Red, White and Blue Challenge

This month’s challenge at Scrap It Girl is to use red, white and blue while making a card, layout or similar project.

I decided to take advantage of the challenge to make something I have been planning for quite some time — a “vintage” sign.

I started out with some barn wood from a friend who was demolishing a barn. My husband made a little frame on the back side with scrap wood to make it really strong (the barn wood was 150 years old and was extremely dry and fragile.)

Next, I used Claudine Hellmuth’s Studio Gesso to give it a white-washed look.

Then, I used painter’s tape to mark lines and painted them with Claudine Hellmuth Studio Paint. I think this is Modern Red. I also added a bit more gesso in places so things there would be crisp white in spots and dull red in others. I wanted it to look like it had been left outside for some time.

Next came the lettering. I cut out the letters I wanted to use with my Cricut machine. I used both Doodletype and Street Sign fonts. Then, rather than using the letters, I used the paper they were cut from as a stencil and painted in the letters. I kept my brush dry and dabbed on the paint, like you would when stenciling. I just held the cardstock in place. It was a little challenging around the a, e and o, but I managed to get it.

The est. date is the year we got our first chickens and planted our first garden crops.

Now came the personal stuff.

We live in the middle of nowhere, in a small town that never made it into being more than a township, several miles from other small towns and 30 minutes from any city. We have one red light, but the speed limit never drops below 45 mph, so you know how small the town is.

While we are definitely in the country, we live between two lakes, in a neighborhood where the houses are super close together. Although we don’t have lakefront property,   we live in a cottage-size house with cottage-size lots, so we feel like we live on the lake.

On the other hand, we rent the house from my husband’s parents. They also own four vacant lots that go from our house to a wooded area on a dead-end road. They graciously let us garden and keep turkeys on their property, so we are able to call ourselves “farmers.”

We have a huge garden with corn, beets, squashes, peppers, tomatoes, cucumbers, spinach, lettuce, beans, peas, onions, herbs and more. And, we raise turkeys, meat chickens and hens for laying eggs. This year, we also put in a blueberry patch so next year we can enjoy fresh fruit as well. I freeze veggies to eat over the winter and my husband and mother-in-law can and make pickles. We’re proud of our farming attempts and have even thought of offering some of our naturally grown products at farmers markets.

Our situation is unique. We can walk across the street to go swimming or boating on the lake and we can walk out to our garden to pick dinner. In my mind, it is the best of both worlds!

So, I wanted to show both the nautical and country sides of our life.

I started with one of the symbols of country living … a rising sun. Rather than yellow, I used paper from Authentique that features sand dollars. Then, I used a Crafter’s Workshop stencil and gesso to create the dotted rays.

I used Matte Glastique Finishing Glaze from Globecraft & Piccolo to decoupage the paper elements on to the wood. This way, I could work around the contours of the wood and make everything attached permanently.

I prefer Matte Glastique to similar products because it does not leave a tacky finish.

I used another sheet of beachside paper from Authentique, along with a die from Cottage Cutz to create the windmill. Rather than decoupage the top of the windmill on, I glued the center and then coated both the front and back of each of the blades with Matte Glastique. Then I bent them out. The Glastique keeps them strong so they will not rip.

Finally I added chicken dies, cut from both patterned paper and cardstock with a die from Die-Versions and anchors cut from cardstock with a QuicKutz die. A few pieces of twine (leftover from the stuff used to stake the tomatoes) and I called it done.

What do you think?

Visit ScrapItGirl.com to see what the other designers have created with this challenge and then enter your project to win!

 

 

 

 

Warning: This post may offend

I used to keep a spotless house. I used to wash walls every few months, mop the floor every week, clean the bathroom and dust the house every day. Then, I went to work full time and found myself struggling to be a mom and housekeeper while working. I finally decided life was more important that a clean house and I lowered my standards. Yes, it took some time, but eventually I found myself able to cope with dust on the ceiling fan and spots on the windows.

Even though I no longer have a full-time, outside-the-house job and my children are grown, I still find so many things to do that cleaning my oven is not a priority.

A few weeks ago, a friend posted this on Facebook:

And I knew I had to have it hanging in my house. Of course, I didn’t want my husband to think I should be in heels and a dress everyday, nor did I want a reminder to clean the tub, so I created this:

I started with a 6×6 canvas. Then I used metal stencils (the chicken is from Dreamweaver, the dots are from Lasting Impressions) and Claudine Hellmuth’s Studio Gesso to create the texture. I just laid the stencil where I wanted it and used a puddy knife to spread the gesso and then lifted it off.

I washed my tools immediately (this stuff is permanent if left to dry) and let it dry overnight.

Then, I used Claudine Hellmuth’s Studio paints and water and painted on the colors in my house … browns, blues, yellows …

I used my Non-Stick Craft Sheet as a pallet and didn’t worry about cleaning my brush between colors. I started with the light and then went darker. Sometimes I used a dry brush, sometimes I made the paint into a glaze with lot of water … I heat set the paint between some coats and used a paper towel to wipe off the excess on others. I kept going until I had the look that I wanted …

Then, I decided it needed a little metal, so I added metal corners from Tim Holtz. I wanted them to be a little more aged, so I painted them and then wiped the paint off like this:

The one on the far right hasn’t been wiped off yet …

I glued them in the corners with Art Glitter Designer Dries Clear Adhesive.

Finally, I used American Crafts Cardstock and a Lifestyle Crafts letter die to create the wording. They, too, were a bit too bold when I was done, so I took my paintbrush and smeared just a hint of paint to the letters as well …

Now everyone knows my philosophy on cleaning!