The Dish on As You Wish

Paw Prints on Parade

Posted on: April 28th, 2012 by As You Wish No Comments

Our Deer Valley manager Nicole, has given us an update on our Paw Prints event last weekend!  If you missed it we hope to do it again in the fall!

Painted Paws

The Puppy Prints Event was a big hit over here at the Deer Valley location. All of our studios had so much fun with the pups and their owners!  Here is Fallon at our Ahwatukee studio all ready for the day!

 Deer Valley Associates, Ashley and Carrie, are BIG fans of little critters so they had a blast helping our furry guests create such dog-gone cute works of art.

These dogs are all ears as Carrie explains to them the next step!

This is Kebo.  Once upon a tail, Kebo’s humans came in to paint at As You Wish. They painted a dog dish to use as a place to throw their keys when they come home (key bowl). When they got a little puppy, their key bowl became dog bowl but the name stuck…sort of…now they have Kebo!

Here’s Red. He got his name because…well, he’s RED! His favorite part about coming to As You Wish today was getting yummy treats!

This little cutie is Mia. She is only 11 months old and was adopted from Lucky Dog Rescue Center. She’s been with her loving family for 6 months.

Noah. At only 6 months old, he is a very well behaved little pup. He enjoys car rides and chasing kitties!

You may have already met Rusty – he’s kind of famous because he was on our facebook page!  Rusty had his paw prints done at our Desert Ridge Studio.  He had so much fun he came back and did a Little Print too! (his paw print in clay)

 

 

 

 

Everyone had a waggin’ good time at the Wish this weekend. We were so happy to have our four-legged friends join in on the fun…and LOOK how cute their masterpieces came out! We’re just drooling over them…

 

I Love My Mummy!

Posted on: October 29th, 2011 by As You Wish No Comments

Halloween is literally right around the corner! This year try a different take on the classic handprint with this whimsical MUMMY! 

1)      Begin by randomly putting masking tape down the center of the plate making horizontal stripes about an inch apart.

2)      Paint the child’s hand except for the thumb with Black Lab paint. You will place two vertical handprints over the horizontal stripes of masking tape so that the heal of the first hand print is at the top of the plate, and the fingers of the second handprint are at the bottom of the plate. 

3)      Gently pull the tape off the plate. If there are white spaces where the tape was, paint the child’s fingers and make finger prints in the white spaces. Making sure to leave the space at the top white for the eyes.

4) Using a large round brush paint two round circles for the eyes using Hi Ho Silver.

5)      Using a number two pencil sketch the outline of the mummy around the handprints. Using a large square brush paint one coat of Hi Ho Silver as the background around the mummy.      

6) Cut the basic shape of the mummy out of a piece of butcher paper. Lay the cut out shape on top of your handprints – this will protect it when you splatter. Use a toothbrush dipped in Coffee and Cream paint and splatter all over the plate. Repeat with Hi Ho Silver and Black Lab Paint. 

7)      Using Black Puffy Paint outline the shape of the mummy, the eyes – adding black puff dots in the center of the eyes. Then write I LOVE MY MUMMY at the top! The child’s name can go at the bottom of the Mummy or anywhere else on the plate you choose.

8)      Now use Black Funwriter and go around the rim for a barbed wire edge. Just make sort of jagged, imperfect lines and add some x’s and some dashes wherever you see fit.

Who doesn’t LOVE their MUMMY?

Hello Jack!

Posted on: October 19th, 2011 by As You Wish No Comments

Now here’s a skeleton I wouldn’t mind hanging around in my kitchen. He’s so fun and easy you may want to paint it on mugs, salad plates or anything else that strikes your funny bone!

 

Here’s how to do it in ten easy steps: 

1)      There’s no need to paint the background of your pottery it will automatically be a creamy off white color.  If you do want it to be a bright white then paint the entire background of your pottery with 3 coats of Polar Bear White paint.

2)      With a large round brush, make two big circles with Hi Ho Silver for the eyes.

3)      When the grey is dry, use the same round brush and make two circles inside the grey with Black Lab to finish the eyes. Do two to three coats to make it really solid. 

5)      Next, get out a Black Lab funwriter.

6)      With the funwriter, make the two nostrils between the eyes. Remember that with a funwriter, only one application is necessary, not three coats! Just outline the nostrils and then fill in with the funwriter. Remember to hold the funwriter at an angle, don’t scratch into the paint. The more you squeeze on the funwriter the more paint will come out.

7)      Now it’s time to make the mouth. Take the Black Lab funwriter, and beginning on the left side and moving to the right, draw a crooked smile with medium pressure. You want to have a thicker line for this.  The more pressure you apply to the funwriter the thicker your line will be.

8)      Now add the vertical/crooked “stitches” along the smile line with the funwriter.

