Serious Cuteness.....

While walking through a local art shop in Dalton I came across an ultra cute painting!!  It was an owl, sitting on top of a turtle, sitting on top of an elephant!!  I wish I had a picture for you…but believe me!...It was sooo stinkin cute!!!!!   The pattern was clean, the colors were simple, and I immediately envisioned it hanging in Julia’s room.

Well, you know me….I never buy anything decorative, I just stare at whatever it is long enough to figure out how to re-create it, therefore making it my own!!  Since, I don’t have much experience in painting, ideas were bouncing though my head!  Finally, I got it!!!  I could decoupage the art!!  I’m telling you…when you combine decorative cardstock, modgepodge, and a little creativity…. the possibilities are endless!!!  

Because I made this 6 months ago, I do not have pictures for a complete tutorial!  Forgive me please!!!!  I can however, talk you through the steps I used to make this little piece of beauty!!  I will warn you….it’s very simple, but pretty time consuming.......Here is a sneak peak of the final outcome....

Ok!!!...now that I have you hooked, let's give it a try.....

Supplies

Canvas (I used 24x30)

Decorative cardstock (you can buy these in books with coordinating patterns)

Scissors

ModgePodge

Step 1:  I always like to plan out my artwork (imagine that!!)  I did a quick sketch of what was in my head, tweaking it, until I got a good idea of the look I was going for!

The artwork that inspired me was much more simple than this.  I altered the shape of each animal and added a few cutesy things such as the bird, the umbrella, flowers and bows....

(don't worry, the below steps will all make sense when you see the completed artwork....stay with me)

Step 2:  Take the decorative cardstock and start cutting out shapes.  You need a different piece of cardstock for each element.  For example:  You need one piece of cardstock for the elephants body, and different piece for his ear, another for his eye, etc, etc....This is the time consuming part!  (You may have to do a few trial cuts to make sure your scale is right to fit the canvas.)   

Step 3:  Decide on your background.  Choose one cardstock pattern for your background!  I wanted an old vintage look so i went with a "newspaper" looking pattern.  You will need a lot of pieces to cover the entire canvas!  I think I bought about 15 sheets of this pattern.....

Step 4:  (this part sounds scary, but trust me!!)  Start ripping up the pattern that you are using for the background...  it doesn't matter what size or shape each piece ends up being!  Once you have a few sheets ripped up, start gluing them to your canvas.  Use the modgepodge for this!  Put a layer of modgepodge on the canvas, start overlapping all of your ripped pieces of paper, then put a thin layer of modgepodge on top to seal it!  Work your way around the entire canvas, making sure to also cover the sides!!  Please Note:  if you use too much modgepodge your cardstock will start to wrinkle!....we don't want that!!  take your time, use only a little, wait for it to dry, then re-apply if needed!!

Step 5:  Once the entire background of your canvas is dry, you can start building your art!!  This is the fun part!!  Start putting the shapes together that you cut out in "step 2"...Don't glue anything yet!  Just place everything where you want it to go, that way you can alter anything that you aren't happy with!!

Step 6:  Decide if you want to use textures!!!  You know I couldn't leave this part out!!  I added ribbon to the elephants tail, a button to the turtles eye, sticks for the owls legs, and more ribbon for the umbrella handle!  These are just small details, but I feel it gives the artwork a whole other dimension!  

Step 7:  Get to gluing!  Once you know where all of your pieces of cardstock and textures are going, start gluing them down with the modgepodge.  Use the same technique as we did in "step 4"  (glue the pieces to the canvas, then put a layer of modgepode on top to seal in the beauty!!)

Okay, so now that i'm done talking your ear off with instructions, I know you are dying to see my little masterpiece!!.......Taaddaaa..........

I thought it turned out super cute!!!!

Notice the ribbon I used for the umbrella holder, the twigs for the owls legs, and the hand drawn eyelashes using my handy dandy magic marker!! 

I used a black button for the turtles eye.  I also cut out random imperfect sized polk-a-dots for her shell!

Here is the ribbon that I added to the elephants tail.....

and we can't forget the little birdie....I also hand drew his hair and legs.....

Notice the background in each picture....by ripping up the background pattern, (step 4) you create nice, subtle texture!  I almost forgot that I also added little flower polk-a-dots randomly around the background!   You can see this in the above picture!

Last but not least, always sign and date your work of art, hang and enjoy!!!

I hope my directions were not long and drawn out!....next time I will have a detailed picture tutorial for you!!....and I say next time, because my friend Angie at Angie Rogers Photography, has asked me to make a few pieces for her girls room!  Stay tuned to see what else my crazy brain comes up with!!!........