decoration - I'm Topsy Turvy

Mothers Day gift- Family Tree Canvas

May 4, 2012 by Ashlee · 12 Comments

Yesterday I shared the Family subway art pillowcase I made for my traveling Mom… Today is the family tree art I made for my Mother in law! She likes browns, golds, and metallic in her decorating so the metallic and pearl colors of the Plaid- Martha Stewart collection paint was PERFECT!

I actually used a lot more from the bag of goodies Plaid Crafts sent me for this project! I made a few mistakes and there are a few things I’d change if Iwas going to do it again….

I started with a large 18×25 canvas. Turns out vinyl, stencils and tape don’t stick to canvas very well, and these paints tended to bleed. If I was going to do it again I’d use a board instead!

See the blank medallion? My SIL is expecting a baby, and is most likely the last grandchild my in laws will get (funny how both my parents and my in laws are mostly getting their last grandbabies this year- esp considering they are 10 years apart in age, and have totally different numbers of children)

I first started using the tape to create the tree shape I wanted. But as I stepped back I noticed it was leaning to wards the left.

So I pulled it off and used vinyl instead… MISTAKE 1. It did NOT stick for some reason! LIKE AT ALL….

Since I didn’t want the paint to completely bleed through I decided to add some texture for the tree. I used the texture brush to create lines coming up the trunk and out to the branches! I used canvas specific texture paint as well. It held down the vinyl pretty good, but it did bleed under a bit.

Then mixing my primary colors, red, yellow and blue, in satin paint I created a pretty brown…

and rolled it right on top of the textured paint

Peel it off and you have your tree!

I decided to attempts vinyl again for my leaf shapes, and they worked OKAY. they did bleed a bit as I couldn’t get it to stick down completely, but for leaves it worked. Start with your lightest color first, this gold, then my pearl orange…

and finally a red/pink, also a part of the pearl/metallic collection. These foam pouncers are PERFECT for stenciling!

and done… I love fall, and these are the colors we get to see on our mountain every year!

So tree- DONE! So far a few issues but over all okay.

Now for the FAMILY part of the family tree. I used these great adhesive stencils. This medallion shape was perfect for what I wanted. and the tacky back stuck pretty good, not perfect- because of the stupid canvas, but better than the vinyl for SURE. AND you can use it over and over again and it stays tacky and re-sticks every time!

For this I used the darker metallic gold, and I did the whole family tree once, then one more time to get the color I wanted.

I worked from the bottom (mom and dad) up and out. The kids and spouses on the main branches then each of their children branching off from there.

I wasn’t a stickler for having every medallion on a branch, but tried to space it and make it look pretty and not too crowded in any one place!

I was going to use the alphabet stencil they sent me, but the letters were too big, so I tried vinyl ONE LAST TIME, thinking it might stick to the paint better.

I just used first initials (missing the upcoming baby) and added teal paint for the letters.

I had two problems, I waited too long to take the vinyl off, and the paint came up with it… AND these were SO small it was difficult to work with the details. The letters are 3/4 inch tall and 1/2 inch wide. Itty Bitty….

So I grabbed one of the amazing brushes and hand painted the letters over what was left from the stenciled initials!

I was thinking about adding our last name, but my husband thought it looked best simple like this… So for now I’m leaving it. I think the MAIN thing I can tell you is to find a tree shape that fits your family. I have a single sister in law with no children, a single sister in law with three kids and the couples haev 2, 4 and 5 (us) kids so it’s not like we were very well balanced. I love this tree, it fit our strange family sizes perfectly!

My Mother in law is in Israel right now, but I think she’ll really love it when she comes home!

Filed Under: Craft Tutorial, Crafts, decoration, Family, Holidays, mothers day, paint · Tagged With: craft supplies, silhouette machine, tutorial

Teacher appreciation Canvas art

April 28, 2012 by Ashlee · 17 Comments

This month is Autism Awareness and next week is Teacher appreciation. Since my children attend a Charter school for children on the autism spectrum I wanted to make my teachers gifts have a slight autism theme to them.

Since the symbol for autism is multi colored puzzle pieces I decided to make those my centerpiece, and found a fun puzzle quote that seemed teacher appropriate as well.

I used my sihouette machine and fabric interfacing to cut out puzzle pieces from some riley blake fabric squares I had is some fun bright colors

Then I ironed them onto the canvas (I placed a piece of cardboard underneath while ironing to get it nice and stiff)

Then I cut out the teachers name and the quote in vinyl (also using my silhouette), since I want the vinyl to be a stencil pull OUT the words.

I received a bag of some AMAZING Plaid- Martha Stewart collection products for my mothers day project (More about that next week) and inside were these AMAZING brush tops that attach right onto the paint bottle. AMAZING I love love LOVE these tops!

So I pressed the vinyl stencils onto the canvas (again use the cardboard underneath to get crisp lines) and painted right over the vinyl.

peel off the vinyl and your done! I love how they turned out! And my kids are excited to take them to their teachers next week! What are you doing for teacher appreciation? Don’t forget to go link up to this month’s Point of View!

