Monday 12 June 2017

Painted stones

Living near a pebbly beach, there is never a shortage of pebbles for crafting. Our garden has several gravel borders, and this is where I put the pebbles that make their way back from the beach in buckets and handbags. They are large and small, smooth and rough, and in a variety of different colours and shades.

I've been wanting to paint pebbles for a little while now, and I decided that now was the time. I collected together a selection of different pebbles. They aren't too large, they measure around 2-3 cm in diameter, and I chose smooth ones with a nice shape to them that were fairly flat on each side.


I painted the pebbles using gouache paints, as I had a nice selection of colours. They leave a flat, smooth surface. You could also use acrylic paints, which would give a shinier and more textured finish. When the paint had dried I finished with a layer of thin varnish.

The design on the pebbles is very simple - a yellow centre, coloured petals and green background. I left some space around the pebbles, so you can still see the original colour of the stone underneath, although it is made a little darker with the varnish. The white dots are made using a Posca Pen - a really useful crafting product which I've used before to decorate wooden Christmas decorations. The white showed up really well ever on the darkest backgrounds.

Painted stones with flowers

Some of the dots around the edges of the petals were painted before the paint had completely dried. This meant that some of the paint colour seeped into the white, making it look as though a paler version of the colour had been used. I waited until the paint had dried completely before making the dots on green, so they showed up as a brighter white.

Collection of painted stones

They probably aren't sturdy enough to last very long outdoors, but I'm thinking of displaying them in a flowerpot which is sheltered in the veranda of our summer house. They were so quick and easy to make that I don't mind if they only last the summer - I can make more next year!

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