Tag: Handmade Art with Heart

Home made art.

Weekend Painting: Custom Artwork

Published on by Our Humble Abode31 Comments

After spray painting a new magnet board for Vincent, I started creating a painting for our main bathroom.  I looked in our garage and found a 13 inch by 31 inch scrap of 1/2 inch thick MDF.  I really wanted something that was 12 by 36, but it was close enough.  After a quick cleaning, I applied a coat of primer to all sides. 

This is going in our bathroom, and I don’t want the MDF to swell in the humidity.  Priming and painting all sides will seal the MDF, preventing any swelling.

I was inspired by the shadow of leaves the afternoon sun casts on the walls in our house, so I went out to take a picture of our tree. 

After my primer and white paint dried, I began drawing leaves onto my ‘canvas’, using my photo as a guide.  I lightly drew some of the leaves with pencil.  Some areas where the leaves are more clustered together were difficult to recreate, so I took artistic freedom and drew some leaves as I liked.  After 10 minutes or so, I had half of my template complete.

I mixed up a custom ‘greige’ color using a small amount of black, tons of white and some yellow.  Then I started carefully filling everything in.

It was a little time-consuming, taking about one and a half hours, but I actually doing things like this.  Call me crazy, but I’d rather spend an hour or so creating free art than buying something.  Now we have a custom, one of a kind piece of art in our bathroom.

I like the long, rectangular shape and size.  It definitely makes more of a statement than the smaller items that were there before. 

How many of you make your own art?  Whether it’s a painting, drawing or something else.  Do share!  I would love inspiration!!

Friday Gimme a Giveaway Winner!

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First of all, I want to thank everyone that entered to win.  But, I really want to thank everyone for their kind words and support!  What a great group of people!  Now, on to the giveaway winners!

Our first winner is Nancy, who liked the love tree.  Then we have… Jordan P, who also preferred the love tree.

The last winner of the Friday Gimme a Giveaway is Ashley who would love the carved tree print for her wedding since her fiancé carved their initials in a tree when they went on their first hike together.

Congrats to all the winners.  For those that didn’t win, we do sell the featured prints in our shop, and if you mention this giveaway, you’ll get 25% off!  Keep reading to have a chance to win one of our future giveaways.

How To: Add a Personal Touch

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I have already given some ideas on how to add a personal touch to framed photos, and now I have some ideas to add personal touches throughout the home.

1.  Add monograms or your family name.  Monograms are a quick and inexpensive way to make a room your own.  Michael’s and Hobby Lobby are great places to look.  The letters on the picture rail hail from Hobby Lobby and cost $9.99 each. 

I had some scrap fabric lying around, so I made custom monogrammed pillow covers for each of our boys.  You can’t really tell, but the painting in the photo above has their monograms, too.  If you don’t want to spend $10 on monograms, craft stores also have cheaper MDF and paper mache versions, like the ones in my office. 

Just add a few coats of paint and you’ve got a custom art piece.  We also have a few monograms in our living room.  I recently picked up some Power Ball-esuqe monograms from Pier 1.

You could also use monogram hooks in an entryway or bathroom to keep each family member’s items separated. 

2.  Choose prints and art with personal meaning.  I also create custom prints if I am in need of a personal touch. 

I love this bird print we have in our entry way because it shows our little family, wedding date, names and the colors are specifically coördinated to our room. 

Another easy DIY project to inject a little more of you into your space are custom silhouettes.  When I make our silhouettes, I take photos of each person in complete profile.  Kids can be much more difficult, but with digital cameras, just keep taking pictures and eventually something will work.  Then I open my photos in Photoshop and trace the outlines.  Then I print right on to my colored cardstock and cut them out.  Simply tape the silhouette onto another piece of cardstock and frame. 

Don’t limit yourself to silhouettes of your family.  The process is the same for making anything, so choose your favorite flower, tree, whatever and make another design.

Choose prints that have a meaning to you, not just something that looks pretty.  Again, I make my own prints, but my I Love You This Much print began as something I say to my boys.  Other typographic prints could look great, too.  Choose a favorite quote, song lyric or phrase.  Translate a phrase to another language for a less obvious, but still meaningful print, like the Je T’Aime (I love you in French) print above.   A great place to start your search is Etsy because you can talk to the seller and ask to have something customized. 

3.  Spruce up a box store item.  Don’t be afraid to spray paint something to take it from the big box store look to fit your home.  Spray paint frames, sculptures or figurines, even furniture.  It will definitely become more personal with little time, effort and money.

Friday Gimme a Giveaway!

Published on by Our Humble Abode109 Comments

*This giveaway is no longer accepting entries, Thank You!*

I am so happy to be featured on YHL that I’ve decided to give three lucky people one 8 inch by 10 inch print from my shop, Our Humble A{Bowe}d.  I have attached some photos of some of the print options.

Carved Initials:

Bird Family:

I Love You This Much:

Love Math:

Love Tree:

Want a chance to win?  Here’s how it works:

To Enter:  Comment on this post to tell which print you prefer and the colors you’d like.

Bonus:  Blog, Twitter or Facebook with the giveaway link.  Then, leave another comment including your blog post, Tweet or Facebook link.

Contest Closes:  Wednesday, August 11, 2010 at 9:00 pm, central time.

Number of Winners:  Three!

Ships:  Anywhere in the US of A.

Other Info:  The winner can customize their print with colors, text such as names, family names, dates, and initials, and quantity of birds in the Bird Family print.  Only one entry per e-mail address.  The winner will be selected using random.org and announced on Thursday, August 12th.  Good luck!!

If you’re interested in invitations or stationery, visit our sister shop, Customized Stationary.  Check us out on Facebook, too!

Customized Stationary Giveaway Winner!

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I’m pleased to announce random.org chose lucky number three as this week’s winner of a set of custom stationery or 8 inch by 10 inch print.  Congrats to Chandeen Santos who likes the Anemone Stationery in pink and orange. 

Sad you didn’t win, fret not.  You can purchase any of the items shown over at Customized Stationary.  Buy now through August 15th and receive 10% off your purchase when you mention Our Humble A{Bowe}d.