Tuesday, December 29, 2015

Let's Make Art!

I've always loved Vera prints and patterns......Always!  So many artists are inspired by this amazing woman who dominated style in the late 50s, 60s and 70s.  Recently I found an amazing Vera scarf with the most beautiful flowers (see below) and I decided it would make a fun "Let's Make Art" video.  I love this classic 70s color combo, too!  I'm also pretty sure my parents had bedsheets in this pattern.  Remember.....Have fun. Make art. Make messes!
xoxo, Mark
I love color!

Try a smaller version and then go BIG
Follow along here to see how easy it is
Vera inspiration!
Allure Dimensional Design Adhesive Paint in black
Americana Acrylics in Tangerine, Foliage Green, Carousel Pink and Snow White
Canvas
Paintbrushes
My inspiration!  A 1970s Vera scarf

1.  Paint the entire canvas green
2.  Using the template below, pencil in the flowers and fill in the shapes with white
3.  Paint over the white with the tangerine on the sunflowers
4.  Paint the centers of each flower in light pink (mix white with carousel)
5.  Using the brush sideways, paint petals around the round flowers
6.  Use a light pink for the outside and go darker as you add rows toward the center
7.  Fill in the smaller flowers with different shades of pink
8.  Use the black Allure to create scallops in a circle for the center of the larger Tangerine flowers
9.  Outline the leaves and add veins in each petal
10.  Using a smaller scallop, create the centers of the round pink flowers
11.  Outline the petals starting in the middle
12. Outline the smaller blooms and add a dot in the center of each
Print out and use as a guide for the painting

Tuesday, December 22, 2015

Monday, December 21, 2015

Christmas New Years Giveaway WINNERS!

Here is the list of WINNERS of our HUGE Christmas and New Years Giveaway!  Watch the videos to see if we announce your name or scroll down to see if you've won.
Christmas Winners!
New Years Winners!
Scroll down and see if you won!
Congratulations to all the winners.  Please contact me at MarkMontanoNYC@aol.com with your mailing address and we'll send out the prizes.
Gol De Glo wins a $100 gift certificate to Beadaholique
Vanessa Bourque, CJ Blue, Secret Soto, Kelly Donovan and Linda Cartwright
each win a Big Ass Book!
Candy Quinn and Diane Kasperski
win stacks of books from C&T Publishing (and some Kraft-tex)
Tracy Clements wins the stack of 5 craft books from C&T (on Julie's Channel)
CandyCane19 gets a 1 year membership to CAFAM in LA! 
Rene Salnias wins the EXPENSIVE watch from Daniel Wellington
If you want to order a watch, you get 15% off with 
the discount code MARKMONTANO
Catrina Bush wins a HUGE pile of scrapbook paper from DCWV?!
Katie Smith and Kathy Carter
 get a box set of Americana Acrylics from DecoArt!
DIYTanya wins 10 colors of Allure Dimensional Design Adhesive Paints!
Lisa Izumi and Lateefa Johnson
get their own 8" x 8" photo book from Snapfish!
Ammon Torres and Sheila Goldsberry get
an Unruly Julie mug!
Merry Christmas Everyone! 

Friday, December 18, 2015

DIY Star Wars Gifts!

I cannot wait for the new Star Wars movie......Yup, I'm that guy.  To celebrate, I had to make something special for the occasion.  In fact, since I finished the Wookiee slippers, I haven't taken them off.  They're actually REALLY warm!  I tried rocking the Princess Leia ear muffs, but let's just say they weren't "me".  All of these are surprisingly easy to make and, yes, even pull off! These are the perfect last minute DIY gifts for all of those Star Wars fans!  Especially now that everyone has Star Wars on the brain.
Make stuff!  Have fun!  Mark Your Mark!
xoxo, Mark
What guy wouldn't want Wookiee gloves?
See how easy they are to make here!
Here's Julie rocking her Princess Leia ear muffs....Priceless!
I seriously haven't taken these off this winter!
Stuff You'll Need
2 kinds of faux fur (one long hair, one short)
Brown knit gloves
Brown slippers
E-6000 Glue
Black yarn
Black felt
Large black headband
Scissors
 Cut thirty 60" long strands of black yarn
Separate them into three groups of 10
Tie a knot and braid them together
Repeat
Cut four 4"-5" diameter circles in felt
Starting in the center of the felt, glue the braid in a spiral creating a cinnamon bun
*Glue the end on the underside of the felt
Glue the bun to the side of the headband
Glue another circle of felt on the underside to give it a nice finish

For the Wookiee gloves
Place your gloves on the back of the short fur and trace around with a marker
Carefully cut out the hand shape
Glue to the tops of the gloves with E-6000
Cut smaller pieces of the long fur for the wrist area and fingertips
For the Wookiee slippers
Trace the top part of the slipper on the back of the fur
*Do this with both slippers
Glue the fur to the top of the slipper
Add small bits of longer fur to give some variation
I think Julie won!

