Friday, September 7, 2012

Make Like A Tree, and Leaf...

Cheesy, and late I know. Sorry, I started a new job yesterday and it has been kind of all consuming!

Today we have a Pinstrosity from Amy, and I have some good news, and some bad news. The good news I have just finished this project! The bad news is, mine turned out like Amy's...check it out.

The Original
 
 
 
**After a Google search of the original source, this is what I found, if anyone has another source I would be more than happy to give credit where credit is due!**
 
 
The Pinstrosity
 
 
So this is pretty much what mine looked like, except different colors, and my leaves were smaller ( I will save you from having to look at more of my projects lol, I am sure you are sick of it by now). Here is where I went wrong, Amy didn't really tell us much about her project but I will explain my woes in an attempt to save our Pinstrosipeeps some trouble here.
 
-The original shows to use regular paint on the bottom, I am going to venture that using spray paint really won't have too much of a different effect than that (that's what I used).
-Let it completely dry before putting the leaves on, or it will smudge your paint.
-Choose larger heavier leaves, they stick better.
*I haven't had good luck with spray adhesive, not impressed in the least, and I have the good stuff, so I didn't try it out on this. I did try a glue stick, but that didn't work on the leaves for whatever reason, hence the reason you need the heavier leaves. Amy had the same problem.*
-Spray paint your canvas, you may need to hold the leaves with your hands here and there.
*Spray paint comes off skin with rubbing alcohol and a good scrub*
-Small sewing pins may work to hold the leaves as well, but with that you will need to be prepared to fill in the holes.
-And from personal experience don't do this RIGHT before it rains, even if you are being fast and trying not to get rained on, even one rain drop kind of ruins the whole effect.
 
Has anyone else had good/bad luck with this one?
Amy's doesn't look bad, but she said she didn't like it so much...so much for having a Pinterest perfect project eh?
Happy Friday!!!
 
 


16 comments:

  1. DeAnn @ TheSIPproject.blogspot.comSeptember 7, 2012 at 7:49 PM

    Good tips! I am sure it's fun a little crazy trying all these projects. The original sources seem to need to explain better. I was looking for apple sauce recipes for canning on Pinterest and wow some of the posts were so vague - my point is it's great that you add better instructions. Oh..and I am following you now, I thought I already was, whoops. Great post!

    ReplyDelete
  2. One of the things I think is successful with the pin is the thing that will make it hard....using small leaves. Stuff like sprays of heather, etc. If you can make that work, it's going to look good. Guess the challenge is making it work :p To be perfectly honest, I don't know if I believe the first two are spray paint over leaves. It looks too delicate. My first impression would be that it's painted on.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Not from this pin, but I did the same thing years ago to make posters for my dorm room. I used blue and purple spray paint on the bottom, then laid down whole branches and sprayed silver on top. I also did some with stencils I made. With branches, you get a cool effect because some of the upper leaves, that don't touch the poster itself, still slow down the paint-- that's how you get the leaves with fuzzy edges, that gives it some depth. I didn't attach the leaves to the poster in any way, I just worked fast. You want to be sure to spray from far away too, too close and it's too thick. It's best if a little of the background color shows through to tone down the metallic.

    ReplyDelete
  4. What if you pressed the leaves/flowers / whatever first?
    You know, plan ahead and press them between the pages of a book?

    Now I'm laughing because I NEVER want to plan ahead or WAIT. I'm horrendous at finding somethign I want to try, then barging pell mell through it without waiting for things like letting paint dry.

    I do have this on my "want-to-do" list. I plan to actually do the bottom layer with gold paint, then apply the decorative items (hopefully after the paint is actually dry)and then spray with some different colors. I like the idea of "gold leafed" leaves / flowers rather than colored ones.

    Maybe I'd better choose plant matter now, before it all dies off, and stick it in a book so when I pounce on some on-sale canvasses I already have the most patient part of the project done. Assuming I can find what book I put them in. O.o That may be a problem.

    ReplyDelete
  5. I found an old tutorial on Valspar Spray paint's website for this type of project. http://www.valsparspray.com/Idea/icode---5072

    They suggest flattening your plant overnight & then attaching with spray adhesive & then applying the top coat in very thin layers.

