7th annual DG Christmas Workshop..now elves need to get busy

No hurry Betty, we know your busy!

Betty check your dmail please....

Got it scheduled for tomorrow, who knows I might even stay awake past 7pm and get base coating done

So far I've done the shoes
Any questions let me know

Also said to paint both signs light brown

Base coat Santa off white/brownie beige

Deb, received your envelope today
Thanks

Well here we are finally!!!

Am hoping to get through the instructions today..
If you've nothing planned, come join in

thought more would post that they received their kits..starting to fret


SNOWMAN

We will paint the snowman off white

for those of you who may not have a lot of paints to pick from I've used a slightly off white and mixed a tad of brown..why not white you ask when a snowman is white?

the technique we will use will help make him look a bit more dimensional vs flat white

so here we go

in the photo I've painted the hat as well, you don't have to, I just got carried away..the black should adhere a bit better with the base coat

now here is where you decide how much work you want to put into the snowman

if NOT a lot then basecoat his back black..myself I place him in different locations from year to year and you do see the back soooo I take the extra time and effort to do so but as I said the choice is yours

IMPORTANT NOTE:

If you look at the bottom of the snowman where the dowels will fit, you will see that after my drilling the size of dowel needed to hold the snowman up that there is little wood left around the hole..DO NOT force the dowel in, do it lightly.

I also find that if I don't glue in the dowels into the snowman body I can take his legs off, lay him flat, easier to find a place to store him


any questions at this point

then I will wait until the front is dry and paint the back of him so that he's ready to add a bit of texture

OH MY gosh!!!
What fun! Going to start mine is weekend!
off to michaels for supplies this morning....

yeah, Betty love the lamp shade, it's so cool!

did you make it Judy???

Getting my supplies together. Will work along side you Betty.

OK whew...managed that part.

now that your snowman has been basecoated in tan/off white we will do some smooshing..yet smooching

do you all have clear saran wrap

photo 1: tear off a large piece and crumble it

if you do not have saran wrap or the likes then cut up a white garbage bag, put your grocery items in..it will also work for you

photo 2: meat trays or stero plates work well for your paints

put white paint on a tray, if it's looks thick add just a few drops of water to it..

Photo 3: LIGHTLY pounce color onto the snowman, remember the sides and back.

* you have to let the front and the sides dry before you attempt the back
- now this is only if you've decided to paint the back other than black..
- if you've decided to do the back in black I'd wait till all the painting in the
front has been done

Photo 4: if you've pounced (dabbing lightly) the white and you see a tad of tan/off white
through your color then it's perfect..if you feel you've gone too far and its solid
then get some base color and lightly pounce it on very/very lightly

ohhh I'm not alone, how exciting is that

If you are a painter, you can shade around the snowman body, front and back..if a beginner lets try this method..

Photo 1 & 2with some brown and more scrumped up saran wrap (or the likes) dab around the outer edge and just up between his legs a bit..you might have to use just the end of the scrumped up saran wrap to do this part..

doesn't look the best at this stage but that's ok..it's what I call the 'ugly stage'

if you put too much, dab some white over it

NOW THE GOOD NEWS..you can use this side if you want as the trial side..now that you've perfected it and thought, hmmm had I done this or that you are ready for your final and front side..lol

again not to worry, by the time we do the scarf, mitts and hat your focus won't be on the snowman body as much

have fun with it

drats, have to let it dry for 10-15 minutes..see you then

This message was edited Dec 4, 2013 12:43 PM

now we are not up to this point yet but we are getting there

arms seem to be drying quicker..you can paint the mitts..I did mine in a red brown but those of you who have limited paints can add a tad of red to the brown you have..

likely when it dries I can give it another coat..might not need it though

for those of you worrying about doing a straight line you can cut tape above the cuff line then when you remove it you will have a straight line

remember, how we sanded 'aged' look to the boots, when the mitts are completely dry we shall do the same

did you take a break LindaKay and Karen..

hope you did

now we start the scarf

guess who forgot to put a tracing in your packages, we'll wing it shall we!

now which side do you like better? have that one facing up and let's get to work

Photo 1: let's get a piece of paper and trace the wooden part of the scarf

Photo 2: once done, cut it 1/4 inch smaller from the insi then cut about 1 1/2 inches of the
top of the scarf

Photo 3 & 4 you can see from the photo that in pencil I marked out the scarf and the face

if you look at your piece you will see the indentations of where the scarf shall go
pencil it in lightly should you wish to erase or you can trace that section of the
snowman on paper, cut the scarf and trace on the piece

with this piece of paper you can trace front and back then you will only have
have to paint in the sides to match

Looks like I will start painting tomorrow. My white paint is all dried up. Need to run to wally world.

drats on both cases LindaKay, just posted next step and 'gone' into cyberspace
Maybe somebody out there is making snowmen lol

Now that you've marked where your scarf goes it's time to start painting.

