Progressive painting: Acrylic on canvas- HOME

Here's my most recent painting! 

I just got to give it to my amazing friend Cindy for her birthday.

This her and her husband Brian's house that they've been in for over 18 years.

So here's how it went. :)

My canvas is 1ft by 3ft.

I did 3 coats of Gesso. Canvases usually come pre-gessoed, but I prefer to do enough coats to cover some of the canvas texture.

Here's my genius idea for between coats, waiting for each to dry, I won't want to wash my brush every time or let it dry out: 

Canvas drying:

Then I draw it out on the canvas (very lightly, otherwise the graphite from your pencil can get into your paint and make life miserable, especially for lighter colors)

Sky and roof:

Once I got the main colors of the house, I moved onto the foliage. I did quite a bit of detail in the house but knew I'd go back later to add more shadows and highlights.

Then the main portions of the tree branches and the foliage that was farthest away.

Then I started on the grass and underpainting for the driveway.

More detail on.....all of it.

And then the trees.....

More detail in the grass...

And more detail in the distant trees...

Once it's finished add a protective coat. I use Krylon Crystal Clear spray fixative. 3 coats

And.....here it is: 

DIY Bird Wings

So for Christmas this last year I was looking for a fun girlie gift for my niece. She has ALL brothers so I wanted her to have something just for her. 

I love Pinterest because you find adorable DIYs like this:

So I made a pair for Piper! 

Measure her arms from the nape of the neck to the wrists. That gives you the top length for both sides. 

Measure her back from nape of her neck to her waist. That gives the middle lengths. 

Choose some adorable fabrics. I went with mostly small prints that wouldn't be too crazy and then complimented them with a couple solids.

I made myself a stencil with 5 scallops and traced it using a fabric disappearing ink pen. 

I started at the top with a couple. Cutting them out and placing them. The scallops don't have to be perfect.

And then moved to the bottom and worked up. 

I wish I had more pics of the process but here a few tips: 

-Start at the bottom layer. 

-Use a Fabric Glue stick to place it along the curved edge. It will hold the fabric in place until its sewn on. 

-Using a straight stitch, sew each strip onto the white fabric

-Use a sheer ribbon on the inside edges that will run down the back---fold around the edge  and sew down. This will hold everything together nicely. 

-choose a cute top to the wings. Regular ribbons or something frilly. And sew right on top.

-edges of scallops are raw so use Fray Check along the edges to help it keep from fraying too much. 

Sew on ribbons for the neck and wrists. Or use elastic so she doesn't have to have an adult tie it every time. (I used a ribbons for the neck and elastic for the wrists.

{Once Upon a Time Quilt}

I call this one my Once Upon a Time quilt because if I had my babies.....and when I have my babies in my home, I'm going to snuggle them up in this while I read them fairy tales. I loved this fabric so much as well. The little characters are just too adorable. The little girl looks like Little Red Riding Hood and then there's a fox/wolf guy and owls and birds. I'm in love....

So I wanted fabrics to go with it that were a little vintage looking and so I chose a couple small print florals because it seemed to fit.

(my only real regret it how bright the blue looks on this side compared to the yellow in particular. But I still love it anyway.....

 Doesn't it look so snuggly???

This time I tried the wavey quilting both across and down the blanket. It's hard to see it in any of the pics. 

 Seeee???? Totes adorbes.

{Baby Girl Quilt: Green, Pink and Grey}

I mentioned that I made a baby quilt while I was miscarrying.  Maybe a funny thing for me to have done but I'm so glad I did. It was really therapeutic for some reason.  Creating something and staying busy was really good for me. 

So I went to the store and just walked around looking for inspiration. I ran into this adorable flannel that I just could not resist. It says things like "April showers" and "Cycling in the park". It's kitty cats riding bikes. How cute is that????

So once I had the flannel, I just walked around with it until I found these cotton pieces I liked with it.

Once home, I sat down and drew out my idea for the stripes. How I wanted them placed and the color order etc. 

Then I just jumped right in! I cut out and sewed the stripes together. Then placed the batting with the flannel pieces on either side and sewed the striped right on top. 

 Then, as you can see above, I did freehand wavy quilting across the blanket. Then cut out the little trees and birds and just sewed around each of them right onto the blanket as well. The edges are raw. One day I'll learn to applique but for now, I'm happy with this. :)

Here's the back. You can kind of see the quilting in this pic too. Just a little.

This is by far my favorite quilt so far (other than my hope quilt, for sentimental reasons). 

And actually I did the border in two different colors because I really wanted green all the way around but ran out so I thought it would be fun with two and I ended up loving that about it too!

My label is the rectangle above the birds and trees. :)

{WHERE THE WILD THINGS ARE Themed Nursery Art and Decor}

One of my very greatest friends in all the world was finally blessed with her little guy last year after a long battle with infertility. She asked me to (hired me) do her nursery art/decor for her. She knew what theme she wanted and showed me some ideas and let me take it from there. That's my absolute favorite way to work. You tell me what style you like and any ideas you already know you love and want and then I use my skills an ideas to make it all happen! 

I'll admit, I had never ever made arrows before and when I told her I would do it I had no idea how I would but that I was going to figure it out. And I did. I love problem solving and coming up with my own ways to make things work. 

They finally got in their new home and she got to put everything up in his nursery. The following two pics are ones she sent me once everything was hung.

Where The Wild Things Are, Max pen drawing and acrylic painting on canvas with quote. 

Hand-Painted Acrylic on canvas: Wild Thing with Quote.

Hand painted Acrylic on canvas: Adventurer

The arrows below were made using wooden dowels from Hobby Lobby, arrowheads from off Amazon, hand-painted and wrapped with thin rope and feathers attached to the ends.

The letters below are made with wooden letters purchased from Hobby Lobby, fabric from JoAnn's, mod-lodged on in scraps. 

{Idaho Backroads Triptych: Acrylic on canvas}

I did these three for my sister. They're from pictures I took on the way to her in-law's family cabin in Southern Idaho in the winter. I loved the gold of the fields against the white of the snow and the blue hue to everything. I never got great pictures of them but wanted to document it anyway.

I think they were 4in X 8in canvases, 1-2 inches deep, so I gallery wrapped the paintings. 

My dad says sometimes my work takes on an impressionist style.... I usually don't fully agree but these ones definitely had an impressionist feel to them. 

It was fun to do some small quick paintings for once!

An in-progress side view. The one farthest on the right wasn't finished. 

{Purple blossoms over water: Acrylic on canvas painting}

{Acrylic Hand Painted Landscape of Logan, Utah}

2feet X 4feet

Acrylic on canvas

North Logan and Wellsville Mountains, 2011

Pictured above is a painting I did 3 years ago for my girlfriend Darcy. We both lived in Logan at the time and loved it. Together with our husbands we finally made it a point to hike up the mountain behind their house. I took a lot of pictures while we were up there and I ended up putting a few together (3 I think) to create this painting. 

I had something else I was going to add to it and it didn't end up working out but I was really happy with it in the end. I wish I had a picture of it but just before I gave it to her, I added in the Logan Temple since it's such a major part of the town. 

So here was my quick sketch mock-up idea for what I wanted to do with the pictures I had.

Beautiful, I know....

In progress. Yes, I work on the floor most of the time. Not good for my back or neck but I enjoy it over using an easel. I like resting my elbow on the floor and using my other hand to steady my right when I do small details. 

Here's a detail photo. There were so many layers to that flower, this may be in progress....but I'm not sure. Either way, it's a pretty good shot.

Again, the finished product: