Trading Posts round...5? With paint!

Ready for another round of trading posts? In case you are new to KC&A, Trading Posts is when Caroline {of Artfully Caroline} get together and craft and spend all of our husband's money! After blowing a paycheck or two, we busted out the acrylics.

I'm an oil painter, and lemme tell you, acrylics are not oils. Though they are funner, and slightly more forgiving.

Know a chatterbox? Hand her some paints, a brush, and a canvas, it'll shut her up. Caroline and I were so absorbed in our paintings we barely spoke at all! Very unusual for us. This is Caroline's interpretation of the flag, cuz you know, Independence Day is quickly approaching.

And this is mine, with chevron stripes. It crosses painting something AND doing a project with chevron off my list! Hot dang, I'm on a freaking role.

Even Caroline's little Bug joined in the creativity. She calls this Cinderella, she didn't get the memo that we had a fourth of July theme.

Originally I thought of distressing it with stain, but then I got too lazy didn't have the time and decided to frame it instead. I just took an old, glasses frame and painted it black to hang around the canvas.

I'm no decorator {obviously!!} but I think it works. Let freedom ring!

Tutorial Tuesday- Paint Chip Wall Art

I just LOVE practically free crafts, don't you? Paint chips have got to be one of the most perfect resources for creating free crafts. And dang, some people can do amazing things with paint chips!

Like this! Hot dang this is cool! {This is by artist Peter Combe, click here for the original post} I wouldn't classify today's craft as "seriously amazing" or "cool" but I would classify it as "doable" and "fun." And totally free for me!

March is teasing me with the thought of spring, so I felt the need to liven up the space in the dark and dungeon-like basement I live it. I haven't decided where to put it yet, but it still makes me smile when I walk past it. To make one, you will need:

• Various colors of Behr paint chips (at least three of each color)
• Large canvas
• Paints (I used acrylic)
• Paint brushes
• Glue gun (not pictured)
• A decisive mind

 My original idea was a kind of springy background with clouds and grass. So I painted the canvas a light blue...

Painted some white clouds.

And painted some grass. Took a good look at it and thought it looked STUPID. I HATED it. So I painted over it.

This time I went with purples and blues. Still hated it. Wasn't what I was looking for.

By then the paint was really building it up, so I scraped it all off.

And stared and stared, trying to be inspired. Thought this looked kinda cool, but decided against it.

I finally settled on a combo of whites and yellows and greens. That's springy right? This whole process took a painfully long time, which is why I suggest bringing a decisive mind to the table for this one!

To make the colorful tulips, I took three Behr paint chips and fanned them out to create a tulip looking shape. Then using my trusty glue gun, I glued them on the canvas. It looks way better in real life, I couldn't get the lighting right so the pale colors just look washed out. But I love it, I love the colors, I love the festive springyness of it. I can't wait to see it on my wall, I just need to decide where to put it!

Happy crafting! Don't forget to see where I link up and parrrtay!

I painted today!

It's true!! :D  It is the most gorgeous day today and I knew I had to be outside doing SOMETHING. I looked through my inspiration notebook to see what I've sketched in there and tried to figured out which one I could actually do outside (I'll give you a hint, sewing and working with tiny beads didn't make the cut.) Then a thought struck me. Painting. I haven't painted in months and months, mostly because I'm too scared, I don't wanna screw up. After a little arguing with myself I sucked it up, grabbed my paints, easel, and a new canvas and set up camp outside. After two hours of dabbling, this is the final product.

The seafood festival I went to last weekend really go to me I guess! It's going to go in my kitchen. :) Why do you ask? Ha, if you ask you are obviously not from Maryland. Because Maryland blue crabs are the most delicious things to eat!

"But...your crab isn't blue." That's because it's already cooked and ready for me to eat!

It's been so long since I've painted that it was hard to remember everything I've learned.

But for not painting in forever, I think it turned out really well. I can't wait for it to dry fully so I can frame it and stick it in the kitchen!

I'm linking this up to Crystal's Craft Spot's weekly challenge! Go check it out, she has a new challenge every week to keep you on your toes and inspire you to keep crafting!

Happy hump day!