Getting Crafty with Rock Fishies!

I've painted animals on rocks before, but never tried fish. Out of the gate, it didn't go that great. I needed a fish anatomy lesson!  The fish refused to conform to the norm and ended up looking a little wild. 

Hey, that's Art! :)

First I got a thin board from Lowes lumber department, sanded and then painted it with blue and green paint. Using a water color technique to give it a washed, watery look, I let it dry while I worked on the fish. 

I gave up on fish-realism and went with the wild, whimsical, dressed up kind. They were a work in progress as I layered on paint, stripes, and polka dots. Hippy fish!

When the board was dry I took some sea shells my daughter collected at the beach and used Turbo Tacky glue to attach them across the bottom. To fill in between the shells and coral, I used sea glass purchased at Michaels. I let that dry over night. 

Then i went back to the fish.  Then the sea shells all over my work bench sparked an idea. I decided to use them as the fins of the fish, giving the whole mixed media piece a little more depth. I put a light tint of paint over the shells, let them dry and then glued them on with Turbo Tacky glue. When the shells were attached, I used the glue to put on the fish on and let dry over night.  

To hang it I screwed in eye-hooks on the top of the board strung some burlap string through the eye hooks and attached sea shells. 

Go fish! What are you working on?

Michaels had CRATES on Sale!

 I went into Michaels for some paint on the fish rocks I'm painting and found CRATES ON SALE!

I'd seen these used on Pinterest for shelving so I thought the sale was the universe was giving me a sign.

I bought 4 crates, but then had to decide on stain or paint...hmmmm.

After taking them home and giving them a good sanding  the wood was still kind of rough so I opted for paint over stain. I thought spray paint might help contain any splinters. These were going in my Art studio so I went with some happy colors.


I spray painted them 4 different colors. Each took almost a can to get good coverage, about two-three coats. The green needed the most.









Then I stacked and re-stacked them until I decided which color should go where. (Hadn't really thought of that when I picked the colors)

My hubby used his electric drill and screwed the crates together.

Done! This little shelf unit was less than $50.
I had most of the paint and the crates were $9.99.  

Time spent? One weekend; painted one day, put together the next. 

Happy crafting!

Pebble Art Flowers

Well, I finally finished!

It really wasn't that hard a craft, but that thing called life got to me and this project got pushed to the back burner.

So, here's my first attempt at pebble art. It was a fun way to use all those pretty rocks I collected that I didn't want to paint.

After staining the wood, I used Tacky glue to put the little stones in place. One on of my trips to Michaels I found a Turbo Tacky glue that's supposed to be stronger, so I used that on half this project.


I picked up wood chips from the back yard. We have a wood stove and my husband is always out there chopping wood. I collect the most interesting looking chips for my art projects.

I used a chip of wood on the bottom to give the flower a base on which to "grow."


The next step was to use Ashland Naturally Coiled Wire I found at Michaels in their floral department. I thought it looked woodsy and would make a great stem. It was a little hard to get the wire to lay flat so next time I might look for something without wire.


Now this Pebble Art hangs on my wall with the hope the little rocks don't fall off.
:)

Tip:
One thing I wish I did first? Put the little saw-tooth picture hanger on the back of the wood base first. Hammering that on while the rocks were already in place was hard. I had to prop it up on rolled towels in hopes that the rocks wouldn't dislodge while I hammered that picture hanger on the back.

Sneak peek on the next Pebble Art project? Scroll down...

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What's on your art/craft table???