What’s new | Carla Schauer Designs | Art for Licensing, Craft Design, and Printable Parties

Painted Floral Spring Birdhouse

Posted on April 26, 2013 by Carla

Paint a wooden birdhouse and add flower buttons for a bright spring “garden” decoration. I love unfinished wood pieces, because I can make them into anything I’d like with a little acrylic paint and a few embellishments. I’ll tell you how I made my birdhouse, and you can enter to win prizes from Buttons Galore & More!

Spring floral painted birdhouse with buttons from Carla Schauer Designs

For this Buttons Galore & More Challenge, I started with a plain wood post-style birdhouse purchased from a craft store. I always like to sand these because they can be a bit rough to start.

Unpainted Spring Birdhouse from Carla Schauer Designs Applying acrylic paint to birdhouse-Carla Schauer Designs

Then I picked up my Decoart Americana Acrylics (see my acrylic paint storage here) and some small brushes and got to work painting the sections of the birdhouse. Also, I went back and resanded the piece after this photo was taken with a smaller grit sandpaper, since I wasn’t happy with the roughness that remained.

Acrylic painted spring birdhouse from Carla Schauer Designs

Once I had all the sections painted, I added a chevron line across the bottom of each side of the roof to add another layer of detail. I then went over the entire house with a dry fan brush and some Whitewash acrylic paint to bring all the colors together and add a bit of a weathered look. Once the base painting was finished, it was time to add my button flower garden! A tiny detail brush and green paint were used to create the flower stems on both sides of the birdhouse. Then, I went back to the same birdhouse colors to paint in the flowers themselves, making three of the flowers large enough to accommodate the Buttons Galore & More Sweetheart micro button centers. Once I glued on the micro buttons and the flower buttons from the Mixed Grab Bag, my birdhouse was complete.

See what the other Buttons Galore & More designers did with birdhouses using the links below. Here’s how you can win.

How to win a Buttons and Birdhouse Prize:

A commenter on Buttons Galore & More blog post will win a $10 Starbucks Gift Card, and a $10 pair of FISKARS scissors (yay!)
Two random commenters on the designers’ blogs will get a package of buttons. (So make sure to leave a comment here, and on the other links!)
The designer with the most votes on the Buttons Galore & More blog post will win a $10 Starbucks Gift Card. (Vote for one of the awesome designer birdhouses when you comment on the BGM post, we love coffee!)

Buttons Birdhouse Blog Party

Buttons Galore & More

Carla Schauer (me)
Allie
Tracy
Angie
Mai
Holly
Jen
Laura B
Laura K

Enjoy the button and birdhouse inspiration!

Carla Schauer Designs at SURTEX 2013

Posted on April 15, 2013 by Carla

I’m excited to be showing my surface designs at SURTEX 2013! This year my work will be exhibited through my agent, in the Artistic Designs Group booth, #530.

For those unfamiliar with the art licensing arena, SURTEX is a show where artists from around the world come together to show their art to manufacturers in a trade show format. Those manufacturers license (or purchase outright) designs to put on products ranging from partyware to wallpaper, and everything in between.

I put together a short video of my patterns to be shown on the show floor in the “Spotlight on Surtex” display.

If viewing in an email, click Carla Schauer Designs-Surtex 2013 Video

I’ll also be walking the floor and checking out the adjoining Stationery and Furniture shows. Since I exhibited in an independent booth last year, I didn’t see much of the other shows. If you see me, stop and say hi!

Hope to see you at SURTEX!

Until next time…
Carla

“Create Art” Inspiration Card

Posted on March 20, 2013 by Carla

I created this art inspiration card to remind myself that it’s ok to experiment and play when I’m making my designs. I have it tacked up on the cork board on the wall in front of my desk.

Creative Inspiration Art Card from Carla Schauer Designs

Why would I need such a thing, when making stuff is so much fun? Well, I have a confession. When I’m creating a pattern or a craft project, I struggle with finding the “perfect” place for images and embellishments. My annoying left brain likes to lean over my shoulder and say things like “boy, that doesn’t look straight” and “how about a quarter-inch to the left with that piece right there”. When I’m caught in that perfectionism loop, I love having these inspiration pieces handy to help me relax and enjoy the process of creating.

The patterned paper is from Cosmo Cricket, as are the cute little sticker phrases that inspired the project. I layered the papers along with some coordinating textured cardstock, and hand-cut the little banner pieces.

Art Inspiration Tag by Carla Schauer Designs

I colored the chipboard letter A with Clearsnap Smooch and stamped the other letters in aqua, then added the phrases. I trimmed and pieced some of the phrases together to make the words fit.

Words of Art Inspiration Card by Carla Schauer Designs
The fabric-covered brad in the top corner represents some advice from a friend a few years ago to “just push the button” or in essence, to stop fussing and trust my instincts. It also serves as the thumbtack to attach the inspiration card to the cork board.

What do you use to inspire you to create your art?

Thanks for stopping by!
Until next time…
C.

Acrylic Paint Storage Using Spice Racks

Posted on March 8, 2013 by Carla

Craft supply storage and organization is always a struggle for me in my craft room. I’ve been struggling with good storage for all my acrylic paints for several months. I don’t have a huge room to work in, so I try to take advantage of every bit of space available. I finally found a system that works perfectly for me!

Acrylic paint storage using spice racks-Carla Schauer Design Studio

I have, to put it mildly, a lot of acrylic paint since I do some freelance work for DecoArt. I used to keep paints in a couple plastic shoebox containers in a cubby-type shelf, but I outgrew that system. And the “giant box on the floor” system was less than ideal also.

I finally was able to carve out a vertical wall space when i discovered these spice racks from Ikea. Once I rotated and moved the file cabinet to the spot in the photo, the spice racks fit perfectly in that wall space next to my desk.

I can fit 16 bottles across each shelf, and each shelf can hold 2 rows (32 bottles/shelf). Of course, my perfectionist tendencies require all the bottles to be arranged by type, then by color. There is also extra space left over for my finishes, and my paint pyramids are handy there too.

Hope you enjoyed this peek into my craft cave, and that my solution helps with a tricky storage issue in your space! Do you have a storage solution you are thrilled with too?

Thanks for stopping by!

Until next time…
Carla