Some of my Paintings

I love painting sunsets but also abstract paintings that are bright and bold. I love letting my mind wonder and seeing what I can create on my own. It doesn't hurt to find things that inspire you. Inspiration is key :)

A wallpaper I had found online had inspired me to paint this. I love painting sunsets. I used a gloss black over the colors to make it stand out. I personally like the contrast. 

I really wanted to paint two canvases that are really one painting. I chose a deep purple, rust orange, and mustard yellow for the colors I wanted to pop. I also used a gloss black paint for the branches and birds to stand out. Lovebirds are so cute!

A paisley wallpaper inspired me to paint this. I took the idea of the wallpaper and made it my own. The color of the walls behind the painting is the color of my bedroom. I chose to paint gold zigzags in the background and thought it looked really good with the colors in my room. Don't be scared to use gray/silver with gold!! I think it gives it a retro/vintage look - I love it.

I had painted this for a friend because she happened to love peacock feathers and I wanted to do something abstract with it. I chose a deep yellow background that makes the centers of the feathers really pop. Love this color combo.

These are a few of my paintings! Hope you like them as much as I do. Now I have pieces of my own artwork to hang up and even give as a gift- much more personalized. And you can create something to match any style that you are going for.

Xo,

Photo Transfer to Canvas: Take 2

I chose to do another photo transfer project! Again, I used a photo that I had taken. This one happens to also be from Grand Turk on the same beach as the last photo transfer. Here it goes:

First, here are some pictures of the products that I used:

 This is a fine grain sandpaper sponge to sand the sides of the canvas after it was painted to give it a rustic/vintage look.

 These are the two colors I used to paint the sides of the canvas prior to transferring the photo. Sold at Michaels.

This is gloss mod podge - waterbase sealer, glue and finish

First, this is the photo that I used for the transfer:

Before anything, I painted the sides of the canvas before transferring the photo (this I did not do the first time). I painted it a light turquoise - let it dry. Then I painted it with the vanilla paint - let it dry. (Sanding the ends is one of the last steps so I wouldn't do that yet):

After the sides were dry, I spread mod podge on the photo with a sponge brush - printed side up (Remember because you are putting the photo on canvas printed side down, the photo will come out opposite - In my case that didn't matter to me):

I then flipped the photo around right onto the canvas and smoothed the photo out with my fingers - Let dry 2-3 hours or let it sit overnight (Make sure you get all the air bubbles out or that part of the photo will not transfer onto the canvas):

After spraying the paper with water out of a spray bottle (make sure the WHOLE paper is wet and let it soak for a minute) - Then start rubbing the paper with your fingers and the paper will start to come off - Don't rub too hard or the photo will rub off. The picture below is after all the paper is rubbed off. I like how the ends came out imperfectly because it fits the vintage look I am going for:

Now you can go ahead and sand the ends down - because I painted in layers (first turquoise then vanilla) the turquoise will start to come through and give the photo a rustic look like it is aged - you can do this with any two colors you'd like:

Now, put a final coat of mod podge on top to seal the whole look - in the photo below the mod podge is not yet dry so there is a white film over it but it will dry clear:

The final product is below (Flash was on so in person the colors are a little darker). I think painting the ends first before applying the photo transfer like I did this time works best:

Just for the heck of it here is a final product picture of another photo transfer I had done but with a rust and vanilla color combo for the ends. I really like the sanded look that came from those two colors - and this photo was taken by me at a fort in San Juan:

I hope you like these and encourage you all to try this yourself - it's so fun to do!! A cool idea is to stencil quotes over the final product which I will try on my next one. 

Xo,

Photo Transfer to Canvas

Writing a new blog post is way overdue! I have been very busy with work, school and have been doing many projects of my own. Now I am going to share them with you!

The most recent project I have done is transferring a printed image onto canvas. There are many different approaches people have but I found that my method has worked for me. 

1) First thing's first - choose a photo you want to transfer onto your canvas. I chose a photo I had taken in Grand Turk during a cruise so it has meaning to me. Plus I wanted to go for a vintage look and the picture had that style already. Here is the original photo:

2) Second, I went out to Michaels and purchased a few items that were necessary. 

 - Canvas

 - Mod Podge 

 - Foam brush

 - Acrylic paint (for sides of canvas), I used vanilla and turquoise 

 - Fine grain sandpaper sponge 

 - Scissors

 - Spray bottle of water

3) Third, I printed out the picture on regular white printer paper in color and cut the picture to fit the canvas. Cut it so there is about 1/8 of an inch on the outside so you're sure none of the paper is hanging off the ends.

 **Keep in mind that the picture will print out opposite so if it is a symmetrical picture you won't need to adjust, but if not you may need to rotate the picture so it comes out the way it is suppose to**

4) Next, spread a thin coat of mod podge over the printed picture and lay it picture side down onto the canvas. Make sure there are NO BUBBLES. So use your fingers to smooth out the paper so there are no air bubbles. This needs to dry COMPLETELY. I let mine dry for about 2-3 hours because I used a thin coat of mod podge, but in some cases overnight may be best to make sure it is dry.

5) YOU ARE ALMOST DONE!!! :) Now that everything is dry, spray the paper with water. Make sure it is completely soggy with water. Then use your fingers and start rubbing the paper. Because the paper becomes very wet and soggy, it will start to fall off. Try to rub as much of the paper off as possible so it is smooth.

6) I then used mod podge to "seal" the photo onto the canvas. 

7) As you can see from the picture above, the ends are not straight but in this case I did not want them to be. The look I was trying to achieve is exactly what I got with the ends coming out this way rather than perfectly straight lines.

8) Now, you can simply leave the canvas this way or paint the ends. I decided to paint the ends turquoise, and then vanilla (off white) on top. 

9) I then used the sandpaper sponge to sand down the paint so the turquoise came out from under the vanilla. I then used mod podge to seal the completed look. THE END.

Above is the completed look. This was my FIRST time doing this project so I would have done a few things differently. I would have:

 1) Painted the ends of the canvas prior to transferring the photo. I would do this because I would like the photo to blend in better with the paint on the end so when it is sanded, it will look like it truly belonged that way. Or I would have used a black on the ends (again painting it prior) and then sand it. Using black may have made the photo stand out better.

 2) Rubbed more of the paper off so the color of the photo could come through better.

Other than that, I think it came out really unique and it is 100% original. You can use family photos and really create something amazing that could be a perfect gift to a loved one. The best part is, you created it yourself! I am going to do this same project again by doing some of the steps a little differently as I mentioned above and let you all know how it comes out!

Xo,