Recessionista Strikes Again!

I got bitten by the creative bug (again), but rarely does my inner - arteest ever take a break, I decided to tackle a relatively large painting project for Camilla's room. Ahem, a 30x40" type large painting project to be exact! I had fallen in love with this painting that Pottery Barn Kids catalog carried (only available via catalog and online) for a whopping $250 + shipping.

Oh, I bartered with myself on whether or not I dare even bring it up to Rod to see if he'd let me get it....I had my reasoning all laid out: "but honey, it's full of colors that can transition with her room for years....or if she gets tired of it, it could go in Sophia's room....or when we move to a bigger house, perhaps it -goes in the girls playroom". I then had a brilliant idea: I'm artistic, why don't I paint it myself?!

So, I did my research on where to get the cheapest canvas, I looked closely at the colors and decided which ones I had on-hand and what ones I still needed. The closer I dissected the piece of art, the more confident I grew that I indeed could DO THIS! I printed off my handy 40% off coupon for Michaels's, and took it to purchase my 30x40" gallery wrapped canvas (reg. $54)...plus I bought other colors that I needed and when I read the grand total, I was uber proud of myself: $44!! Take THAT Pottery Barn!!

I was so excited to get home and get my area laid out and prepped for painting. Well, I was so motivated that 48hrs later, the whole darn thing was DONE! I worked steadily over my lunch hour and after work too - however it was so fun! I am quite proud that I pulled it off and I'll explain the differences and why I did what I did:

• I opted to make the birds lavender & white to match Camilla's nursery - rather than using what looked like the scrapbook paper in the original (lots of blues)


• I used less yellow in the highlighting to avoid over yellow saturation against Camilla's creamy furniture


• I made the cherry blossoms my own colors/designs just because it sure was hard to see detail that small on the original!


• I opted to not use scrapbook paper as parts of the cherry blossoms as well


• I left off the butterfly at the top....I was liking the painting without it


• I used less lime-y green, just so I didn't go 'overboard' without knowing it...

Rather than putting the 'final coat' of clear on top of the painting, I've decided to leave it as it and get it hung on Camilla's wall. This way I can 'live with it' awhile and decide if I want to end up adding more yellows or limes (or anything else). I posted photos of my step-by-step progress on facebook and I was so surprised and how many people were loving it....and how encouraging everyone was! It really made me feel great to know I took on a daunting project and conquered it with flying colors (pun intended)!

So there you have it...you CAN do a painting by yourself that is just as good as any ol' Pottery Barn creation....

Next up, a photo of it hanging in Camilla's room!