Sunday, June 3, 2012

June Blog Hop - Picnic Theme

Summer is here ... and the
Designer Connection Blog Hop topic
for June is picnics!!


While I love the traditional red and white
checkered table cloths and the
cute black ant characters as much as
the next artist,
I decided to do something
a little different with my picnic theme.




Drinks!!  You can't have a picnic without 'em!!


Read on for step by step instructions
for this project;
and click the DCC blinkie at the top
right side of my blog to hop on through the
loop and check out all the picnic projects
our amazing group of designers has created!




I started with an oval wash tub from my
local farm supply store.


I cleaned the tub thoroughly with
vinegar and water, and I used a sanding
block to rough up the entire front
side of the tub so the paint would have
a nice tooth to adhere to.




Okay, here's where my unfortunate
love/hate relationship with electronics becomes
more or less inconvenient:
I made my own template.
I want very much to be able to upload
this pattern somehow for you to
print out and use,
but I have been unsuccessful in each
of my attempts to do so.
Using graph paper as a guide,
I sketched out the letters and then
covered the tops with "frost"
I chose two shades of blue and a white
for my background color.
Squeeze the paints out randomly
onto your palette.  I used a sea sponge
to apply the colors randomly
for texture and interest.



Use a pouncing motion to apply the paint.




Allow the paint to dry thoroughly before
you apply your pattern lines.


(Or don't ... it was a muggy, rainy day
when I painted this and I got very impatient
as it was not drying quickly enough,
and I tried taping my pattern to the wet paint.
My pattern got splotches of paint on it
and I had to touch up the tub
before I could continue).




So ... ... ... I touched it up and allowed
the paint to dry thoroughly
before I proceeded.  It just seemed like
a much better idea.  :)




Center the pattern onto your tub
and secure with blue masking tape.


(The blue masking tape has less tackiness
than regular masking tape,
and won't take off the paint when it's removed).


Slip a sheet of chaco paper underneath
your pattern.  Carefully outline each letter with
a stylus; this transfers the lines to your
tub and they'll be easy to see.



Hm.  I thought the pattern lines were visible
when I edited this pic.
At any rate, you'll be able to see the lines
and paint over them.  Be sure to erase
any lines left unpainted so it doesn't take
away from your finished design.




Use the darker shade of the blue
background paint to shade around the left
and lower side of each letter.
This will make your letters pop off the tub.



I used two coats of red paint for each letter.


The "frost" on the letters is white.


I'm pretty sure it took two coats of white,
as well.  Nah, more like three.


Anyway, I wasn't completely pleased with
the way the design looked, so I used
a burnt umber to shade under the frost,
and I used a liner brush dipped in burnt umber
to outline the left and lower side of each letter.
Then I used the liner brush and white
paint to outline the right side of each letter.


Much better.
Then I coated the entire thing
with Mod Podge as a sealer.



I apologize for not filling the tub with real ice,
and a super cute and fun assortment
of beverages.  I think that would have made
a much more amazing photograph -
but I'm not really planning to use this until
next weekend ... ... ... so ...


can I have partial credit for at least
having the idea??  Ha, ha!!


Actually, and not solely because I have
an obsessive compulsive streak, I will be
taking a much more suitable photograph and
adding it to this post this weekend.


That's just how I roll.





Peace and Icy Cold Beverages!!!




5 comments:

Sherry Skym said...

That is a wonderful bucket. Let's use it soon!

Cindi McGee said...

Cute!

Subriagirl said...

How REFRESHING!!

Mrlony Bradley said...

Love this cool idea Megan- lol- Great post and tutorial

www.mel-designs.typepad.com

Michelle Frae Cummings said...

This is a great idea!
Can't wait to try this out!