What happens when you want a particular painting that doesn’t fall into your budget? Paint it yourself, of course! that’s what Amanda Byrd did about a year ago when she couldn’t find a painting under $60. Impressively she taught herself to paint by tracing things and using templates, and ended up getting four paintings out of it by doing it herself. Then she made it into a business by opening an Etsy shop about three months ago. Byrdie’s Handmade Decor was born. Her work has strong associations with the TV/film series Hannibal and Harry Potter, as well as religious and military themes, since she has many family and friends in the military. Most of the paintings involve cutting stencils and painting on stencils on the chosen material for the canvas, which includes acrylic, tote bags, and pillows.
We had the opportunity to interview her Live remote from her studio in Tampa, FL, and she demoed painting the Hannibal quote “Eat the Rude” on a tote bag. While our live stream didn’t get recorded properly, she recorded her painting process afterwards to show how to paint the tote bag from beginning to end; the video is embedded below. Painting is quick to demonstrate, but cutting the stencil takes longer. For example, for the Expecto Patronum piece, cutting the stencil alone took 2 days to do.
In addition to her Etsy store, Amanda just launched her own website, http://www.byrdieshandmade.com, and is offering 20% off orders $25 more more as an opening special right now until the end of August. Simply use the code OPENING on her website during checkout. Also, Amanda welcomes custom orders so go ahead to email her Amanda@byrieshandmade.com for any requests.
Here are all the links to learn more about Byrdie’s Handmade Decor:
Facebook: Byrdie’s Handmade Decor
Twitter: @byrdieshandmade
Instagram: @byrdies_handmade_decor
Etsy: byrdieshandmadedecor.etsy.com
Web: http://www.byrdieshandmade.com
Blog: byrdieshandmade.wordpress.com