Menu

"My Lucky Starr"

by

….that’s the name of the dress that I made today in hopes of helping a precious 5-year-old named Katie. Just over a week ago Katie’s family found out their beautiful daughter, Katie Starr has Cone-Rod Dystrophy which is a degenerative retinal disease with no cure or treatment. This will cause Katie to lose her sight if a cure isn’t found.

I don’t know why things like this happen to precious children and their families….I feel like God has a lot of explaining to do one day….my list of questions just keeps getting longer for him. The questions are on hold though….and I am a “do-er”…..so I did the first thing that came to mind: make an extra special dress. 100% of net proceeds from the sale of this dress will go to Team Katie Starr’s fundraising efforts to fund hereditary retinal disease research.

{Click the photo below to view the auction}


Please consider helping in any way you can to find a cure for Katie and all others affected with this disease. Visit here to learn more about Katie and her family.

To get you even more excited about the auction, here are some recent photos by Monika McSweeney Photography of the asymmetric style:





And one last photo I got from Kristina of Imagine That Photography. I was taken aback today at the number of people that I have come to know that are affected by or know someone affected by degenerative eye disease and blindness. For example, I learned from Kristina that her mother was involved with Recording for the Blind and was even the editor of a cookbook that sold 9,000 copies with all proceeds going to the organization. It’s these little tidbits that I would never know or think to ask about!

I don’t often dedicate myself to one cause….because it allows me to spread awareness about the causes that are near and dear to the hearts of people I meet along my Lil Blue Boo journey 🙂

Might be a little slow this week. My sister arrived today for LPGA Q-School! So excited to have her here for two weeks!

Layering Paint for Depth (A Tutorial)

by

 

I recently finished this custom painting for a client and thought it would be a great chance to share how easy it is to use layering to create an interesting background for a painting.

Photobucket
Here is the finished painting framed:

Photobucket
This tutorial is just an example of what you can do…..the more layers you add the more interesting your painting will become. I use acrylic craft paints and spray paints for my layers and I always love to experiment with different gels and mediums as well!

First I start out with a small piece of hardboard or Gessoboard (gesso means it is pre-primed). It won’t warp and it doesn’t have sap or woodgrain. It is also thin enough to frame under glass. You can buy it in several sizes.

Photobucket
Step 1: Paint a base coat.

Photobucket

Step 2: Block off several areas with painters tape and paint each block a different color. I started with a yellow block….

 

Photobucket
….and then added a brown block. You’ll have to paint in stages using the painters tape.

Photobucket

Once the yellow and brown block dried, I removed the tape…..

Photobucket

….and added another color block. It is okay for the blocks to overlap too. It will just add more texture.

 

Photobucket
Step 3: Once all my color blocking was dry, I took the piece outside and used a wall stencil and some spray paint to cover it with a design:

Photobucket

Step 4: Next I took a lighter shade of brown acrylic paint and painted over the stencil design in some thick uneven coats to add texture. It doesn’t have to be perfect….you are going to add more layers after this!

Photobucket

Step 5: Once all my layers were dry, I took a watered down version of my original base coat and covered the entire painting:

Photobucket
Step 6: Once the top layer was dry I took a sanding block and sanded down different layers of the painting until the previous layers began to show through.

Photobucket
Step 7: After I have a base of a painting finished…..

Photobucket

…I use a simple stencil to draw out letters with a pencil and then I paint over them carefully with a tiny brush.

Photobucket
The finished lettering:

Photobucket
I’ll use a paint pen to add some other small details.

Photobucket
Step 8: To complete the painting I use a sanding block to distress the edges and then I coat with thin coat of water based varnish!

Photobucket

Here is a similar one I did in pink. Just change up your paint palette!


A gift they’ll treasure forever!

See some of my other painting tutorials for more ideas and information on materials and supplies:

Personalized Nursery Art

Nursery Art – Layering with Collage

Resolutions “Subway” Art

Transferring an Image with Gel Medium

How to Fake a Landscape Painting

Distressed Folk Art Painting

 

 

 

Shoes by Lil Blue Boo

by

They are finally available! Lil Blue Boo graphics paired with silk screens! Click the photo below to see all the designs. 30% off all styles through tomorrow if you use the LABORDAYSALE code! You can even add text to them for personalization. I ordered the men’s style for myself because I love the Converse look:

Subscribe