Did you know that there is a color of the year? Well, there is … every year! Pantone, the color matching system, selects a color of the year annually. Last year it was Emerald and the year before that it was Tangerine Tango. This year’s color is Radiant Orchid which is a fuchsia purple with pink undertones. If you haven’t already, you will begin seeing this color, from our clothing and accessories choices to our home decorating choices like accent pillows, paints and home décor accessories.
Today I want to share with you two quick frame projects that I created that are on trend with the 2014 Color of the Year! Let’s get started!
Apple Barrel
Let’s begin with Apple Barrel which is an awesome “general all around” acrylic paint! It is waterbase which means easy clean up with soap and water. It works beautifully on many surfaces - especially Styrofoam - and is perfect for crafting with the kids or kid’s school projects! With that in mind, I gathered these supplies:
- Unfinished Wood Frame
- Apple Barrel White
- Apple Barrel Lavender
- 1 1/4” Foam Spouncer
- 3/4” Foam Spouncer
- Dauber Set
- No. 1 Liner Brush
- 3/4" Flat Brush
- Miscellaneous: Foam plate for palette, Brush basin or container for water, Sandpaper, Plastic palette knife, Paper towels
Basecoat the wood frame Apple Barrel White and allow to dry. If necessary, sand smooth using sandpaper and reapply White for opaque coverage. Allow to dry. Load the large spouncer with Lavender and create a random pattern of polka dots around the wood frame.
Next, load the small spouncer with Lavender and continue creating a random pattern of polka dots.
Using a plastic palette knife, mix a small amount of Lavender into a small puddle of White paint to create a lighter value of Lavender. Load the large dauber with this mixture and add to the polka dot pattern you have created. I allowed a few of the light lavender polka dots to overlap the dried Lavender dots. Add a few small dauber sized dots with this light lavender mixture too!
I then embellished all of the largest Lavender dots with smaller polka dots painted around the edged using the handle end of a liner brush.
This project was so easy and perfect for kids of all ages! Even your smallest crafter can craft with the color of the year!
FolkArt Multi-Surface
My FolkArt Acrylics project was painted using our newest FolkArt paint formula … FolkArt Multi-Surface Paint! This paint is wonderful as it is formulated so that it can be painted on almost any surface, such as: wood, terra cotta, tin, glass, ceramics, canvas, etc. The paints blend well and are very easy to work with. They dry to a beautiful satin finish which can be used both indoors and outdoors! The supplies needed for this frame are:
- Unfinished Wood Frame
- FolkArt Multi-Surface Wicker White
- FolkArt Multi-Surface Orchid Blossom
- 3/4" Flat brush
- No. 1 Liner brush
- Stencil Tape
- Miscellaneous: Foam plate for palette, Brush basin or container for water, Sandpaper, Plastic palette knife, Stylus, Paper towels
- Begin by basecoating the wood frame with Wicker White and allow the basecoat to dry. If necessary, sand smooth using sandpaper. Reapply Wicker White and allow to dry. Apply vertical lengths of the stencil tape across the frame allowing one inch between tape strips.
Using the 3/4” flat brush; paint the section between the stencil tape Orchid Blossom. Allow to dry and reapply for opaque coverage.
Carefully peel the tape away.
Load the No. 1 liner brush with Wicker White and paint half a daisy (five strokes) along the edges of the Orchid Blossom stripe. Be sure to alternate and switch sides every other inch or so.
I then mixed a lighter value by adding a small amount of Orchid Blossom to a small puddle of Wicker White to create a very light lavender color. Using the handle end of the 3/4" flat brush, paint a polka dot center on every half daisy.
To create the tiny dots running along the Orchid Blossom stripe, I used a stylus, however, a worn out ball point pen or a toothpick would do the same trick. Load the stylus with paint and simply touch the surface to create a small dot. NOTE: to create evenly sized dots, reload your dotting tool for each dot to be painted.
Weren't those two quick, easy and fun projects to feature Radiant Orchid, the color of 2014? Let us know in the comments what you think of the Color of the Year!