It's thyme to paint some SNOWman Ornaments

I have been busy painting lots of ornaments for Christmas!

Step inside my STUDIO 

It sure IS beginning

 to

 Look a Lot Like Christmas

I see my Christmas Elf HINKLEY is waiting for us!

The Christmas MAGIC is happening 

S-L-O-W-L-Y

Today I want to show you the snowman ornaments that I have been working on.

Two of my favorite designers TEAMED up to create this wonderful project!

Design is by Amy Mogish

You can find this and many of Amy's wonderful designs

HERE

Surface is by Sheila Bergner Landry

You can find it 

HERE

Let's Paint!

My Palette

DecoArt Americana Acrylics

Black Plum, Bright Green, Burnt Sienna, Burnt Umber, Deep Midnight Blue, Fiery Red, French Grey Blue, Light French Grey Blue, Winter Blue, Graphite, Light Buttermilk, Neutral Grey, Heritage Brick, Tomato Red, Slate Grey, Lamp Black

Speciality Products

Black Chalkboard paint

Starlite Glitter Varnish

Crystal Glamour Dust 

Silver Bling Glamour Dust Ultra Fine Glitter Paint

I began by base coating all the snowman bodies with Light Buttermilk

I'm working on the scarves. 

I base coated them French Grey Blue

I used Light French Grey Blue to highlight.

Then I used Winter Blue , then Light Buttermilk.

When you are shading and highlighting, be patient!

Don't try to get to the depth of color you desire on the first coat!

Layer your values!

When I am painting multiples of something I usually complete one first them go on to work the others all together!

I use LOTS of brushes when I paint.

A GOOD quality brush is important to achieve a GOOD outcome!

I use DecoArt Traditions brushes to base coat. 

I love their dome shaders for dry brushing.

I use several different size Lowell Cornell Ultra Rounds for most of my shading.

And I absolutely LOVE the Silver Micro Mini's for detail work!

I also never paint without a handful of Maxine Mops!

I love the vintage charm of these snowmen!

I'm working on the face and hat detail

When my snowmen were dry I painted my snowmen

 with 

Glamour Dust Silver Bling paint

I painted the centers 

with 

Black Chalkboard paint

I used a white chalk pencil to personalize the ornaments

You can also use the center of the ornaments to display a picture instead of adding names!

I painted the backs of the ornaments with Black Chalkboard paint .

I used a circle template and small cosmetic sponge to add the dots

I added my name, date and a saying to the backs with the white chalk pencil.

It is very important to spray the lettering that you did with the chalk pencil 

with

 Krylon Workable Fixative.

The spray will prevent your lettering from smudging when you varnish.

I then painted the backs with a coat of Starlite Varnish

I finished by lightly spraying the ornaments 

with 

DecoArt  GLOSS Sealer /Finisher

While my varnish was still wet I quickly sprinkled on

DecoArt Crystal Glamour Dust

I added a silver snowflake to the snowman's hats.

I used red bakers twine to hang the snowmen 

DecoArt provided me with the paints to complete this project as part of their 

Helping Artist and Blogger Out Reach Programs

Thank you Rosemary Reynolds and DecoArt!!

Happy Painting !

Lynn

Thyme for Pantry Sweets

Step inside

my 

STUDIO

Today I wanted to show you a new project 

by 

Amy Mogish

called

PANTRY SWEETS

My Palette

DecoArt Americana Acrylics

Antique Teal, Berry red, Black Green, Black Plum, Bright Green, Burnt Sienna, Burnt Umber, Buttermilk, Cocoa, Forest Green, Graphite, Heritage Brick, Holly Green, Honey Brown, Lamp Black Leaf Green, Light Buttermilk, Milk Chocolate, Mink Tan, Neutral Grey, Olive Green, SlateGrey, Soft Black, Spicy Mustard, Tangerine, Titanium White

Dazzling Metallics

Metallic Pewter

Americana Decor Chalky Finish Paint

Carbon

Neons

Hot Shots Fiery Red

LET'S PAINT

Like many painters I am always in search

 of

 unique surfaces 

to add 

to my 

"stash"

When 

Amy Moguish 

contacted me 

and

 asked if I would like to paint one of her patterns, 

showing the steps with pictures as I painted 

I was more than happy to say YES!

Amy has some wonderful patterns!

You can find them

HERE

I had this old griddle in my "stash" 

and 

I knew when I saw Amy's Pantry Sweets design 

it would be the griddle would be the perfect surface

* Remember you don't have to use the "suggested surface" in a packet, 

think outside the box and find your own unique surface!

I prepped my surface by first cleaning it well.

I used a sponge brush 

and 

loaded the flat side heavily 

with 

Carbon chalky paint

 I began in the center

 and 

worked my way out to the edges

I repeatedly pressed the brush firmly down on the surface

 and 

lifted straight up

This created

 a

  textured surface

to paint on

I have traced the main elements of the design on

 using 

white graphite paper

I dry brushed on a variety of the green values for the background

I am now

base coating 

the gingers and adding

 some 

high lights

I dry brushed the high lights on using 

a 

Scharff Touch It brush

Everyone has their own favorite brand of brushes they use and that is ok!

Just remember to buy the best quality brush you can for the best results!

Now to base coat the candy canes!

Adding the clove details

I am now working on the candy cane stripes

I am now adding some highlights to the candy canes

 

I have now painted the gum drops

 and 

have begun to work on the kettle

It was because of the 

kettle 

in this design

 that I chose to use this 

griddle surface

I thought that they complimented each other well!

I have painted 

the 

scale hook

I am now painting

 the 

string and tag

The lines for the string are penciled in around the gingers

I am done painting 

the 

string and tag

I have base coated the face

 of the 

scale

I am working on the details 

to the 

face of the scale

I have now added 

the 

numbers to the scale face

I have also added the shading and highlighting 

to the

frame 

of the scale

I have now painted in the branches for the greenery

You can see  my You Tube video here on painting evergreens  below.

*** Click on lower right hand corner of video to enlarge to FULL SCREEN ***

When painting 

  evergreens 

think of it as painting layers of values

going from 

the 

darkest to the lightest

Now to add some berries!

I am now adding 

berries and highlights

to complete the design

I let my piece dry completely before applying several coats

 of 

Americana Dura Clear Matte Varnish

DecoArt provided me with the paints to complete this project

as part of their Helping Artist and Blogger Out Reach Programs

Thank you 

DecoArt 

for all your support

 and 

wonderful products to create

 and 

design with!

You can see my Blogger Profile 

HERE

I hope you have enjoyed watching me paint

PANTRY SWEETS

Happy Painting !

Lynn