enJOY it

an archived personal and craft blog from Elise Blaha Cripe.

Paintfull

27MATERIALSpaint

Paint3

I am never in a million years going to be a real painter. I can't make paint look like anything other than paint. So landscapes, portraits, animals? All out. And abstract painting is incredibly difficult. I look at gorgeous abstracts and think to myself, "Oh, I can do that…" Then two hours later I have something that is abstract for sure, but also a hot mess.

But shapes? Painted shapes? Shapes I can do.

Paint2

This painting was originally intended to hang in our bedroom. The canvas is huge (3'x4') and I thought it would take up a lot of the endless wall space space. But of course, I forgot about things like matching. And how, yes… the stripe on the wall is a shade of blue, but the curtains have all sorts of colors in them. And the quilt has a pale pink. And the feel in there is actually turning out a lot more beachy, muted & soft (in a good way!) than I thought it would be.

The plan was always circles and I thought I would just be painting myself. On a whim, Sunday night, I asked Paul if he'd want to help paint while we watched TV. It went something like this :

E : "Babe, you, uh, wouldn't want to paint with me, would you?"

P : "Sure."

E : (trip over my feet running upstairs to grab an extra paint brush.)

Paintdetail

Paul painted dark blue circles. I painted teal circles. We sat on the couch and turned the canvas 90 degrees every 10 minutes or so when we had filled the space with enough of our color. In total, we probably rotated it about 8 times and added more white to our paint to create different shades. We watched three episodes of Always Sunny and then called it done for the night. Paul went upstairs to do some other stuff and I stared at the canvas until I realized that what it really needed was some lime green.

So with Arrested Development now in the background I finished off the painting by layering more lighter shades of blue circles and a few variations of green.

Paint

It turned out better than I thought it would, but also a lot brighter. As mentioned, it doesn't work in our bedroom so we're putting it out in the hall. I love that it's a wall of color when we leave our room.

Fromdownstairs

And I love that you can see it from downstairs too. (ps…here's a link to that pinwheel painting.)

Paintsigned

We're pretty excited about our $25 canvas (Michael's coupon for the win) and colorful circles. I'm pretty excited Paul was willing to help out.

Dottedline

This is project 8 of 27. I am attempting to complete 27 craft projects using 27 different materials before I turn 28 on 02.22.13. You can follow my progress here on the blog or on pinterest. Birthday challenges are my favorite. You can see the 26 Projects I completed while 26 here and the 27 materials I have used so far here.

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29 responses to “material 8 of 27 / paint onto a canvas.”

  1. Heather Johnson Avatar

    I really love this! Inspiring, I just might have to try it.
    You have inspired me in so many ways since I found your blog a few months ago…I thank you for that! Your posts are always so original and…well…inspiring!
    I turn 40 next year, so have been busy cooking up a 40 before 40 list of things to do/make. LOVE how you do this, and LOVE your monthly goal thing too. I think I am ready to take that one as well.
    Oh and let’s not forget the photo walks. Love that idea!
    See? Totally inspiring! Have a great day, and enjoy the So Cal weather. So jealous, I was there in May for a trip to Disney and fell in love with it!

    Like

  2. T. Avatar
    T.

    o, I adore your signatures in the corner. Have a nice day!

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  3. Claire Avatar

    beautiful and so inspiring – love your blog elise and all the work you put into it x

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  4. Cat Avatar

    This is super cute!
    I love that Paul wanted to share the creative adventure with you! I would certainly be tripping over my feet if my husband agreed to lending his personal touch to any of my work 😀

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  5. Allison Avatar

    I love it Elise! What a great hubby you have 🙂 And the lime green looks fantastic!
    xx
    http://www.thrifted.ca

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  6. r8chel Avatar

    Very nice, Elise!
    I also bought a huge canvas at Michaels for 50% off a few months ago, and the man behind me in line was convinced I was a painter. I’ve never painted on a canvas in my life! He kept asking what my favorite things to paint were, whether I do commissions, etc. I kept insisting that I was NOT a painter, but I guess the fact that I was buying a big ol’ canvas made it hard for him to believe me. 🙂
    And I’m like you — I’ll probably just paint something geometric.