9)      The final step is to add the funwriter detailing with the Back Lab. When adding the detailing, not too much squeezing. You want the lines to break up a little as you go. Draw around the grey eye areas, as well as making a lot of stopping and starting action as you detail the mouth!

10)  Isn’t he cute?  He looks darling on a cappacino mug as well!

You Are My Sunshine!

Posted on: September 3rd, 2011 by As You Wish No Comments

I just completed this piece for a loyal customer  and thought it would be perfect to share with you as summer comes to a close.  Sunflowers are beautiful as we head into Fall but this design will never go out of season.  This design is adorable yet very personal with sweet little handprints as the center of big, beautiful sunflowers.  Depending on the age of the child (if they are tiny babies and it is hard to get a handprint)  footprints will work well too.

Begin with sketching out where you would like the flowers to be so you have an idea of your handprint or footprint placement.  Single blooms look nice or group them together for fuller look.

Paint the hand or foot with Bright Briarwood and press on to the pottery.  Continue until you are done with the centers of all of your flowers.  When the prints are dry, take a medium round brush dipped in Bright Saffron and use big, bold brushstrokes to create the sunflower petals all around the print.  I added a touch of Dark Butternut to the petals to add dimension.   You may also add a stem – with a simple stroke of the brush and some leaves with Bright Kiwi.

When the flowers are completely dry, accent with Dark Briarwood and Black funwriters.  Use the Dark Briarwood to do a heavy loose outline the flowers and the black to do a lighter, “skippy” outline on the inside of the bold outline.  Don’t forget to add the seeds to the cenr of the flowers. 

For this custom piece, I also included big brother by turning his thumbprints into a few bees buzzing around!  You can do the same if you want to include siblings, or make your mark on the piece by including your own thumbprints and make it a Mommy and Me creation!

No matter what piece of pottery this is painted on, your masterpiece is sure to create a buzz!

My Special Day

Posted on: August 6th, 2011 by As You Wish No Comments

            

School is about to begin and there are so many special days coming up – “first day of kindergarten” or in my case “first day of senior year” (how time flies!), “You got an A!”, “You made the team!” so why not celebrate the moment and your special student with  a Special Day Plate.  The two of you can have fun painting this together, then use it for after school treats, before practice snacks, or any other time when you want to show your child just how much they deserve a “gold star!”

Here are the simple steps to create Sample #1:

1)      Sketch out the big star with a #2 pencil.

2)      You can use a few pieces of masking tape to block off the bottom points on the rim.  Once you paint the rim you can remove the tape.

3)      With a round yellow sponge, paint the rim with two coats of your child’s favorite color. I used Light Kiwi.

4)      Remove the masking tape.

5)      Paint the big star with two coats of Bright Saffron.

6)      As the star dries, make the polka dots around the rim by using the eraser end of a #2 pencil dipped in a complementary color. I used Bright Caribbean.

7)      You can dip the eraser each time for a perfect dot each time, or make two dots before dipping in paint again for a more whimsical look of uneven dots.

8)      Use Dark Butternut funwriter or any other color you like for details on the inside of the star.

9)      Add starburst designs to the background with a Light Blue Spruce funwriter.

10)  The finishing touch to this cute piece is when it is personalized with your child’s name and of course, the “It’s my special day” message across the top.

The same basic steps can be changed up to accommodate any piece of pottery. The coupe plate (shown in sample #2) eliminates the rim, but makes the star much larger. Instead of painting the star a solid color, use the funwriter to “scribble” the paint inside the star. Have fun experimenting and letting your child be the leader.

Let Back To School Spirit Inspire You

Posted on: July 26th, 2011 by As You Wish No Comments

As the summer is winding down, and all those Back To School displays are starting to show up at the mall, this is the perfect time to think of school year gifts.  Or for me,  just a really great excuse to “get inspired!”

Are you sending your young adult off to college, like I’m getting ready to do?  Yikes! It’s hectic and exciting!  What a fun and personalized way to celebrate their accomplishments, and what they have yet to do with a pottery piece emblazoned with their new school logo.  Paint them a set of dishes for their dorm room, a picture frame ready for a photo of their first college mixer, a set of mugs for all the coffee they are going to drink while they study – there is no end to what you can do or even do together!  We do know they will love it though  – it’s a little piece of home wapped up in their new adventure in life!

You can get in the game for your high schooler too! Celebrate their favorite sport, show off their number, commemorate an entire season, or just show their school spirit!  And remember school spirit isn’t just for the kids!  I created the picture frame below this past spring to say “thank you” to our hard working Notre Dame Prep Soccer Team moms. Our theme for the season was “We Believe” which I incorporated into the design along with the names of every team member.

So paint up some school spirit.  If you don’t want to do it yourself, I can certainly paint it for you, just give me a shout at  thea@asyouwishpottery.com