In This Blog Post:

1. Rock Painting
2. Outside Finger Painting
3. Bubble Art
4. Paint Pouring
5. Crepe Paper Flowers
6. Flower Pressing
7. Diy Beach Anklet
8. Paint Your Shirt
9. Memory Board
10. DIY Stickers

1. Rock Painting

Supplies:

• Rock
• Paint
• Paint Brush

What to do:

Choose a rock that isn’t overly rough so painting doesn’t get difficult. Then you’ll need to rinse your rock off to remove any dirt. Let fully dry before painting. Next, cover your rock in a base coat of one color. You may want to lay some paper towels out under your rock so you don’t get paint on anything. After the base coat is dry, sketch out your painting or design with pencil. Then paint what you sketched out. Be careful around the edges as the curve of the rock can throw you off. 

For more rock painting dot ideas check out my other tutorial Dot Painting Mandalas.

2. Outside Finger Painting

Supplies:

• Finger paints
• Large paper

What to do:

Use some rocks to hold your paper down so no wind blows it away. Look around you and decide what you want to paint. Dip your fingers into the paints and spread the paint onto your paper. Try to recreate what you see using your fingers instead of paint brushes. Please be sure you are using washable finger paints so you don’t stain your skin or driveway. For an added challenge use your feet to paint with or other objects you find outside like leaves!

3. Bubble Art

Supplies:

• Bubbles
• Canvas/Paper 
•  Dye 

What to do:

Mix your bubbles with your dye. Lay out your canvas or paper. Blow the colored bubbles towards the canvas / paper. Try to get the bubbles to land on your canvas. Either let the bubbles dry or pop them then dry.

If you mix the dye with dish soap in a bowl you can gently scoop out clusters of bubbles and set them on the canvas to dry. 

4. Paint Pouring

Supplies:

• Canvas
• Pouring Paints

What to do:

This will get messy so you may want to lay out a tarp and use gloves. There are many ways to do paint pouring but I’d like to share one of the best and easiest ones. First I like to start by coating the canvas in a thin base of white to help the other paint move across the canvas smoother. While the base is still wet, fill a cup with layers of paint. Pour the paint from the cup across the canvas. Pick up the canvas and tilt it back and forth to spread the paint to the edges. Let the paint dry fully before moving it.

5. Crepe Paper Flowers

Supplies:

• Crepe paper / paper strips
• Scissors
• Hot Glue

What to do:

Lay out about a yard of your crepe paper in a long line. Cut out petal shapes into the crape paper keeping them connected along the bottom. Line the bottom edge with hot glue and roll the crepe paper to form a coil. Once hot glue has cooled gently pull and tug at the petals to shape it into a flower shape. You can leave it like this or put it on top of a pencil or stick.

6. Flower Pressing

Supplies:

• Flowers / leaves
• Book

Wax paper

What to do:

Pick flowers and leaves in the morning and use them right away for best results. Use an old book that is ok to get damaged. 

Lay your wax paper on a page of your book. Gently lay out your flowers so they do not touch each other. Lay another piece of wax paper on top of your flowers and close your book. Set something heavy on the book to press the flowers. Let them be pressed for about four weeks.

7. Diy Beach Anklet

Supplies:

• String
• Beads 
• Scissors 

What to do:

Use a length of the string to measure around your ankle. Cut the string at that length plus two inches to tie it. Take small beads and thread them onto the string. About half way through add a small charm with a different color of bead on each side. Finnish beading the rest. Once you have filled the whole string minus the two inches for tying, wrap it around your ankle and tie it loosely on your ankle. Cut the strings off at about ¼ of an inch.

8. Paint Your Shirt

Supplies:

•  Shirt
• Acrylic tole paint
• Vinegar
• Spray bottle

What to do:

For these types of crafts always make sure you are being carful not to get a mess or a stain anywhere. Lay your shirt out on a flat surface. Sketch your design onto the shirt with a pencil. Following your sketch paint your pattern with the tole paint. Before the paint dries, take your shirt outside and lay it in the sun. Then use the spray bottle to spray the design with a mixture of vinegar and water. Let fully dry in the sun.

