I love making lace..........crochet lace, tatted lace and painted lace
I thought I would share my sheet of lace painting tips which I made up a few years ago. This is how to paint basic lace and, if you want to paint something, more intricate I would suggest looking at Arlene' Linton's
site
It really is far easier than it looks to paint lace and all you need is a small flat brush, liner brush, stylus (or cocktail stick) and water based acrylic paint. Painted lace is beautiful on all kinds of surfaces - if you are painting on plastic ie Christmas balls you can basecoat with
DecoArt Multi Purpose sealer
To design a round piece of lace
Place a round object (plaque, plate, saucer or similar) on to the project & draw around it with a soap (or watercolour) pencil – complete using the strokes* below
or
design a circular pattern (in segments)
Cut out a circle of paper and fold neatly as many times as required. Place on the surface and mark round the outer edge. Make small marks to indicate where each fold is and remove the folded paper. If an inner circle is required cut out a smaller circle, place inside the outer one and draw around with soap pencil. You will now have equal sized segments to assist you in placing the strokes.
To design Square or oblong project
Make 2 small marks on the outside edge of a coin with a permanent pen (the marks should define 1/3 & 2/3 sections of the coin). Place the 2 marks precisely on the middle of one edge of the square or rectangle you have already drawn and draw round the edge of the coin with the soap pencil. Continue drawing the shapes until you get close to a corner – now you may have to adjust the spacing to fit (or you may have a gap at the end) Repeat this on the 4 sides. Add the corner shapes by using the coin to suit the space. For more intricate lace a 2nd row of semicircles can be added (with each one resting on 2 circles below). You will now have a series of circles to indicate where the strokes are painted. Paint the lace using the following strokes as required. below.
Materials
White acrylic paint - Plaid Folk Art or DecoArt Americana
FloatingMedium or Brush’n’Blend
Flat & liner brushes.
Stylus (or cocktail sticks)
Paint a “C” stroke to create each circular shape around th.e edge with a brush loaded with white on one corner and floating medium on the other
To paint a sheer effect for the base - mix a tiny drop of white with floating medium (or faux glazing medium) and brush over the surface (to create a faux finish effect at this stage you can use a dry brush or make a pattern using a piece of net, kitchen towel (I once used bubble wrap). The full effect will not show until the paint dries.
Make dots using a stylus or cocktail stick. Make sure you have a good puddle of creamy paint. If you practise you will notice that as you make the dots they get smaller each time which makes a nice graduated effect. If you want the dots a uniform size you should dip in to the paint puddle each time. To make the pattern symmetrical start on the middle of the outside edge o a C stroke and work down until you reach the start of the next stroke. . Then, reload the brush and start again - dot over the very first dot and work down the other side. Always dip into the centre of the puddle.
To paint cute little hearts - dip the end if a liner brush into the paint puddle and make a dot on the project - repeat making a 2nd dot right next to the first one, then, using the end of the brush pull the paint down from each dot to make a
heart shape
Lazy daisies use a liner brush and inky paint to paint little 5 petal lazy daisies (just like embroidery at school!) and make a dot in the middle for the French knot
Crisscross - use the liner with white paint. I find it easiest to go around the project making all the lines in one direction and repeat the other way to make the criss cross pattern.
To paint a lace effect using a paper doily – basecoat the surface using white or cream (or the colour you want the doily to be). Lightly spray repositionable adhesive on to the doily and place on the surface. Apply the colour you want as the background colour. I prefer to use a sponge dauber but you can also use a stencil brush or spray paint. Remove the doily and you are left with a negative pattern of the doily (really effective)
I hope these little tips are useful…………enjoy
