One Track Mind!

I know you have been on the edge of your seats to see the end of the Easter decor tour but, I am having a hard time letting go of all of the 4th of July ideas now that I have found them!

My initial plan when I woke up today was to start my pressure cleaning. And, with no rain in the day's forecast and a bit of a cloudy day, it would probably have been the perfect weather. But, once my mind went to the 4th crafts, my body quickly followed suit! Lol 

I know that the small wood tags work but, I was chomping at the bit to see if I could get the Stature of Liberty watercolor to work...at least the way that I was thinking.

And so, I gathered the few necessary supplies.

I cut out the Statue of Liberty image I had downloaded, traced it onto the Contact paper and cut that out. The hardest part of working with Contact paper, at least for me, is getting the backing to separate. Once I did, I centered the shape on my water color paper and used the back of my fingernail to push down the edges. I didn't want to use anything stronger because I was afraid it might make marks on the texture of the paper. But, I wasn't at all sure it would give the adhesive a strong enough seal either.

As I have said before, I am not a painter and I am definitely not a water colorist. I do think this is one of the easier paint techniques but, there are definitely things to know about how the paint works and different techniques to use for different effects and, I don't know those things.

I started by wetting some of the paper but I was cautious about too much water around the edges of the image for fear it would seep under. I laid in big spots of paint in some areas and let it bleed but was a bit more careful around the edges of the image. Once I realized that if I used a pretty dry brush for those areas and painted from the Contact paper out, I would have a cleaner edge.

I wasn't totally happy with the way the colors came out - actually a little too "perfect" so I went back after it had dried and splattered on a bit more water or paint in areas.

Then, I held my breath a bit. I was afraid if I adhered the Contact paper too much that it might lift off some of the water color paper when I removed it...or, if I had not adhered it well enough that all of the paint would have seeped under.

But, drum roll please...it came of easily with VERY little paint seepage. And, because the edges of the Statue were kind of meant to be wavy, it really isn't that noticeable. I still think I could have done the paint better, but I like it. Now I need to head out to find just the perfect frame.

And, since we are almost upon Easter, let's take a quick peek at what is left to share.

I'm thinking I had better get going and try to get something on the "to-do" list finally done. My brother and sister-in-law came down on Friday and we had a lovely day checking out various shops and then having a delicious al fresco lunch at a restaurant at our newest mall. I sure wish we lived in the same city so we could do things like that more often! And then, my youngest grand daughter came over for the day on Saturday. We never got to crafting but we had fun cooking, playing games and just talking and taking life easy. It is really nice to have days like that!

I will probably be doing the wood tags tomorrow and then I have to get making some lists for Easter weekend. I am hosting pre-Easter festivities with the kids and then daughter #3 is hosting on Easter. The weather sounds like it will be perfect and I love any chance to see family these days!

I'll be back soon. Until then, stay safe and stay tuned.