Another Project Finished

...and it only took 9 years!!  But today I finally finished painting my kitchen cabinets!!!

Here's a picture of how they have looked for the past 9 years.  To the left of my sink, all the cabinets are hand painted (free hand) with sunflowers.  To the right......

 painted cabinets, but without the sunflowers.

Thankfully, I could still get the same paint so last weekend, I repainted them and got them ready for the sunflowers.  Adam removed all the knobs and then today pretty much insisted I finish them or put the knobs back on.

So....here they are today...the process of painting on the sunflowers, free hand, no transfer of design, just me and the paintbrush and all day on the floor!  My style changed a bit and I didn't have the same colors as before...but no two flowers are ever the same.  (Oh and just ignore all the dirty dishes you may see...I've been quilting and painting for several days now!)

I started by going through my old supply of paints and finding the closest matches.  I poured the paint out in clear plastic cups.  I thought about writing the colors on the cups with a Sharpie since I was working with several shades of the same color...but honestly...I barely had enough left.  Several of these were poured out completely for this project.  If I was going to be refilling the cups I would have done that though.

 I did draw lightly with a pencil, circles where I wanted the flowers to be.  Then I started painting all the leaves , stems, and veins.

 This little cabinet sits between the stove and the fridge.

 Then I painted on the 2 shades of yellow for the flowers, starting with the darker shade, letting it dry and then the lighter shade.  I'm not real pleased with the huge leave on the corner door, but I wanted something different on this set of doors since they are hinged together..

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 While the petals were still a little wet, I started adding the shades and highlights, blending as I went along.  Once they were all dry, I went back and added the dark centers.

They just need a coat of sealer and I'm all done....that will be tomorrow's job and then the knobs go back on.  No body had better spill anything on my cabinets before I get them sealed!