Filed Under: Craft Tutorial, Crafts, decoration, paint · Tagged With: craft supplies, fabric, silhouette machine, tutorial

SNAP Conference, The Cake!

April 26, 2012 by Ashlee · 45 Comments

I’m not sure if you heard or not, but last weekend was SNAP here in UT! I was tickled and a bit overwhelmed when Tauni asked me to make a cake showpiece for the first night’s dinner! Eeek!

After a few weeks of brainstorming and playing with various designs I decided on this new Topsy Turvy Style of cake, with each layer representing a current trend in the craft world, in SNAP colors!!

Figuring out the best way to hold each layer up was a really fun engineering project! I had a blast designing the frame!

For the base I created a wood look, representing all the re-purposed wood and pallet projects out there!

For the largest layers the largest trend seemed appropriate! Chevrons (or Zig Zags for those of you who prefer it)

I don’t know about you guys, but I drooled over all the CHA photo’s this year, and I saw a lot of Polka Dots!

Ruffles, ruffles, ruffles!!!! I wish I could have gone further around this layer, but this was by far the most difficult layer to create! The ruffles were just so heavy they kept falling off! I love the way it ended up looking!

And every one’s favorite party decoration, Bunting!!! Who doesn’t love bunting? I adore how this layer turned out.

Words, typography, lettering, etc… All the great stuff we create with letters…

It ended up SUPER tall, like as tall as my 9 YO! JUST like my design… ALMOST!

There was a 6th layer- Ruffled Petals! This layer was actually REAL cake for the special Birthday girl!

Since we weren’t allowed to bring in outside food the cake is styrofoam so I wasn’t as careful creating my structure as I should have been, instead of something strong enough to hold the weight of a full cake It’s a dowel in the center. SO when I put the top, REAL, layer on it fell over!!!!

SO we left the REAL layer on the side for the birthday girl, and added some of Lara’s gorgeous table decor to the top of the 5th teir!

Here is an update with the birthday girl and her cake tier!! She’s just a week younger than my 4th, so it was fun to give her such a treat, and look at that cute pose, could be be more adorable?

Filed Under: Cakes, Crafts, decoration, Party cakes · Tagged With: fondant, topsy turvy

Lit up canvas wall decor- Elmers look for less

December 21, 2011 by Ashlee · 49 Comments

A few months ago I got to work with the wonderful people at Elmer’s and throw a craft party! We had a BLAST! Then last month they invited me to participate in a “look for less” challenge. I was so excited, I had a hard time narrowing down the “look” I wanted to create my own version of. But I finally found something (on Pinterest of course).

I fell in LOVE with these pieces by Valerie Boy (as seen on Apartment Therapy). My version… and Valerie-Boy’s. Her’s is made of powdered metal cut and bent, mine is Canvas, paint and lights! Her’s cost an arm and a leg (and a first born) and mine was a grand total of $25!

I had a weird wall space I wanted to cover so I went with a long and narrow canvas that I picked using a 50% off coupon! This is 24″ x 48″ that I got for $25 (the only thing I had to pay for!)! The perfect size for my project.

Next I used the X-ACTO Designer Series Gripster Knife and cut flowers out of black cardstock that I had on hand (so I could see it through the paint), then using CraftBond Repositionable Glue Stick I stuck, (and removed and re-stuck until I like the placement) the flowers onto the canvas! AWESOME, I am already in love!

Next I used some thick Acrylic paint all over the front, in 2 coats. I used big strokes going for a thick chunky look. But you could paint it on pretty smooth if you wanted. I kind of wish I’d gone for 3 coats, but I wanted to peel off the flowers while it was still wet, and before they were stuck on for good.

Next, obviously, I peeled up the black paper. There was something very satisfying about peeling it all up!

I let it dry overnight! I was planning on using a fancy expensive light to light up the back, but then I laid eyes on my icicle lights (in a pile of throw away- no more icicle lights for me- what were we ever thinking? So messy looking). Anyway I used some nails to attach the lights (I nailed them half way in then bent them over the lights) in a criss-cross pattern to cover the whole back.

And they work! Not QUITE the look I was going for, but the back is lit, and it’s MUCH cheaper than buying some fancy, heavy lights trying to get them to work. (notice this is with a flash)

So my weird wall space, between two doors I have this narrow space with this HUGE, ugly electrical panel. I haven’t found anything to cover it with so this was the perfect chance! I love it there. It’s off centered for 2 reasons, 1) to cover the panel and 2) to leave the light switch uncovered. I don’t want it to fall off the wall as the kids try to turn on lights! (no flash but the middle of the day)

And all light up in the dark! I love it! Of course it’s hard to really capture lit up pieces with cameras! SO come on by and check it out! (no flash at night)

I finished my project a few weeks ago BUT with all my computer issues I haven’t been able to post it, so I’m the LAST blogger whose participating to get my project up! Gah… my computer issues are a pain, but when they mess up something I’m doing for someone else it frustrates me to no end! Lucky for me Elmer’s not only has wonderful products, but they also have amazing people working there, they have been so patient with me

I was given free product to review and use for this project, but all opinions are my own