Tutorial Thursday

You all will be happy to know that I am feeding the mosquitoes very well…heavy sigh…

I have spent over an hour going to every spot in the back yard and in the living room looking for a place to get a good picture…good grief!  Some days it is so easy, and then there are those days that all you do is struggle…today has been the struggle, but it is ok.  I learn by doing, and I should be brilliant by now, but sadly~~not so much!  teehheheeee

Karalee was looking for the pattern I am sharing today, and I told her that I would be more than happy to share how I made this.

OF COURSE, I used my favorite DecoArt Products. 

Honestly, that is all I use if they are available.  I cleaned out every other brand and gave them to Goodwill.  I hope some person was able to grab them and use them to create…

SO, I gathered:

Americana Decou-page Satin

Americana Acrylics:  Black, Foliage Green, Avocado, Raw Sienna, and White

Scissors

Very Old Hymnal—I always make copies.  I just can’t make myself use real music.

A brush---about ½ or #12

A good liner brush.

Magnet or Wire—I made these into magnets

Word Processing Program~~Brandly Hand, or font of your choice.  The font size I used was 36.

Tracing Paper

A friend had asked me to make something using this song to give to her Sunday School Class for Christmas of 2014.  After Several tries, this is what we agreed to do.  I love how it turned out!

I purchase the wood in packages of 6 from Joann’s.  This is the only place I have ever found these.

Paint the wood with two coats of Foliage Green.

Take the piece of music and fold it in half (the half mark should be above the word TUNE).  Do not make a heavy crease, just hold it in half.  Cut in the shape of a heart.

Apply one coat of Decou-page to the wooden surface and place the heart as you want it to be.  I applied mine to be off-center.  Apply another coat of Decou-page on top of the heart, getting out as many air bubbles as you can.  I didn’t have problems with air bubbles on this project.

Clean your brush with soap and water.

Allow the piece to dry.  Of course, impatient me, used a hair dryer to speed things along!

I drug the corner of my brush through Raw Sienna and applied it to inside of the heart.  When I finished, I wiped my brush on the green part of the wood to “clean out my brush”.

I then drug the corner through Avocado and applied this to the outside of the heart and around the edges.  Again, I wiped my brush on the green part of the wood to “clean out my brush”.

I applied a little bit of White in a few spots, but not much.

After I finished, I decided the heart was too light, so I thinned Raw Sienna and painted it over the heart to “antique” it.

I traced the writing onto the piece and outlined it with thinned Lamp Black.

When all was completely dry, I painted over the entire piece with one more coat of Decou-page to seal the piece…

That is it!!  Put a magnet on the back and give it away to someone special!

I love these simple projects and hope you will, too!  Let me see if you create something using this idea!!

Every once in a while, we all need a fine tuning! 
When my heart starts to wander, I am thankful that I need only ASK to have God bind it to His heart, so that I can focus on the things that matter...

I am simply blessed to create…~charlotte♡