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  7. Diana Avatar

    That’s so sweet! I am currently in the midst of doing a lot of projects myself, and when my boyfriend jumps in to help, I always get so excited about it! And the painting is awesome!
    Diana
    Unusuallylovely.squarespace.com

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  8. Kelly @ scentsloverocknroll Avatar

    LOVE the big canvas and the colors turned out totally fabulous!
    I have a big ol’ empty wall that I’ve been trying to figure out as well….maybe I’ll get my kids involved after showing them your canvas 🙂
    Thanks for the inspiration yet again, Elise!
    Kelly

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  9. Sena Avatar

    That looks great and sounds like fun too!

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  10. Teri M Avatar

    I love this!! Saw the pic on Instagram and couldn’t wait for you to blog about it. You have inspired me so much I added painting to my summer manifesto of things I would like to complete for my bedroom! thanks!!

    Like

  11. Lana Avatar

    Awesome, Elise! Your ability to make ordinary into extraordinary never ceases to amaze me. 🙂

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  12. elise blaha Avatar

    he really did seem to enjoy it. I was so thrilled. 🙂

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  13. Trish Avatar

    Love this!! It’s fabulous!!!!

    Like

  14. Skye Avatar

    I always wish I were better at painting… this I could totally do! Not sure why I’ve never thought to do geometric designs. This looks perfect in your home 🙂

    Like

  15. Annelies Avatar

    This is my first visit to your blog. Loving it! You’re funny and very creative, very good combination! 🙂

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  16. Michelle Avatar

    I love Paul! He seems so easy going.
    “Um, hey, do you… want to hop on one foot in a speedo and hoot like a monkey while I dance the fandago around you and video it?”
    “Sure.”

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  17. elise blaha Avatar

    He is very easy going. But that would be pushing it for sure. 😉

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  18. Jessica Rodarte Avatar

    Love the soothing colors you chose.
    It’s an extra special, completed project- I’m sure- ’cause Paul worked on it with you.

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  19. Ali Avatar

    i did a similar painting with my boyfriend a few years back – it’s just black abstract lines and colour blocked in! I’m sad though as it’s packed away in storage because I can’t hang art in my rental apartment! 😦

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  20. J3SS1C4 Avatar

    Love this! So sweet that you guys were able to work on it together! I don’t think my partner would ever agree to painting with me, but I might give it a try! The signatures on the bottom is super cute too!

    Like

  21. Acompton Avatar

    LOVE THIS!!! How fun! And how easy. And what a great way to decorate your house. i was just telling my husband that we need to actually start putting things on our walls, but artwork seems so expensive. This though, this is possible! And much more personal. Two thumbs up.

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  22. Tana Lopez Avatar

    What a great idea, I love that!! 🙂

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  23. Pink Ronnie Avatar

    Oh, I love it!!! So very you. I wish I had an eye for painting like that…
    Ronnie xo

    Like

  24. Linn @ The Home Project Avatar

    What a fun project! I love all the bright colors, all the blue (!!!) Also, I love how you used a formula to create this painting and that it turned out so awesome! Plus, that you could recreated it in another color scale and get a whole little collection going of perfectly imperfect art!

    Like

  25. Design Editor Avatar

    Super fun, Elise! Love that it’s a joint effort! I did a similar project with stripes on a huge canvas a few years back, this makes me want to do it again.

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  26. Chrystina Avatar

    By far my favorite line of this post was “(trip over my feet running upstairs to grab an extra paint brush.)” It paints an awesome picture. No pun intended. (I had to.)

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  27. Kristen Avatar

    This is so cute. I “awwwwh”-ed out loud when I saw the last picture of your signatures. Couple crafts are the most adorable thing ever.

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  28. Ingrid Avatar
    Ingrid

    Elise,What kind of paints did you use?

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  29. elise blaha Avatar

    just acrylic paints from Michaels. Nothing fancy. 🙂

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