Tuesday, December 15, 2015

Ikea Hack Art Deco Table

From a very early age I was obsessed with the illustrator Erté and his wonderful depiction of fashion during the Art Deco period.  The beautiful dresses, the amazing furniture and fantastic architecture just did it for me.  The Empire State Building and the Chrystler Building are just two of the most famous and most beautiful Art Deco buildings, and for most of my life in NYC I was able to look up and appreciate them every day.  I decided to take my love of Ikea hacks and create an Art Deco side table with the new super glossy MAXX GLOSS paints from DecoArt.  From $5 table to showstopper!  Enjoy.  Be creative.  Make messes.  Have fun
xoxo, Mark


Watch how easy it is to make here!
I think my table would look amazing in this room!

This poster served as inspiration for my design
Stuff You'll Need
Lack table from Ikea (or small, square side table)
Maxx Gloss in China White and Patent Leather
Jigsaw
Metallic gold paint pen
E-6000 Glue
1/4" plywood cut in the following sizes:
8 - 2" x 6"
8 - 4" x 8"
8 - 6" x 10" 
1.  Using a large lid, trace a curve on the corner of each of the 24 pieces
2.  Cut each curve with a jigsaw and fine blade
3.  Sand each piece with a sander or sandpaper
4.  Paint the 6"x 10" and 2" x 6" pieces with Maxx Gloss in black
*Make sure you paint 4 sets facing each direction
5.  Paint the 4" x 8" pieces in China White
6.  When dry edge each piece with a metallic paint pen
7.  Paint the entire table with the Maxx Gloss in black
*Ikea tables come in black, but they are not glossy which is the effect I wanted
8.  Glue the painted wood pieces together in sets
9.  With E-6000, glue them to the corners of each side of the table and let dry
In love!

Friday, December 11, 2015

Let's Make Pop Art!

The problem with paint chips is that they're never quite big enough AND I always feel terrible when I "borrow" a large amount for a project.  I swear I'm on the 10 MOST WANTED paint chip thieves list!  I solved this problem recently by taking my favorite colors of Americana Decor Maxx Gloss and making my own super big, glossy paint chips to use in some fun art pieces.  Gotta tell you, it was much more satisfying because you never run out of that "amazing" color AND you don't have to make another trip to the hardware store.  Have fun!  Make Art!  Make Your Mark!
xoxo, Mark
A close-up of my favorite harlequin piece
I call this one "Gumdrops"

Harlequin and Lumpy Jelly Beans
See how easy it is to do here!
Stuff You'll Need
Americana Decor Maxx Gloss
White Frames
Card stock
Paintbrushes
1. Stir the Maxx Gloss colors thoroughly
2. Paint them on pieces of card stock and let dry
3.  Try lots of different colors
4.  Cut the "paint chips" into diamond shape
5.  Try lumpy jelly bean shapes, too
6.  Apply the pieces to a large sheet of paper with E-6000 Spray Adhesive
7.  Keep the diamonds about 1/4" apart
8.  Repeat the process with the fat jelly bean shapes on another piece of art
9.  Frame your art in big, clean, white frames to make the colors pop!

Art doesn't have to be so serious!

Tuesday, December 8, 2015

Huge Christmas Gift Giveaway Contest!

HAPPY HOLIDAYS EVERYONE!  Today is an awesome day because we're giving away TONS of prizes and all you have to do is leave a comment (with your prize preference) on our videos to be entered!  See some of the prizes below with descriptions.  Read more here.......

Friday, December 4, 2015

Cheap and Cheerful Holiday Table!

I love to entertain this time of year.  LOVE IT!  However, my house is small and big dinners for more than 6 people have to be done outside on my patio. Anywhere else this might be a problem, but it's fine because I live in LA!  Julie (my awesome assistant) and I hit the dollar store and put together my holiday table from top to bottom in an afternoon.  We're talking dishes, a rockin' chandelier and a serious hot pink centerpiece!  Make sure to check out the video to see it all come together.
Happy Holidays!  Merry Christmas!  Happy New Year!  Have fun!  xoxo, Mark

See how it all went down here!
I'm leaving the chandelier like this all year!
Almost ready for the guests
Transformed dollar store glass plates!
CHANDELIER
1.  Using dark and light matching colors of Americana Acrylics, paint mini lampshades
2.  Grab some Allure Dimensional Paint (puff paint) in Gold Leaf
3.  Embellish the edges and down the sides
*Add mardi-gras beads and ornaments to finish of the chandelier
WINE GLASSES
4.  Grab some good decoupage medium.  I like Decou-Page from Americana
5.  Trace the bottom of the wine glass on nice paper and decoupage it to the underside of the glass
6. I used Decou-Page papers from Americana
7.  Add bows and write each person's name with Allure in Gold Leaf
*The Allure and decoupage can be soaked off when the party is over
CENTERPIECE
8.  Wrap glass covered candles with more Decou-Page paper using E-6000 Spray Adhesive
*Cluster them in the middle of a tray surrounded by flowers and ornaments
PLATES
9.  Cut large printed butterflies (or any image you like)
10.  Glue it to the underside of a clear glass plate with E-6000 Spray Adhesive
11.  Spray the back with Krylon Metallic Gold
12. Coat with 2 coats of Minwax Polycrylic so they're sponge-wash safe!
*These plates are food safe because the paint is on the underside of the glass
Just need to light the candles and grab the wine
My favorite wines from Don & Sons
You must try this if you like Pinot Noir like I do
I put the centerpiece on a tray so it would be easy to move
Happy Holidays!