Painted stones decorated with pearls

I've seen a lot of painted stones on the Internet lately and I just had to try this simple but beautiful technique for myself.  I say simple, because you can make it as simple as you like, but I've also seen very complicated projects, like this mandala technique, which I'm sure takes a lot of practice to master.

First of all, you need to find some nice smooth stones. You probably won't find these in your garden, but beaches and river banks are good sources. You can also buy them, but it's much more fun finding your own. I remembered I had a whole bag stashed away somewhere at the bottom of my kitchen cupboard that we brought back from Cornwall years ago. They were just perfect. They can be as large or as small as you want, the main thing is that they have to have a very smooth surface to paint on.

I gave mine a couple of coats of acrylic paint. I used Reeves Acrylics Phthalo Blue, but you can use any other good quality acrylic craft paint for this.  Don't waste your best artist grade paints though!  Two coats provided a really good coverage. (Tip: Paint one side at a time and let it dry before painting the other side.)

I originally wanted to use white paint on dark blue background, but I wasn't sure about my abilities to create something crisp and appealing, so I cheated!  I used some flat back faux pearls instead, similar to these, though mine were self-adhesive. For the ladybird I also used Ranger Liquid Pearls White Opal.

Painted stones can be very impressive and a lot easier to make than I originally thought. Larger stones are great for the garden, just make sure you use weather proof paint and decoration. You can use the smaller stones to decorate flower pots or display them in a bowl. I'm not sure what I'm going to do with mine yet. I think I''ll enjoy them for a while and then perhaps paint over them in the future, possibly to create something a bit more funky.