And Away We Go!

 With yet another day of record breaking heat upon us, I am happy being inside and having something to do...even if it is the "dreaded" assembly line of crafts. I have mentioned before that I must have a pretty short attention span when it comes to doing things that require repetition! I would starve if I ever had to work on an assembly line for pay-or go mad. Lol

In any case, this is the only craft lined up right now so I put on my brave face and got started.

I created a sort of stencil mostly to assure that I got each angel in about the same spot and that they were about the same size. I simply cut out the body of the angel and lightly traced it on the wood round.

That worked pretty well in keeping them close to the same size even though the pencil didn't always want to go where I wanted because the distressing on the wood creates grooves and ridges. And, once I got them traced, I decided that I wasn't exactly in love with the shape of the body so I did a bit of "correcting". The lines are easy to erase and if I don't get them all off it won't matter once I go back around everything with the thin, black Sharpie.

The faces went on first...

...followed by the gowns.

Then I decided to paint the wings white on these rounds. I didn't do that on my sample one but the raw wood had a bit more color and the wings showed up just fine. I was afraid they might just blend together here. It was probably an unnecessary step but I did it so it's good.

And then I added the hair and got to feeling that these really aren't coming out exactly as I had hoped. I think I have made the heads too large so I'm not exactly feeling them right now. I am hoping that once I add the black outline lines that all things will fall into place. It probably wasn't a good idea to do the sample on a different base but I was trying not to waste what I have because I really do need all 12 of the rounds that I bought. The other thing that it took me this long to realize is that this round is quite a bit larger than the plain wood ones I have used before. But, if I remember correctly, the other ones must be bought in packages of three different shapes-hence the reason I had the left overs to practice on-so I would have had to buy many more packages. I will reserve judgement until the end but, we shall see. Lol

And, as I have said many times, I am in no way a painter. I can fill in lines with paint-in fact, I kind of enjoy doing that. But, when it comes to actually having to paint something that looks like something, I am at a loss!! And so, each angel has different hair and each head of hair seemed to get larger as I went on. LOL!!

As I mentioned in an earlier post on these cuties. adding the outline lines is a bit more challenging than one would think. The inspiration piece is definitely meant to be "imperfect". And that is fine for the original artist but, as a "copier", if you make it imperfect on purpose and don't do it correctly, it just looks sloppy or like maybe you've had a bit too much to drink. Lol But, it also looks much too stiff if you do it perfectly. Somewhere in there is the happy medium but I'm not sure I hit it-at least not on all of them. Once everything is done, I will come back and I can always add more outline if needed or paint over any place where I got too much. I'm definitely flying by the seat of my pants.

I'm not sure how I will be finishing these either. I assumed they had a hole in the top with the accompanying jute hangers until I opened the packages and realized that the hanger is stapled on the back. I left it there for now. If I have-or find-a ribbon that is perfect for the way I finish these off, I can easily pull out the staples and drill a hole to accommodate it. If not, the jute can stay. I will have to wait until the Christmas stuff goes on sale at HL before looking for any greenery...if I even want greenery. I know for a fact that I will be using a piece of Christmas card stock to cover the back because it isn't finished and is just ugly pressed board. And, because this round is thicker than usual and the edges are just as ugly, I am now definitely going to have to address them. I can either hit them with some distressing or use glitter-we shall see.

When I "painted" on the spackle, I really put a heavy coat because I wanted lots of texture...and it looked good-until it dried. It seems as if it just kind of flattens out as it dries. I actually thought of putting on a second layer but, since I'm adding the diamond dust, I'm going to let it go. It dried in record time in this heat.

I have to chuckle as I look at these now. Some of them are definitely having a bad hair day! Lol THANK GOODNESS I don't have to add a face! Like I said...painting is not my forte!

I was really on a roll with these and actually enjoying painting them way more than I expected but, I think I am at a stop for now. The "JOY" stamped on went so easily. A lot of times I end up really doing a not so great job of stamping something-especially when it is almost the last step-but this time all went well.

The wings have their glimmer and all that is left is the halo before the finishing touches. Although my white paint pen is new, the nib has never worked correctly and you either get no paint or way too much. My thought had been to use a thin brush to paint them but, that is a really thin line and there is a LOT that could go wrong so I think I will leave the halos until I can grab another paint pen. And maybe by then I will be able to finish everything else as well.

It's hard to see the glimmer on the wings in this picture but it is there.

So that is it for today. I just got a ding on my phone and saw where Tampa currently has a heat index of 120 degrees!!! I don't think we're quite as bad here but I think we may be fast approaching it. I am ready for summer to be gone!!!

Stay safe and stay tuned.