PAINTING...& other stuff.....

Something so yummy, so divine & so gorgeous...

I can't understand what it is about the stuff that makes us love it so much. It doesn't help that, everyday there are more & more varieties of it. Just a few years back I was watching this channel dedicated to desserts. I couldn't believe the ideas people came up with using chocolate.

There were chocolate fountains as big as buildings (ok i'm exaggerating a lot but still they were huge.......and yum). There were pianos made of chocolate, shoes, bags, chess sets, houses with all the furniture and lotta other stuff too. All of it was so wonderfully made with every single detail, you just don't feel like eating any of it.

There's also an award for the best chocolate art. There were such wonderful ideas and the entries looked so beautiful but after the show they were given to kids who just destroyed them.....they just shoveled the entire thing into their mouths. Poor chocolates :( I just hated seeing them get ruined. But I guess I would have done the same thing too, maybe not so uncontrolled.

Chocolate is the food of the gods. And if people come up with such awesome delights, then there's gonna be no hope for chocoholics :)

Pot painting is fun (and messy but some people find that fun too) but it involves a lot of patience. I started it b'cuz I was bored & free for a few weeks, with nothing to do so thought I'd start with this. Just consider the pot as a blank canvas on which you can do a lot of doodling  :D

You'll need a pot, brushes, colors, primer, sand paper.

Method:

1. First ,you have to rub the sand paper on the pot vigorously to remove out any loose bits of sand & smooth the roughness.
2. Soak the pot in some water for atleast 2 hrs, then let it dry. After it's completely dry paint the entire pot using a primer coat. (You can buy primers of different colors but white is prefered coz the paints show out well).
3. After painting the pot using the primer, soak the brush in turpentine to prevent it from becoming hard.
4. Using a pencil, draw a rough outline of your design on the pot.
5. Use your paints to fill I the design. Just be careful while painting so that you don't accidently splash some paint anywhere else on the pot.
6. Once the painting is done, leave it to completely dry (maybe an hour or so).
7. You cab either leave the pot that way, or if you want a glazed finish to your pot, paint a layer of clear varnish (you'll get this in any hardware shop). Leave the pot to dry for a day.

This is a long process but it will help to beautify some of your boring, dull, plain flower pots lying around. 

You can also do more decorating on your pots by sticking some sequins or beads or similar stuff using really strong glue. I've done some stuff like that on pots you can just go through the link below.

http://picasaweb.google.com/gogoreensrish

Learn Fabric Painting 

Materials Needed:
1. A 1 meter cloth (for practice)
2. A design to paint on the cloth
3. Acrylic colors for fabric/art painting
4. Tracing paper & Carbon paper
5. Paintbrushes of a thin size (1,2,3) & thick size(6,7,8)

Method : 

• First, wash & iron the cloth, before starting. The reason for washing is to remove any sizing added during manufacture of the cloth which prevents the paint from adhering to the cloth. Ironing is to mainly ensure that the cloth is smooth so that the design comes out well.
• Once the cloth is ironed, copy the design on a tracing paper & place the tracing paper over a sheet of carbon paper ( a lighter color carbon is preferred). Place the inked surface of the carbon paper on the cloth & place the tracing paper over it. Slowly trace the design outline from the tracing paper. After the entire design has been traced remove out the carbon & tracing paper. The design will be printed onto the cloth.
• Once the design is on the cloth, start painting using a normal paintbrush & any color of your choice (acrylic colors are preferable).
• Avoid using a lot of water with the paint as the paint spreads quickly across the cloth.
• Mixing colors is quite easy on fabric, it just involves blending. As you practice you will get it.
  
  To watch a video of the same you can check out the following link:
  
  http://video.webindia123.com/crafts/fabricpainting/index.htm

Tips for Fabric Painting :

• Cotton, with a tight weave is mostly preferable as it holds the color firmly. Even silks & synthetics can be used but minimal water should be added to the paint as the paint spreads rapidly, especially on silk.
• The reason for pre-washing fabric before painting on it is to remove any sizing added during manufacture which could prevent the paint from adhering to the cloth. It also gives it a chance to shrink, if it's going to.
• The easiest way to set fabric paints is to iron it for a few minutes. If you iron on the wrong side of the fabric, the paint will still set fine and you don't have to worry about the colors blending into each other. Ironing also helps remove wrinkles from the cloth.
• Ironing after finishing the entire design, gives the design a better look. But don't iron until the design is completely dry.
• Keep the paint bottles in the inverted position to keep them from drying & store them in a dry place. Make sure the lids of the bottles are tightly closed.
• Do not keep the bottles open for long, the paints will dry up. Pour a small amount of the paint on a palette for use.
  
  Hope this information has helped you. To find more designs you can click the following link:
  http://www.fabricpainting.com/

          You can also go through some of my stuff below 

          http://picasaweb.google.com/gogoreensrish