9. Memory Board

Supplies:

•  Printed photos
• Wood board
• Mod podge

What to do:

Print out your favorite memory photos. Cut the images out so they have a small white border around them. Put a small amount of mod podge onto your wood board, then place the cut out photos onto your board. Add any other decorations you want such as ribbon or glitter. Once all the images and decorations are placed, thinly coat the 

Images with mod podge to seal them in. Let it fully dry. 

10. DIY Stickers

Supplies:

•  Tape 
• Paper
• Scissors

What to do:

Draw a design or picture on a piece of paper and cut it out. Lay wax paper over your work space. Then make an area of tape on the wax paper bigger than your drawing. Place your drawing on the area of tape and tape over the top of your drawing. Cut it out leaving a small border around your drawing. When you are ready to use it, peel the wax paper off and place the sticky side of your sticker to whatever you want.

All of these crafts are perfect for summer and they make perfect gifts! Have fun creating art and crafting! 

Share with me what you made on social media!

The post 10 Crafts to do Right Now for This Summer appeared first on ButterStyle.

Welcome to ButterStyles blog about watercolor ideas for painting! I am excited to share what I find most helpful when painting. A lot goes into painting and it’s helpful to be prepared before and to not rush into it unprepared. 

Handmade works of art make great gifts that feel personalized and thoughtful, so if you want to make someone feel special paint them something!

You can follow the steps and find inspiration I’ve added in this post or if you just need some quick pointers to improve you can be ready to get started quickly by taking a look at my 10 helpful tips in this blog post to speed up your water color ideas.

10 Quick Helpful Tips:

1. Focus first on the background then the main shapes and finally the details
2. Use masking tape to block a section of paper from paint
3. Do a quick sketch to help guide you 
4. Look at reference art 
5. Start small (don’t be too ambitious at first)
6. Be happy with watercolors natural “blurry style”
7. Try out different water to pigment ratios
8. Use a painting sponge for big areas 
9. Don’t use too much water
10. Let your paint fully dry before adding more

Bonus: Use masking tape to secure the paper to your table to prevent warping

Watercolor ideas and inspiration:

• Paint some animals 
• Check out Miranda Balogh’s website and her social media profiles 
• Flowers are a great way to practice 
• Practice with different brushes
• Try a water color landscape 
• Paint your name
• Try a painting sponge for fun textures and big areas
• Use water color pens or water color markers 
• Try different colors than usual from your watercolor palette
• Go for a walk outside and take pictures of things you see, then paint those things when you get home 
• Use masking tape to line your paper before you start painting

This will create a border around your art. This is also helpful to keep your paper from warping and moving around.

Supplies:

Make sure you have a place that has good lighting and a smooth table or desk. 

 The tools you need will depend on what you are hoping to paint and what style you are hoping to achieve.

 The most important and obvious supply is watercolor paints. The other basic supplies are: paint brushes, watercolor paper, and a jar or cup of water. 

 I also like to have these supplies on hand as well: paper towels, masking/painters tape, pencils, a high quality eraser, pens, a painting sponge, and scissors.

Using watercolor pencils and brush pens can make great art and is fun to work with.

 With this list of tools you can create beautiful works of art! 

Inspiration:

Before you start, imagine what you want your art to look like, if you’re not sure you can look at reference art to get ideas. Ideas can also come from real life by looking around you at your everyday surroundings, or you can look at photos you have taken. 

When looking at your reference art, focus on the values, overall shapes, base colors, and how light and shadow play a part in what you’re painting. Start your painting by being sure to include the key elements of it and the things you love about your reference art.

The Start:

A good start to creating art is sketching out what you have in mind as a guide to help you along the way. Use a pencil to sketch the outlines of the most basic shapes. Don’t press hard with your pencil, keep it light so you can erase lines without damaging the paper or the paint. 

