Spring Fling with 504 Main

SO excited that Holly from 504 Main is here today! She is sharing a DIY spring art how-to with us!! Take it away Holly!

I love Spring and I am so ready for it - green grass, sunny days, blooming flowers  - they all make me h-a-p-p-y! But before I go further, let me introduce myself...I am Holly and I typically can be found hanging out on Main Street - 504 Main that is...and I also hang out at The DIY Club. I am beyond excited to be a part of Kara's Spring Fling! I do all kinds of crafting and DIYing over there (I also cook, bake, and chat about other fun stuff) so come on by and say hi later.

I like to dabble in all types of crafts and art project. I am currently on a mixed media kick! I love textures and layers and color so I thought I would go for a vivid, springy piece of art for my daughter. It is bright and happy and makes me smile...hope it makes you smile too!

Best part, there is no right or wrong...
it is ART.
Every stroke of the brush
makes it yours and original!

SUPPLIES

• Canvas, any size. Mine is 9 x 12
• DecoArt American Acrylic Paint: Bahama Blue, white, green (3 shades or 1 shade and add white for different colors), yellow
• Decoupage
• Glazing Medium (DecoArt)
• Snow-Tex (DecoArt)
• Glamour Dust (Glamour Dust) or Glitter and/or seed beads (buttons will work for some of this too)
• Green tissue or scrapbook paper
• Scrap book paper for flowers (your choice of color)
• yarn or ribbon
• Foam brush
• Paint brush
• Palette knife (for Snow-Tex...I used my fingers, but I like to get involved)

HOW TO

1.  Paint canvas top and sides in Bahama Blue.

2.  Once dry, mix glazing medium and white paint together and brush on canvas, wipe off and let dry.

3.  Layout your design lightly with a pencil. (this is hard to see, but there are faint pencil lines on the canvas)

4.  Paint your sun - just a circle...I left mine slightly swirly - not perfect (yeah...more texture!)

5.  Make clouds with the Snow-Tex - there is no wrong shape! Let dry...this takes awhile depending on the amount of Snow-Tex you use.

7.  If you are careful you can work on the bottom of the canvas while the clouds are drying.

Paint in the hills and grass. Start with the lighter color all over, add sweeping lines for the hills in a medium color, make wispy strokes through for the blades of grass (You can use three different paints, or you can use one green mixed with white; just make three different shades...I just happen to have a lot of craft paint). Let dry.

8.  Make rosettes: cut two (2) strips of scrap book paper for each rosette, larger flower - 3" x 12"; smaller flower - 2" x 12"; accordion fold (about 1/2 " or smaller) fold lengthwise on each piece; fan out and glue together.

9. Apply decoupage to area where you want rosette placed and position rosette. Then apply decoupage over the entire rosette. Once rosette is applied, sprinkle with Glamour Dust (glitter).

10.  Tear a piece of green for the stem and flower. You can cut these, but I preferred the torn edges. Decoupage onto the dry canvas.

11. Once your rosette and stem is in place, paint on a swirly (crazy) vine with leaves. You can pencil in where you want the vine to go. Start with your darkest shade of green and continue to add highlights and accents then with the medium shade and finally the lightest.

 

12.  Time to add the small flowers. Use a string, ribbon...or yarn (that is what I used). Tie a knot on the end of the string (not necessary, but I felt it helped the flower take its shape). Apply decoupage in the areas (one at a time); place knot in the center and then swirl the yarn around until you reached your desired size; cut yarn and push into decoupage.

13. Apply a bit more decoupage to the center of the small flower and sprinkle seed beads or glitter - optional.

14.  If desired, apply some decoupage to a few areas along the vine and sprinkle seed beads for some additional detail.

15. Let is all dry and you have a little piece of mixed media art.

Like I said before...there is no wrong - let the creative juices flow and work with things you already have. So much FUN!

So cute Holly! I love all of the texture and the springy colors. Thank you so much for stopping by today to share your creativity with us, Holly!!

If you haven't been by Holly's neck of the bloggy woods, you need to ASAP. 504 Main is one of my favorite blogs : )

One more guest blogger is coming by today, so stay tuned!!