Painter Pauline

It's funny . . . I've looked through all my Carolyn DeAngelis patterns at least a million times, but they just hit me differently on different days depending on my mood.  I was looking for a pattern and stumbled across Painter Pauline.  She's never interested me before, but this time I immediately thought of this painting that Mariah did in art class.  It was chosen to be included in a county-wide student art show.

I thought it would be a really cute way to commemorate that achievement by incorporating it into an ornament.  I thought the ornament had some cute details, so I got to work on those.  I matched up the colors in Mariah's painting to my felt and used those colors for the palette.  I Googled "dollhouse miniature paint brush" and found this image:

I figured I could make that work by painting some wooden toothpicks.  Next, I laid her painting on the floor and took a picture of it.

Then I scanned it into my computer, put it into my Print Shop program and shrunk it down to about 1.5" x 2".  I printed it on cardstock and mounted it to a thin piece of cardboard.  There's a lot going on with this ornament and her hands are certainly full, but look how cute she is!

It doesn't show up well in the picture, but the hat is black and the legs are navy.  This is the first time I've done a pattern where the feet are turned in.  It was tempting to turn them out, since that's how all my other ornaments are, but I decided to stay true to the pattern.  Ditto for the little buttons.  Carolyn shows them this way -- cut with a hole punch and a little "V" nipped out of them.  Here's a close-up of the paintbrushes:

Making an ornament really personal is one of my favorite things to do.  This Flat Zach ornament from a few years ago is still on my greatest hits list.  When you take the time to give it that little personal touch, I guarantee your recipient will really treasure it.  I managed to make this one without Mariah seeing it and I can't WAIT to see her face on tree decorating day!