    ReplyDelete
  6. I agree with Kel- holding the spray paint too close will cover a bit too solid. Also painting the canvas with a brush first will help it be less perfect, as in the original picture.

    ReplyDelete
  7. I saw this pin and HAD to try it for my new office. The first attempt was a pintrosity for several reasons;

    1. I didn't let the paint dry before doing the layer of spray paint
    2. I sprayed too much spray paint
    3. The leaves (fake - bought at craft store) were not flat against the canvas so spray paint seeped under

    I wasn't giving up!

    I repainted the canvas and left it to dry overnight. While the canvas was drying I pressed the leaves between some boxes with 10 pound weights on top. The next day I tried again and although the results aren't exactly what is in the picture (different color scheme - not quite as bright) I think they turned out pretty good!

    ReplyDelete
  8. I did this a few months ago. Here was my source (found after seeing it in Better Homes and Gardens magazine): http://www.bhg.com/decorating/do-it-yourself/wall-art/diy-artwork-botanical-prints/

    I had the HARDEST time with this. My leaves would blow away from the gust of the spray paint when I started spraying. After having to buy a can of white spray paint to start over, I finally figured it out. What I did that worked was put small rocks (smaller than the leaves, obviously) on the leaves so they wouldn't move. Worked like a charm. Of course, it had to be the right kind of leaves--nothing thin and whispy like they did above.

    ReplyDelete
  9. I think the real problem with the "pintrosity" is not the spraying technique, but the fact that it's just a few small leaves on the canvas. The leaves don't fill the page, and they aren't very "artful". I think if she tried adding more leaves it could maybe even be saved.

    ReplyDelete
  10. At a paint your own pottery place, I did a really similar technique, but it took a few more layers of paint. It would probably work better with very sturdy or fake plants, but you would paint the entire canvas in color1. Lay the leaf/plant on the canvas and cover entire canvas and plant in color1 again. This actually holds the leaf/plant in place. Wait until the paint appears dry, Coat entire canvas in a thick coat of color 2. Once the paint seems like a tacky consistency (but dont let it dry too much!), peel the leaf up. It tends to have a slightly textured effect because of the thickness of several coats of paint, but turns out really nice. Note that the leaf silhouette will be color1 and the background is actually the second color.
    I haven't used it to recreate this specific pin, but it worked really well for a set of coasters I made.

    ReplyDelete
  11. i think it is definitely a content issue and not a technique issue. look at the pin - they are all angled and full branches with lots of little leaves. the metallic is lightly sprayed on and the borders are even a little hazy. if you have whole branched they will stay put better, or you can have something off canvass holding it in place. spray from a distance.

    ReplyDelete
  12. (Late comment - just came across this) The first picture with supplies includes a small paintbrush. I think it is for touching-up the colored paint after removing the leaves - maybe even add in the skinny stems. This is probably why they haven't used spray paint as the base color.

    ReplyDelete
  13. I did this as a 4-H project about 20 years ago. We glued dried beans to the leaves to give them some weight so that they wouldn't blow off the paper when spray painting them. We cut out a butterfly shape and added that to the leaves.

    ReplyDelete
  14. Did anyone actually observe that the canvas we see been painted is not the one hanging on the wall? My guess is that there's a reason for that - eg. the ones on the wall weren't made with real leaves but with paper cut outs. Look at the stem of the leaves in the spray-painted canvas - far thinner that any of the stems on the canvasses on the wall. Actually, seeing the fourth picture you would think that the result looks pretty much like Emilees canvas.

    ReplyDelete
  15. The actual original source is listed at the bottom of the tumblr: http://www.homejelly.com/weekend-diy-project-spray-paint-silhouette-botanical-art/

    ReplyDelete
  16. I'm thinking of doing this today, and as for the holding-down-the-leaves problem, you can always put a small, thin magnet over them to hold them in place! So you'll have a beautiful spray painted canvas, plus some cool trendy magnets. :) Let's see how this works out...

    ReplyDelete

Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.