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Butterfly Shoes & Purse

This painted shoes and purse idea is perfect for doing a makeover on your favorite closet staples!

Butterfly Shoes and Purse

Have you ever wanted to customize your favorite shoes or purse? Painting is a great activity to try if you'd like to personalize your clothing items, and you'll especially like this Butterfly Shoes & Purse tutorial! Using paint and stencils, you can create a beautiful design and color onto your canvas shoes or a plain purse. The design's ombre effect combined with the beautifully intricate butterflies truly vamp up your wardrobe. This hand painted shoes and purse project is perfect for all craft-lovers, and even if you don't paint, this detailed tutorial will quickly turn you into a painting expert!

Time to CompleteIn an evening

MaterialsFabric, Paint

Primary TechniquePainting

Project TypeMake a Project

Materials List

  • DecoArt® Stylin™ in Blue, Turquoise, White, Black, Purple, Green, Aqua, Beige
  • DecoArt Americana Stencil: Botanical
  • White canvas shoes
  • Dynasty brushes: #14 Shader, 206S; 3/8” Angle, 206A; Shader, 206S; 10/0 Liner, 206L; 1/2” Stencil
  • Stampendous Stamp: Butterfly Trip
  • Water basin
  • Paper towels
  • Palette paper
  • Identi-Pen (Black)
  • Staz-On Ink Pad (Black)

Instructions:

Shoes:

  1. Load a damp #14 Shader with Blue and paint from the outer edge toward the toe of the shoe.

  2. Rinse the brush off and tap off the excess water. Load brush with Turquoise and slip slap the flat of the brush where the Blue left off and then continue to bring the color toward the middle area.

    TIP: Paint the front section of the shoes first and then work on the sides one at a time. You want to blend the colors while they are still wet to get that ombre look.

  3. Add White to the brush and continue painting toward the upper inside corner of the front section.

  4. Wipe the brush off. Load with Beige and some White and slip slap in the upper inside corner area just a bit.

  5. Wipe the brush off. Softly blend any areas that might need it.

  6. Repeat the steps to paint both sides. I started with the Blue at the very back of the shoe, along the lower edge and then angled the colors so that the gradation was noticeable.

  7. Let both shoes dry completely.

  8. Load the 1/2” Stencil with White and then wipe most of it off on to a paper towel. Using a circular motion, brush over the leaf stencil. (We’re going for soft and subtle.)

  9. Stencil here and there along the sides and front as shown.

  10. Load the stamp with ink and test on a scrap piece of paper to ensure it’s well inked. Re-ink stamp and stamp butterfly on both shoes.

  11. Go over the outline of the butterfly with an Identi-Pen to darken it up just a bit. (You could also use a Liner Brush and Black paint.)

  12. Load the toe of a damp 3/8” Angle with Blue and Purple and paint the color at the base of the wings near the body. Lightly bring some of the color out onto the wing but don’t go all the way to the edge.

  13. Load the #8 Shader with Black and paint the edges of the wings. Let dry

  14. Load the #8 Shader with Green and a touch of Blue and paint the body. Wipe the brush off. Load with Green, a touch of Aqua, and a touch of White; blend on palette. Paint a small highlight on the body. Load the Liner Brush with White and paint a small highlight on the body.

  15. Load the toe of a slightly damp 3/8” Angle with Blue. Shade underneath the side of the butterfly that’s casting a shadow. If you want it to show up a bit more, add a touch of Black to the toe and blend with the Blue. (Notice the shading on the first picture – the shadow is on the left. For the second picture, the shadow is on the right.) Add a subtle shadow to the antennas as well. (The shadow is shorter and over just a bit from the actual antennas.) If you get it too dark, simply press your finger on top, and it will lift some of the paint.

  16. The last thing I added were some strokes on the wings. Load the #8 Shader with White. Sitting on the corner of the brush at the top of the scroll stroke... push, pull and gradually lift to the chisel edge of the brush as you slide to finish the stroke. Repeat with a small stroke and then another stroke just below that. On the lower wings, paint one stroke in the center and up, followed by two smaller strokes on both sides of the center stroke.

Purse

  1. Use the same instructions to paint a matching handbag!

Would you try this painting tutorial?
Let us know in the comments below!

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