Thursday, May 5, 2011

color blocking

Alright, now usually I do a "Do It Yourself Wednesday" but I could not resist this tutorial that I stumbled upon. I will now call this "Tutorial Thursday" .. just for this week at least. 


A few weeks back I blogged about the American Apparel clutch here. When I found this tutorial, I about died. Color blocking is the new fashion trend this Spring and I cannot wait to try out this project, courtesy of fellow blogger Brooke Andersen at her blog Just B ...




What You Need:
-American Apparel Clutch seen here
-Acrylic paint in white and the bright color of your choice
-Paint brush
-Painters tape 
-Blow dryer
-Acrylic coating spray (shown later)
-Good tunes to listen to


Mark off the area you want to paint with painters tape. If you are a real perfectionist you can measure it out to make sure it is even on both sides or trust your insticts and eye ball it.


Mix white acrylic paint with a bit of water for first layer to help it adhere to the leather. Start brushing onto leather from tape down to avoid too much leakage under the tape. (As tedious as you can be I'm sorry to say this still happens.)



After the white dries, bring out the neon guns and do the same without water added. The white acts as a primer so that your color will pop bright against the muted leather. Use a blow dryer during this process because it could take forever in between layers to paint. Works miraculously to get an even coat.



When you're finally satisfied with the painted color cover the non painted leather with paper or cover with a magazine of some sort. If you don't like the feeling of the rough paint, spray a coat of glossy acrylic spray. This helps protect the paint from water and wear while also giving it a soft smooth finish like the leather!

Let dry for 2 hours untouched and you're done! So simple!

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