DIY Guns and Roses Clutch

The idea for this tutorial all started when I wanted to upcycle one of my old designer handbags by painting it. However, I am sitting on the fence with that idea and I needed some practice. While I was in Hong Kong I came across some envelop clutches and thought they would be great for a practice run!
Once I got the clutches I had no idea what I wanted to paint then BAM I got inspired by an image on Instagram. I mixed that idea from Instagram with a touch of graffiti and tattoo vibe along with the song called 'Guns and Roses' by T.I featuring P!nk. aaaaaaaaand viola!    

This is a great way to customize canvas, vinyl and even leather bags.

What you will need: 
- canvas (a bag of your choice)
- photo of something you want and/or stencil 
- Exact o knife
- tape
- white acrylic paint *MUST* acts as a primer/base
- acrylic paint and/ or nail polish (of the colors you want)
- paint brushes
- makeup sponge
- paper towel
- cotton swabs
- Exact o knife
- tape
- nail polish top coat

Step one: Prep

I went onto the internet and found a picture of a Walther PPK ... James Bond's gun of choice. Printed it out and used an Exact o knife to cut it out. This is making my stencil for the gun silhouette.

Step Two: TAPE

Ensure to tape all the edges of the stencil really firm and secure to your canvas so it won't slip and slide when you are painting.

Step Three: Time to Prime and Paint!

Prime is setting a base for your painting. Because the bag I chose is black anything I paint on top of it will not show up as its true color. By priming the area where I am going to paint with white it is going to allow the painting to show.

Blob a little bit of white acrylic paint onto the makeup sponge and dab the excess off onto a paper towel. The amount of paint you want on the sponge is just a little bit, to allow you to build up the color.

Dab and swipe away from the edges of the stencil instead of towards it. This way it ensure no paint will get underneath the stencil and the shape you will get is more defined.

 Now you have a silhouette of the shape you want! It looks pretty badass right now and can be left like so but I wanted to paint something within. If you are going to leave off at this stage use a fine paint brush and some white paint to touch up the edges of the image.

The internet is an abundance of images. Just go to Google and image search "_____ stencil" and you will have a bjillion photos to choose from.

Using the same stenciling and sponging technique as mentioned about, I stenciled roses onto the silhouette. If you color outside of your silhouette ensure to wipe the edges off with a wet cotton swab before the paint dries. Once you are done use a fine paint brush and white paint to touch up the edges of the image.  

Step Four: Time to seal the deal

Using some nail polish top coat gently paint over the piece of art to seal it in preventing it from being scratched. Ensure to just dab it gently because nail polish top coat can smudge acrylic paint even if it is dry. Wood varnish also works buuuuuut I'm a nail polish kind of girl.