Photo 1:I marked where the scarf goes across his neck and painted it green

Photo 2: Marked where the smaller scarf that is painted on the snowman is and
painted it green..note, he scarf end on the snowman is shorter, adjust to the
size you want

Photo 3: the wooden scarf I also paint it green but there is no need to: do the back of it
only the sides and top..it will adhere easier when it's time to glue

remember it's not time to glue it till your project is completely done..trust me, it will make life easier

Photo 4: Just want to show you how it will come together DO NOT GLUE

why green you ask..well it seals the wood for one thing and makes it easier to skip adding colors to the scarf than trying to edge one color to the other

while the scarf it is drying, lets mark out the face

take a close look at the brim of the hat..our face will be just a tad higher

so with your snowman go from the corner of the scarf in a half circle or oval (your choice) to
to opposite side of the brim

Photo 1 will be better to see than my explaining

any questions yet????

did you basecoat your little signs yet??? hmmm

now let's find some black

I'm thinking of using a piece of poly fleece for an actual scarf on mine.

I may do that too for Sean. I don't think he will have the patience to paint a plaid scarf. I will paint mine though.....

That is what I like, seeing all the different designs you all come up with
I get more excited than you all do

Just putting finishes to a large pot of spaghetti sauce, adding meatballs then downstairs I shall go for the next step

Am I confusing anyone yet

Found a perfect plaid flannel using that instead.

After shading mine, he looks like a "Pigpen" snowman from Charlie Brown! HaHaHa

Dab more white then Julie

I'm giving it to Colt and his wife for Christmas and she is a Charlie Brown collector... So, I'm leaving him as is and naming him, "Pigpen"! : )

That will work!!!! Great idea.

Thanks, Barb! I am not going to stress! I'm just having fun! :)

Just rested a bit, heading downstairs shortly for another step then it's bedtime

We'll resume tomorrow

Caught up! Ready for tomorrow! Thanks, Betty, for the easy instructions!

Morning all,

Sorry I petered out on you all last night..body said 'bed time'!

But here I am this morning for a few more steps in the instructions

Photo 1: closer look at what we are aiming for..one step at a time right?

Photo 2: paint hat black (front-sides-back)

Photo 3: we should now have the snowman basecoated, scarf painted green,mitts (color of choice,shoes and two signs

more to come

here we go

little more difficult when I'm not sure what brushes you have but will try my best

for those of you with few brushes I painted a mixture of the green I used and a drop of black and painted the hat band

when my brush seemed to be almost out of paint, a gave a few strokes of highlight to the hat from right edge towards center

on my hat and scarf you will see because it's close up some dried up surface paint..at this point I'd give a little sanding to surface as well as hat edging

I've marked off areas that I want to paint my scarf design..

IMPORTANT to say, where you want red paint it med grey first..I just took my white and a touch of black and made the grey..if you don't do this step you will basecoat 20 times and not get a solid red...

forgot the photo...ooops

thought I had the right colors, just might have to move on to another part in order to finish the snowman scarf

let's see, what can we paint

Photo 1:I took a paper towel and with the end of my finger covered I barely dipped it in red, gently rubbed it on a towel (or paper towel) and when almost ALL the paint is gone I rubbed in circular motion the pink on the cheeks and nose

Photo 2:if you have a brush similar to this, dip into the red and wipe/wipe/wipe until you think you've no paint left on the brush then in circular motion rub in (not too hard now) until you have cheeks & nose..can be as light or dark as you wish

Now here is where a permanent pigment pen would be helpful
you could set in the mouth, nose and eyebrows
as for the eyes you could also use the pigment pen

if you don't have one but have a liner, set the face in

if you've no liner then I'd look for an old pen, dip it in the black paint and set in an eyeball, then with a toothpick or needle you can pull from the black eyeball and drag to create a point

now add a glint of white.

wish I had some sandpaper to lightly sand and take away the imperfections of the base coat and dabbing..tonight I guess

maybe I can find some ochre (yellow) to finish the scarf this afternoon, getting there aren't we?

ohh not tonight, forgot I have a stained glass class using clear glass and bevels to make a snowflake
about 14" so painting is a no go

I noticed also that tomake him look cozy I could paint in the corners from his face to his hat to take on a more rounded look, this is not necessary though if you like your design

This message was edited Dec 5, 2013 10:49 AM

is anyone there???
am I making sense???

while waiting to get some gold/ochre paint for the scarf I saw that I could do the patches on the snowman

I'll start with patch one

HAD I had tape here I'd have taped off this square to make it easier but don't know where I set my tape..


Photo 1 - basecoated med grey..
lets see what colors I want my patches

after patch 1 is done then I'd pencil in the 2nd patch and proceed to paint in a co-ordinating color

got it so far?

This message was edited Dec 5, 2013 11:11 AM

He's still at the ugly stage but coming alive is he not?

got the 2 patches painted in

I am here Betty. Reading along with you. Running to town in a it for,supplies, and I will start painting this afternoon.

was getting lonely lol

I am following along too Betty and transferring all the info to Word so I can print it out when Sean comes. It sounds clear to me....