bit dull by itself,  so of course pink made an appearance to liven things up a bit, also not a favourite colour.
sometimes you just do what you have to do!
 this shows some detail of the texture created by using the paint mixed with moulding paste & applied fairly thickly. 
  

 while all the paint was still wet i again used the fork to create the lines.when it was completely dry removed the tape.
 you can see some of the colour from the previous painting on the border.

now hanging on the wall.
(raylee).

Alphabet Jewellery Hanger

do you have alphabet  puzzles the kids have grown out of?

here's an idea for the girls.........glue the letters onto the board, i used pva glue.

when it was dry i gave it two coats of white gloss spray paint.

the little knobs are just the thing for hanging jewellery.
you could put a hanger on the back & hang it on the wall.
(raylee).

Messy Work Table........

 my messy work table this week.......i lie,..... it's been like this for weeks.
there isn't much space left to actually do anything anymore........i've been collaging, painting, stitching,  cutting paper shapes & doilies & fabric by the ???.....i have lost count.....
 had to move the sewing machine out......big mistake apparently.......sewing machine not happy......threads tangling......breaking........so no stitching, (am i allowed to swear on the blog?)
no sewing machine.......is like having a hand cut off to me.
so i returned to the messy table & redecorated this old blue cane basket with a bit of paint, wrapped a strip of cheesecloth around the handle, stuck some paper doilies on the inside, tied on a  hessian bow, three cardboard birds tied with string, & a* hand stitched* heart from cheesecloth, & three white buttons.

after half a day of trying to fix cantankerous sewing machine, (this is not the first time it has been a b***h), i give up........i'm going shopping for a new one!
(raylee).