Wednesday, October 1, 2008

going crazy with silver paint

Okay, so I've decided to share a few of my silver paint projects with you, even though they're not done, in order to ask for your help on a couple of them. But first, here was a spur-of-the-moment project. I had this fake orange pumpkin sitting around. (Don't we all?) Now that my walls are blue, instead of yellow, somehow the orange pumpkins just don't look quite right.

BEFORE...


AFTER... I already had the silver paint out, which I had been using on the projects below, and decided to see what a silver pumpkin would look like. It was craft paint, rather than spray paint, so a fair amount of orange still showed subtly through the silver. I can't decide if I like this look or not. But, when the paint was still wet, I also showered it with a liberal coating of clear glitter. Yep, that's the one and only thing I was able to accomplish with my new glitter before the glitter incident. So now I have a silvery, glittery pumpkin. Again, not so sure if I'm in love with this or not. But at least it's not orange anymore!

Here's the real reason for the purchase of the silver paint. Yep, recently I've been extremely expired by all the cherry blossom branches I've seen on walls in magazines recently. The latest issue of Elle Decor showed designer Cynthia Rowley's dining room on the cover, with wall paper (of her own design) depicting a modern-looking version of cherry blossoms.

Inside was another story of a young designer (can't remember his name off the top of my head) and his dining room also had cherry blossoms. These two examples looked vastly different from each other, but I still loved the idea. So, since I'm planning to repaint my bathroom sometime soon anyway, I thought I'd try out the idea on my bathroom walls. There is tile wainscoting up to about 3 1/2 or 4 feet off the ground, so I'm only planning to paint the area above the wainscoting.

These branches literally took about five minutes. They were so easy. The flowers - not so much. In fact, this is where I need your help! I want to find a stamp of a cherry blossom that I can use to quickly and easily put uniform cherry blossoms on these branches.
I found this one on Etsy that would be perfect, except that it's a typical rubber stamp, intended for use on smooth paper and fabrics. I have very textured walls, which will need a stamp made out of a sponge or something similar. But this one, by Etsy seller Corrabelle (who has adorable stamps, by the way!), is the right size (about 1 1/4 inches). Any ideas where I could find something like this, but appropriate for use on walls?



...and then things got a little crazy and I started painting my fireplace screen. So, could use a stamp for this too, because those little flowers are enough to drive you nuts! As you can see, neither the walls nor the screen are finished. Still waiting for that elusive stamp. Any ideas, my genius blogging friends??

13 comments:

  1. Wow! Look at you go. I love the pumpkin *and* the branches. I'm laughing at the thought of you going around room to room on a branch bender, though..."Leave mommy alone...or she'll paint branches in your room, too." LOL!!

    I'm thinking...can you buy the stamp to use for your screen (the flower looks perfect!), then maybe figure a way to trace a pattern (or freehand draw in similar scale) on piece of stencil paper? (Or an stiff paper, really.)

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  2. I dont have any great stamp idea, sorry!! but I do LOVE THAT PUMPKIN. I love that the orange is peeping through. its awesome!

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  3. hi courtney

    i love the blossom, the colour is just right too, I'd love to have a go at that

    well I think the pumpkin is really good, I've seen a few in blogland that are white but not silver, this is great, the orange showing through is what makes it...

    no ideas for a stamp, I'm racking my brain

    Sarah

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  4. Laura - that's a good idea. The only problem is, I'm kinda lazy, and even a stencil might take more time than I'd like. But, if I can't think of anything else, that might just be the way to go! glad to see the last-minute pumpkin is a hit! maybe I'll do a few more :-)

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  5. That pumpkins is soooo COOL and I love the cherry blossoms on your wall, great job!!

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  6. I love all your projects! The pumpkin definitely looks more subdued, and who doesn't love glitter??

    By the way, when is your baby due? I was thinking about that the other day...

    Linda

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  7. Linda - baby's due March 13th! thanks for asking!

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  8. Oooh! Your baby is due on my birthday! Great day to be born! :o)

    I loooooove that pumpkin. Oh, I covet that pumpkin! Where did you find one with such unusual texture? By the way, I thought it looked great as an orange pumpkin with those blue walls, but I love what you did with it.

    As far as offering advice on the cherry blossoms...I'll spare you that. But how exciting! I love that look too...my husband wants to do that in our daughters room. Can't wait to see what you do!

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  9. I love it when I am right! I guessed that you were going with leaves or some such thing with your silver paint! I have been thinking of doing the same thing! Alas, I have been too busy painting for other people to make any changes in my own home... Not that I am complaining! Any day I have a paintbrush in my hands is a happy day...especially when someone is paying me to do it! Enough about me. I love the cherry blossoms! Have you tried making your own stamp with a cheap sponge? You could make a few different sizes and it's cheap too! Good Luck to you!

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  10. Dip the stamp into acrylic paint and stamp it onto a piece of firm mylar. Wait for it to dry.

    Use a fine blade and cut away the stamped paint image and you have - voila! A stencil that looks just like the stamp. Stencil away and add the details later with a small brush.

    You're welcome.

    Oh, and BTW, the little bit of orange is GOOD! Love it.

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  11. Marie - the pumpkin came from Michael's - but it was like five years ago. It's supposed to be the kind that's really easy to carve into, but I never carved into mine (obviously). I have three of them, and since the silver craft paint has been such a big hit, I'm thinking I'll paint the other two silver too. thanks guys!

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  12. I like the way your pumpkin turned out because it's kind of different than others I've seen. It wins for originality. :-)

    Really love the cherry blossoms you're painting everywhere. Very cool! -Julia

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thank you for commenting, dahling! I can't wait to hear what you have to say. :-)