Are you "GEARING UP " FOR CHRISTMAS?

The 

MAGIC 

of

CHRISTMAS 

is 

beginning to happen in

 my

STUDIO

Step inside and see!

Today I want to show you a design

by

Cynthia Erekson

that I have completed 

called 

Paint Nick

This is one of two Santa's that are in her new

pattern packet 

called

"Gearing Up" for Christmas

part of her 

Reflections of the Past

series

My Pallette for this design 

was

DecoArt Americana

Antique Gold, Antique Rose, Antique Teal, Arbor Green, Bleached Sand, Buttermilk, Camel, Cherry Red, Dusty Rose, Heritage Brick, Lamp Black , Milk Chocolate, Red Iron Oxide, Sea Glass, Shading Flesh, Snow White,Yellow Ochre

Other supplies:

Dazzling Metallic Emperor's Gold, Deco Art Acrylic GESSO , Americana MATTE Spray Acrylic Sealer/ Finisher, Americana Dura Clear Matte Varnish

This piece was painted 

on

canvas

I prepared my surface by basecoating it 

with 2 SMOOTH coats of 

DecoArt Acrylic GESSO

I let that dry thoroughly between coats.

When dry I sanded lightly and wiped with a damp paper towel 

to remove any dust

My surface is prepared! Now for the FUN part!

Let's paint!

I base coated my surface with Arbor Green then heavily spattered it with 

Sea Glass

to 

give Santa's coat

 a 

"wool " look.

I then used graphite paper to transfer the main pattern lines

The "Paint Nick" kit 

came with all the embellishments

 to 

complete this project

Working on Santa's face

It is always fun to see a piece come to life!

I love this Santa's gentle face!

Working on the tiny pallette and brush embellisments

Adding detail

 to 

Santa's coat and hat

The backside of this surface is painted 

with 

Dazzling Metallic Emperor's Gold

I sprayed my Santa with several 

LIGHT coats of Americana Acrylic Sealer/ Finisher

It is always best to spray 

OVER 

your piece 

and 

let the mist fall on it 

rather than spray ON your piece!

I used 

Americana Dura Clear Matte Varnish 

on the small embellishments

Use a good strong glue such as

 Arlene's Thick Designer Tacky Glue 

in a jar

or 

Quick Dry Tacky

to glue your Santa together.

I used elastics to hold it together as the glue dried

I left it over night

so I was sure that it had completely dried

Adding the remaining embellishments

 Close-up of face detail

Paint Nick 

is

now ready to hang on the tree!

I hope you have enjoyed watching me paint this piece!

DecoArt provided me with the paints and supplies to complete this project as part of their
Blogger Outreach and Helping Artist Programs
Thank you DecoArt for the opportunity to work with your wonderful products!

You can read my Deco Art Blogger Profile

HERE

Keep those brushes flying!
Happy Painting!
Lynn

"Each day is a new canvas to paint upon.
Make sure your picture is full of life and happiness,
and
at the end of the day you don't look at it
and
wish you had painted something different."
 ~Author Unknown

Thyme for Rollin' The Cookies

Today 

I would like to show you how I painted 

a 

Prudy Vannier CDA

design

 called

Rollin' The Cookies

You can find the surface for this pattern at 

Tolemine 

HERE

My palette for this project is:

DecoArt Americana

Black Plum , Black Green, Burnt Umber , Buttermilk, Cadium Yellow, Camel, Delanes Cheek Color, Driftwood, Grey Sky, Hauser Light Green, Holly Green, Honey Brown, Lamp Black, Light Buttermilk, Medium Flesh, Milk Chocolate, Neutral Grey, Terra Cotta, Titanium White, True Red, Hot Shots Fiery Red

Other Supplies

Deco Art Glamour Dust Ice Crystal, Deco Art Americana  Dura Clear MATTE Varnish, DecoArt Americana Oak/Chene Gel Stain, Americana MATTE Acrylic Sealer / Finisher 

Basecoat the surface

I sometimes also use a small roller for this

Use your graphite paper to transfer design

Let's start to basecoat the design

When painting RED areas such as the ELVES coats

I always paint a coat of either GREY or GREEN FIRST

then I paint my RED

Painting the crock

 I stippled this area to add some texture

Shading the dough

I added

  Deco Art 

Glamour Dust ( Ice Crystal ) 

to the dough to make it 

sPaRkLe

I just LOVE Prudy's Elves!

