Category Archives: Portfolio of Work

Pumpkin Door Hanger and More

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Keep reading to see more of these cut outs I’ve completed.

I made this pumpkin hanger from a Dollar Tree pumpkin wood cut out today. I loved how it turned out so much, I ran back up and bought 5 more before they were all gone. I did leave some there for others. 🙂

First I stained the outline. Then I painted the raised areas with our Missouri Limestone Paint Company chalk-style paint in “Soothing Sage”.

I wrapped the stem area with twine and created a messy bow with a variety of strips of ribbon and raffia, I wired them all together and attached them to the stem with more wire. I had a metallic leaf and super glued it to the stem. I also had some paper covered wire I twisted around a pencil and added it.

I added a twine hanger on the back . The pumpkin can hang on the wall or it can lean up against something else in a vignette.

I can’t wait to make more of these. I love how this one turned out.

I am obsessed with these pumpkin cut outs. 🙂

I think this one might be my favorite – decoupaged scrapbook paper from Hobby Lobby.
Wait! Maybe this one is my favorite. 🙂
Love the muted orange of this one.
The white with stain really stands out.

I’ve Been a Crafting and Painting Fanatic Lately

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I’m not sure why but I suspect that besides finding all kinds of cute ideas I have to try, and the fact I recently ordered 24 pumpkin wreath forms from Dollar Tree and have been searching for ideas on how to use them and get side tracked with more cute ideas to try, I find it takes my mind off the news for awhile.

So today, I’m just going to share pics of some of the things I’ve been crafting and painting lately, since July. Trust me, almost everything I have done here is not original. I saw it somewhere and thought, “I (meaning me and sometimes Danny, my other half) can do that!”

There are over 50 here and I probably even missed a few, so I made them into a gallery. But I am sure I have them on my Instagram page and my Facebook page, so if you are curious to see a larger version, and sometimes how I created projects , you can go to:

https://instagram.com/sharsumpaint

https://Facebook.com/sharsumpaint

So now, sit back and get inspired.

Saving an Awesome Coffee Table from the Dead

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What a makeover! This awesome slate topped huge coffee table was a custom job. We brought it back from the dead as it was in pretty rough shape with a finish that was the old thick rough and nasty varnish. Prepping is definitely the key! Quite the project, right? But once we finish, it will be perfect in the young person’s apartment (once moving day occurs). For now, it will go in mom and dad’s basement family room and still be used by young people. 🙂

The first thing you need to do is spend some time contemplating how to remove the top. Oh, and to find a place to store the slate top until needed again. No problem, it resided under our living room couch until needed. 🙂

It looks like there are screws. I think we will remove the top to make it easier to paint and to see if any repairs are needed. After many minutes of contemplating, the screws were removed. The only repair needed actually was one section on the bottom needed some glue.

The top sanded easily to get it smooth enough to paint. A good cleaning and two coats of our Missouri Limestone Paint Company chalk-style paint “Coal Shovel” and two coats of Varathane Crystal clear water based polyurethane in satin finish later, it was ready for curing.

The top is looking great!

Sanding the bottom piece wasn’t working at all. Danny got a good amount off with stripper, then I did another round of stripping with mineral spirits mixed in. That helped a lot. Then another round of mineral spirits. Cleaned well them sanded again. Used a tack cloth to get rid of any sanding dust. Then cleaned really well again. That finally got it smooth enough for painting.

Whoever says you don’t need to prep if you use chalk-style paint doesn’t know what they are talking about. It was definitely a process on this bottom piece!

Painted with two coats of Missouri Limestone Paint Company chalk-style paint “Coal Shovel” (https://sharsumpaint.com/missouri-limestone-paint-company-colors/) and sealed with two coats of Varathane water based polyurethane in satin finish. This table is now ready to be put back together!

What an amazing difference!

Now came the task of lining the top and bottom holes for screwing it back together.

Bamboo skewers to the rescue! All holes are now lined up perfectly!

The beautiful slate top was rescued from under the couch and got a good drink of Wise Owl Lemon Verbena Salve. What a difference that made! It smells good now, too!

So happy how it turned out. This table is eventually going in a young person’s apartment. I can just see a group of young people gathered around it. Sitting on colorful pillows that could easily be stored underneath.

