Deja Vu...Almost

I spent our beautiful sunny morning out in the gardens continuing my fight against weeds! I have figured out that once I do a REALLY complete pull-out of every weed I can find, it is so much smarter to just patrol the gardens every now and then and get the new little culprits as they are just popping up! It really doesn't take very long at all to patrol the entire yard and keep the weeds at bay.

In any case, rain is predicted this afternoon and since it does look like the clouds have begun to roll in, I decided I needed a project - along with trying to get caught up on 7 "When Calls the Heart" episodes. I sort of enjoy this show but I am not as addicted to it as I am to all of the food shows so I find myself getting behind. That is fine with me and I can save them for a rainy day - like today - but, everyone seems to be commenting about it on FB without issuing spoiler alerts so I figured I will catch up today since it will be rainy and I will need to let lots of paint dry on this project.

Does this look a little familiar? Deja Vu? Almost.

It is very similar to the burlap leprechaun hat but tapers a bit more and has a more rounded brim. Since I enjoyed doing that hat for St. Pat's Day, I decided to go the same direction with the 4th of July and do Uncle Sam's hat.

Since there will be so many large blocks of color, there will be lots of drying time on this one.

It's starting to come together. I can't wait to add the blue!

I love how it "pops" now!

Once all of the paint is dry, it is on to touch-up and detailing.

I really tired to limit the detailing on this one. I knew I wanted the whimsy of the dots - and those are easy with the dabber brushes - and I knew I wanted the different areas of the hat to be outlined but I skipped highlighting and any other details that would involve a thin, straight line. It is very difficult to pull that off on highly textured, uneven weave such as this burlap. The brush keeps catching on the fibers and going where it wants to go!

I hung it on the door for just a second to get this picture for you. My neighbors are used to me rushing a holiday but, being ready for the 4th of July on April 23 is a bit crazy...even for me! That being said, now that I see this beauty, I can't wait to start decorating!!

I got my first introduction to lacrosse yesterday and judging by the excited comments I heard from my grandson, it won't be my last. He is enjoying this new ( to him ) sport and thinks the conditioning will help him when football season starts again - probably the day after lacrosse season ends. Lol

I definitely got the gist of the game but the rules, penalties, boundaries, etc. totally escaped me. Most of the time it looked like a tumble of kids whacking each other with those sticks. And, you should see the big bruise across Har's upper arm...boys?! He loved every minute of it. Might be time to look up some of the rules. Stay tuned.