Wednesday, March 14, 2012

Flip Flops!!! the best accessory of summer

Who doesn't love a good pair of flip flops? 


 I think I have found my new obsession. Rather then hairbows that my girls wear, I can wear these too! The pink and blue flops I made for my sister-in-law's birthday. So, happy birthday Connie! And here is how I did it...


Cut the original plastic straps off. Then I added four strips of fabric about an inch wide to the sandal. Pulled all four through the center hole and tied them so the knot fit in the hole, then glued, then trimmed. 


After that I twisted two stands of fabric per side. Then threaded it through the side hole. There are your straps.


I made a fabric flower in the same manner I make my flower rose hairbows. 


Added bling because I know my sister-in-law would like that. Hot glued that sucker on the top.


And Voila! 
(please don't look at my toes which are in desperate need of a pedi). 


On to the pink sparkle. I left the existing straps and simply hot glued glitter ribbon.


 Added one of my favorite hairbow flowers...


And there you have diva flip flop #2. 

Next go round I think I will use a black sole. I think it would make the additions pop more. Oh, there is nothing I love more then a fun pair of flip flops. I will post more when I make them. At least one pair per swimsuit! Summer here we come!

Thursday, March 8, 2012

Farmall Tractor



This is a painting of a tractor for a little boy's room. My client's father made the wood fame. A great idea, but since neither I nor my husband own a saw, it was impossible for me to make. Thank goodness for dad's, right!


I asked for a few scraps of wood to get familiar with the surface. That makes big difference. Knowing how the material takes paint is very important. I was pleased with the wood. It still allowed for me to maintain my "watercolorish" style. The main thing I had to remember was to keep the brush as dry as possible. If the brush was too saturated with water the colors would bleed in the wood. No one wants runny lines!


The family will add the painted wood frame. I hope they will send pictures. I asked if they could wait to add the frame until after I was finished. I wanted to make sure that I had plenty of space for the painting. Now that it is complete I don't think it would have been a problem. It is best to play it safe.

Personalized Transportation Art

Here is the inspiration for the wood painting. My client found these and asked if I could do the Farmall tractor. And of course my answer was "I can paint anything on anything!" Okay, that might be a stretch. I doubt I could do the Mona Lisa on wood. Thankfully there aren't too many requests for things like that.