This is a

 FUN

 piece to paint!

I am now starting to paint the second surface to this design. 

It is base coated 

in 

True Red

Adding some more

 details and shading

 to the 

main design

I used 

cookie cutters

 to

 trace the designs 

for 

the cookies

Let's add some icing to the cookies!

When my painting was completely dry

I varnished with several coats 

of

Americana Dura Clear

Matte Varnish

Thyme 

to

 paint the frame!

 I painted the frame

 with 

Honey Brown

and 

antiqued 

with 

DecoArt Americana

Oak/Chene

Gel Stain

I let the gel stain dry 

COMPLETELY

before applying

 2 LIGHT coats 

of

Americana MATTE Acrylic Sealer/Finisher 

to the frame

Close up 

of the

Elves

Finished piece!

Thank you Prudy Vannier

for 

such a wonderful design to paint!

DecoArt

provided me with the supplies to complete this project as part 

of their  

Blogger Outreach Program

You can view 

my 

Deco Art Blogger Profile 

and 

many other talented 

DecoArt Bloggers

HERE

Thank you DecoArt

 for giving me the opportunity

 to

work with all your fabulous products!

Happy Painting!

 Lynn

"Each day is a new canvas to paint upon.

Make sure your picture is full of life and happiness,

and

at the end of the day you don't look at it

and

wish you had painted something different."

 ~Author Unknown

Do you BELIEVE in MAGIC?

When my children were small

I used to tell them

SANTA

comes to 

ALL

who 

BELIEVE

Each year I set out to 

MAKE THE MAGIC

of 

CHRISTMAS

happen

And so .....

this year will be no different.

Step inside 

my 

STUDIO

and 

I will show you what I have been working on

Today I am going to show you how to make 

SNOW LADIES

These are a fun easy project

I make several of these every year

to give as gifts

First gather your supplies

Supplies

 WHITE satin Christmas balls, white fur boa, craft ribbon , sprigs of holly, berries, stylus, glue gun, pink powder blush, Americana Acrylic Sealer/ Finisher Matte Spray

Paints

Deco Art AMERCANA

Lamp Black, Burnt Orange, Heritage Brick, Snow White 

I free hand painted the faces on but you can lightly sketch them on with a pencil

Base the eyes using Lamp Black, when dry add the highlights with Snow White. 

Add the eyebrows and lashes with Lamp Black

Paint the nose using Burnt Orange, shade with Heritage Brick, when dry add some 

snow to the top of the nose with Snow White. 

Dot the mouth on using your stylus and Lamp Black. When dry add a highlight to the Lamp Black mouth dots with Snow White

I add "color " to the cheeks using powered blush and a q-tip

When dry LIGHTLY spray your ornaments 

using 

Deco Art 

Americana Acrylic Sealer/ Finisher Matte Spray

Tip when spraying!!!

*** Do not spray directly ON your ornaments....rather spray into the air OVER them and let the midst fall on your ornaments ***

While the Matte Spray is still wet I sprinkle on

DecoArt Crystal Glamour Dust Glitter 

for 

sPaRkLe

Cut a small piece of ribbon for hanging and thread thru the top of ornament.

Use your glue gun to line glue around the top of the ornament hanger immediately add a small piece of white boa all around the top of the silver hanger.

I added a

small 

GLITTERED HOLLY LEAF

AND

RED BERRIE

to my snow ladies hair

I always look for unusual boxes and wrappings every year for my gifts

to make them look special

and

"MAGICAL"

Deco Art

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

Helping Artist

and

Blogger Outreach 

programs.

Thank you Deco Art!

I hope you have enjoyed this tutorial!

Happy Painting !

Lynn

"Each day is a new canvas to paint upon. 

Make sure your picture is full of life and happiness, 

and 

at the end of the day you don't look at it

 and 

wish you had painted something different." 

~Author Unknown