There will be a lot of fun times gathered around this coffee table! This is one sturdy, beautiful table now!
Love the black rippled slate top!

Creating a Color Portfolio of Work on Pinterest

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Note:  To make it easy for you to follow the directions below in print, I created an eBook for you.  Just click on this link to download.  Be sure to follow my blog if this is something you  can use.  I would appreciate it.

Free eBook: Pinterest Colors Board Tutorial

I found Pinterest to be an excellent way to showcase my painted projects.  If you enjoy this tutorial or just enjoy looking at painted furniture and home decor, please consider following me on Pinterest.  https://pinterest.com/sharsumpaint  And if you like seeing tutorials like this, please follow this blog.  I have many tutorials listed here.  Just click on the category Tutorials to see them all.  I add new ones periodically.  Thank you.

I’ve been working on creating portfolios of my work through various platforms:  Pinterest, Facebook, and eventually here on my blog.  This is something I’ve attempted in the past and it is a lot of work. I realize now I have created quite a few projects and have the images saved in several different places and finding them all, saving in one place, adding descriptions, etc is all going to take time.

However, I am highly motivated right now to get this done.  Why?  I am doing more custom work with my business and I want an easy way to share examples of my work along with colors and techniques to hopefully, future clients.  So, I am creating color albums.  I started with Facebook and have quite a few ready to go with it, but last night I got distracted (lol happens often) with checking out how to go about it in Pinterest and Wow!  I love what I discovered.  The only drawback is that the client will need to have a Pinterest account, but these days, most people do.

Note:  These directions are for the Pinterest app.  But if working on a computer, they are basically the same.

Steps for Creating a Color Portfolio in Pinterest:

1.  I logged into my business account in Pinterest.  Click on the Plus Sign at the top of the page.pinterestlogin2.  Type in Colors for the Board name and click Create. After it is created, you can click Edit and add a description of your Colors Board.  Here’s mine:  “Portfolio of SharSum Paint’s Work”

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3.  I then clicked on Add Section, gave it a Color name and clicked Next.
Add a Section

 

4.  You may or may not get this message.  If you do, just click Skip at the top right.  I think I got it as I already had boards on my account.

Skip This

5.  You are now ready to add pins to your Brown Section.  Click on the left arrow until you get back to your main page and click on the + sign there.

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6.  You will now add a pin.  This can be from a photo on your phone, a copied link, or a website.  I think it is best to use a photo from your phone.  You will see the photos from your phone.  Click on the brown photo you want to add.  (note:  my brown is not in this screenshot as there was a selfie of me beside it and I didn’t want it on here, but you get the idea.  LOL)Photos from Phone

7.  Your brown photo will show up.  You will want to add a description of your photo at this point.  You will then Click on Choose Board.  You will Choose the Colors and then it will ask you to choose a Section.  You will choose Brown Board.  Then click Done.  Or you may be at the point where you have a photo pin to add that doesn’t have a color section.  At this point, you can choose that photo and choose Create a new Section and add your pin to it.  Bonus:  When you click on a Pin to view it, if you scroll to the bottom, Pinterest adds additional pins that relate to the pin you added.  Pretty cool!

 

8.  You can add a link now.  But to do that you have to edit your pin.  The spot for a link doesn’t show up when you are creating the pin.  So click edit and add the link you’d like visitors to go to.  Be sure to click Save.

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I have found a very cool link that I use with Instagram and other places that only allows you one link.  It is called linktr.ee  It is free and you can sign up through Instagram.  I add all my business links to it.  I found you can even copy a link of the Colors Board in Pinterest, so I added that, too.  Kind of a one stop shop of all my business links and a way to contact me.  It is perfect for Instagram.  Here’s mine:  https://linktr.ee/sharsumpaint 

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9.  You are now ready to add a new pin or see your color board.  Just go back to the main screen again and click on Colors to see all your Color Boards or click on the + sign to add a new pin.

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10.  Click on Colors and you will see all your Color Boards

ColorsBoard

That’s it!  I hope you enjoy creating a Color Portfolio in Pinterest to showcase your work as much as I did.  If you create one, please share below!  I love looking at other artists’ painted projects.