This is also the time you would cover part of your painting with masking tape if you are hoping to keep the paint off of certain areas.

Background:

When painting with watercolor, and most other paints, it’s usually best to start with the background. But with watercolor you can’t apply as many layers as with other paints. So be sure not to cover too much of the objects if you are planning on adding many details.

To do this with watercolor you can start with the lightest colors first or paint the farthest object first.

I find it easiest to use a bigger brush for this part, such as a fan brush. Once you have your background finished, let your paper dry before adding more.

Paint the main part:

Once your background has dried you can now move on to the next step.

Start filling in your main shapes with color letting each section dry before adding more. Don’t get too detailed at this point, just focus on the shapes and colors.

You can also begin to implement shadows by using a bit more pigment to mix with water or mixing a small amount of gray and the base color to make it look darker and slightly muted. 

You should also leave the sections you would like to have highlights with less paint or use masking tape to cover those areas.

Let this portion fully dry before beginning on details.

Details:

Now that you have your background and base you can add the details and finishing touches. A good tool for this is a very small brush.

Just remember not to get too into detail as watercolors can be hard to be very precise. Most watercolor art has a slightly blurry feel to it. 

As you are adding the details, be careful not to ruin the rest of the painting by adding too much water, the best way to add finishing touches is to use a lot more pigment than water.

Thank you for reading ButterStyles blog about watercolor ideas!

I hope this has helped you understand this medium of art and how to best use it. Works of art are great gifts that can be custom and meaningful. 

I wish you well on your art journey and great success in art. 

If you have any questions and would like to contact me click here. 

More resources for improving your watercolor technique and finding ideas: 

Erika Lancaster 

Watercolor Affair 

Miranda Balogh

Follow me on social media!

The post Watercolor Ideas for Beginners appeared first on ButterStyle.

Zen Gardens are a great way to relax and let your mind wander, they are also helpful for artist block. Mini gardens are perfect for people who don’t have enough time or outside space for a full size garden. A mini zen garden is great to set in workplaces, a decorative shelf, on a counter, or anywhere that is convenient. 

Step1: Setting up for your garden

Making sure you have all the supplies needed is an extremely important part of any project. It is also crucial to have a good workspace that will be beneficial to what you are trying to do. Creating a mini garden may take a few days when you are molding items out of clay, so be sure that you are working in a space that will not be in the way for other day to day things.

Supplies:

Once you have a good spot to be you will need these supplies:

• Clay (I used air dry clay)
• A protective covering for your workspace
• Tools to work with your clay 
• Fine sand
• A tray to put your sand in
• A cup of water

Optional supplies:

• Gloves 
• Mini zen garden rake
• Paint
• Clay sealer/ modge podge
• Other decor for garden

A major part of setting up your space for a project is keeping things organized and clean, even throughout the creating process. 

Step 2: Shaping the Imprint Spheres 

For this part of the tutorial I will explain how to create the first sphere in depth then briefly go over the other methods I used to make different styles.

Ball #1: Craters 

This was the first ball I made and is one of my favorites. (Tip: When working with clay I find it helpful to wear gloves to keep it from sticking to me and prevent my skin from drying out.) 

Tools:

Before getting out your clay, decide what tools you will be using. Each style of zen garden balls will need different tools.

For this sphere the type of tools you need is anything with a rounded end. For example you can use a pencil eraser or the other end of a paint brush, for smaller indents use a ball pin. Anything that you can find that will work like that is great. I happened to have paint dotting tools on hand so I used those.

Getting Started:

The first thing you need to do is take a chunk of your clay and roll it into a ball. The ball I made is about 1.5”. If you are having a hard time getting it fully smooth, lightly dip your finger in the cup of water and use that to smooth the surface. But be careful not to use too much water as that will ruin the consistency of the clay.

