January 18th, 2008

Painter Girl

Carol Leonesio is a lovely lady, long-time customer and fellow blogger in Massachusetts who tracks the ups and downs of her decorative painting projects.

Royal stencil Damask on magnetic paint board

One of my favorite projects on her site is the Magnetic Memo Board, and not just because she used our Damask and Trompe L’oeil Molding in one of my alltime fav color schemes. I had been toying with the idea of doing this in one or some of the offices here and it’s good to hear how someone else approached it. Carol recently updated me with the info that she thinks that 4-5 thin coats of the Magnetic Primer would be better than 2  or 3 as she has a hard time getting the magnets to stick. I am wondering about just painting on sheet metal? Does anyone else have an experience with this to share?

Royal stencil elegant fruit branch

Another one that caught my eye was this darling Nursery Mural that uses our Elegant Fruit Branch as a frame.

Hopscotch floorcloth

In a recent post on floorcloths she has done, she shared this one which I think is MOST clever!

Paintit Marketing postcard

Carol also shares her marketing tips, as in this post that shows an oversized postcard that she had printed and hand delivered door-to-door in a neighborhood she wanted to target. It’s easy to see how Carol keeps busy!

5 Responses to “Painter Girl”

  1. Stacey Says:

    I created a mixed media piece some years ago that included a piece of sheet metal. My contribution to the surface was an ink drawing. The two materials are working well together, four years later, but the metal has rusted, leaving the subtle lines of ink to sort of float on top. The rust contributes a lovely effect to the piece, but might not help your aim. I suspect acryllic would chip if applied thickly, but thin layers probably wouldn’t chip unless someone got really overenthusiastic with the magnets. I’m always looking for new ways to stick things on walls – thanks for the idea!

  2. Rhonda Canales Says:

    What fun projects! Makes me want to start playing with items around the house and give them a face lift & a new purpose. I love the magnetic memo board idea… lots of ideas swirling around.

  3. carol Says:

    Thanks so much for the mention, Melanie! I have long been an admirer of Melanie’s talent, marketing skills, and business savvy. Melanie’s contribution to the field of decorative painting and continued exploration of creative ways to use stencils has helped to keep my work fresh and my business only succeeds as a direct result. ;-)

  4. Thersa B Giffin Says:

    Melanie,
    I just finished a piece of sheet metal for a youth room yesterday. As Stacey mentioned, rust is an issue. It took a lot of elbow to sand the initial rust off, then a layer of metal primer, two layers of metal paint then the design. The kids love it. I will let you know about the long term durability.

  5. Melanie Says:

    Thanks so much for the tips! And thanks Carol for the nice, inspiring words!!

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