The pattern:

Note: this part is only for the craters style ball, but is helpful to know for the other styles of spheres

Then use your rounded tool to gently push indents into the ball. Start with the biggest size then work your way down to the smallest tool. I recommend three sizes of tools to get the best effect. Try to keep your placement as random as possible when deciding where to indent. (Tip: Every so often dip your tool into the cup of water so it is slightly damp. This will make it easter to create craters and prevent cracking) Continue to add dents until you are pleased with how it looks.

Finishing:

 After I had finished I very gently rolled the ball in my hands to help reform its shape, then went back and redefined the pattern with my tools. It doesn’t have to be perfect, let the sphere have its little imperfections!

Drying:

If you are using air dry clay as I did, prevent cracking by: every once in a while throughout the drying process take a paint brush and dip it in water then lightly go over the sphere to moisten the outer layer. This will help the ball to dry evenly.

Ball #2: Squiggly Lines

After making a clay ball use a pointy tipped tool to trace lines going from the top of your ball to the bottom. Make the lines squiggly to add pattern. 

Then use a fat butterknife type tool to deepen and widen the lines. This is another point that is useful to dip your tool in the cup of water occasionally.

If the ball is not fully round once you are finished, gently roll it in your hands then redefine the lines.

Ball #3: Bumps

This ball is roughly 1” in diameter

Roll your ball then make dents in it just like in ball #1. Only use one size of tool for this ball, preferably a small one. 

Make many miniature clay balls that are just bigger than the indents you just made.

Then, using slick (a mixture of water and clay), place your mini spheres in the dents. Gently roll in hands to rounden. 

Ball #4: Stars

This is the easiest way to make an imprint sphere. First find a tool or item that when pressed into the clay it will leave a deep pattern (see photo for reference)

After you roll your clay ball, press the tool into the clay to leave the pattern on your sphere. Dip the tool in water first for best results.

Roll in hands to rounden if needed.

Ball #5: Criss Cross

The ball I made in this style is about ¾” 

You start by putting marking dots in six places across from each other on the ball, as if the ball were a dice and you are marking where the sides are. 

Then draw connecting lines between the marks. (view picture for reference)

After everything is traced use a small pointy utensil on an angle to deepen and slightly widen the lines.

Then roll in your hands to restore shape then redefine lines. Don’t forget to dip your tool in water.

Step 3: The tray

You’ll need to locate a tray large enough to create patterns and a garden in. Also, it must be deep enough to contain sand without spilling.

I used a shallow hat box I found at hobby lobby. The perk of using this box is that it has a lid so I can put my garden away when needed.

Next you fill your tray with sand. I used 3 pounds of extra fine white sand to fill a 11.5”x11.5” circular box. Be sure your sand is fine or it wont show your patterns.

That’s it, that’s all you need for the tray.

Step 4: Decorating with Extras

The finishing touches of a mini zen garden are what makes it beautiful, and you can have fun personalizing it. 

Painting the imprint spheres is a great way to do this. A popular painting choice for them is planets. After you paint them it’s smart to seal them to prevent the paint from chipping. The sealing method I used was modge podge as that’s what I had on hand.

A classic addition to zen gardens is a rake. You can buy mini ones or make your own. I used dowels, toothpicks and hot glue to make mine. Or you can just use a plastic fork to make those characteristic lines or a pen to draw in the sand.

Other fun ways of decorating your garden are:

• Stones 
• Mini plastic plants 
• Seashells 
• Crystals 
• Animal figurines
• Fake moss 
• Anything you want!

Remember to get creative and have fun with your garden. Make it however you want, you can totally be out of the ordinary and artistic. Zen gardens will help you relax and let your mind wander.

I hope this tutorial on how I created my first mini zen garden helped you! Video tutorial from a different creator: zen garden clay ball youtube

If you would like more details feel free to leave a comment or contact me!

The post Building Your Own Mini Zen Garden (With Imprint Spheres!) appeared first on ButterStyle.