Let Freedom Ring!

Good Monday.....oops, I mean Tuesday all my crafty friends! We had a holiday yesterday!! It was so nice to have a long weekend. I hope, of course, that you all remembered someone who you could honor for serving this nation in any of the armed services for our country this Memorial Day. I have had fathers, brothers, friends and a nephew in service for our country that I am so thankful for. I venture to say we all know at least one person that we can lift up and honor for our freedom in this country! We are an extremely blessed nation and we need to continue to lift up the men and women who serve for our country!

Today, I am going to share with you a DIY project that I did for someone. I don't have people usually commissioning me for a project. I'm not an artist like that, but I have had several here or there that know I love to play in my art closet and will ask me to do a little something for them. And, OF COURSE, I say, yes I will! I mean who turns down an opportunity to get messy and crafty???? Not me, I tell you! LOL

Office Shot

So I had this friend of mine at work brought me this initial that she had had lying around and didn't know what to do with it. She had liked one of my tags I had done not too long ago and asked could I do something similar with her initial!! A challenge to be sure since to me the tag has a lot more real estate than an initial does!! LOL But, I was up for the challenge!! This was a first for me, so see what you think!

I took different pictures of the piece under different lights. My crafty room lights are not the same as my office lights, and one shows color differently than the other, so I wanted to show you both.

My friend just brought me the raw piece which was some sort of wood or pressed board of some sort. So I thought I had better cover it with gesso to begin. After doing so I then painted it with Prima Chalkboard paint in Sea Breeze. I knew I wanted that to be a background to start with although the brightness of that color doesn't really show through in the end.

Craft Room Shot

I then simply started spraying with several of my Lindy's Stamp Gang sprays from the Autumn Leaves set, which is my favorite!! The colors I used were Tibetan Poppy Teal, Ponderosa Pine Olive, and Cattail Copper Brown. I just kept spraying and "splotching" until I had the effect I was looking for. I then took a couple of background stamps form Unity and Inkadinkado and stamped onto the initial with StazOn in Saddle Brown.

My friend really like the crackle paste I had used in another project that I had done, so I wanted to be sure to try to use it in this project for her. So I used Art Extravaganza Texture Paste in Copper Crackle through Tim Holtz's Harlequin Layering Stencil. I love those stencils! I wish I had them all, but you crafters know how that is!!! LOL I let that dry over night so it would get the full crackle effect versus drying with a heat tool. I then distressed the edges with Distress Ink in Vintage Photo.

So while I let that dry, I went to work on my embellishments. To be honest, I didn't know what in the blazes I was going to do! I knew this would be a trial by error project!! LOL I took some burlap and fashioned a bow of sorts (a bow maker I am not! LOL) and secured it to the initial by tieing and hot glueing it to the the back. I then just started going through the stash and pulling out what I thought might go and just playing with this piece and that! That took forever, I tell you! I was so indecisive! LOL

I had a Prima flower left over from another project, but it wasn't dark enough for me so I simply started spraying with Tattered Angels Glimmer Mist in Starfish and my Lindy's in Autumn Maple Crimson and then I finished it off with Glimmer Mist in Pearl. I made a few little rosebuds to go with out of book page and sprayed also with Lindy's in the Ponderosa Pine Olive, Tibetan Poppy Teal and finished those with the Glimmer Mist in Peal as well. I then pulled out some of my lovely metal pieces that I got from sweet Sheri Whitfield from her awesome Etsy Shop. I have so enjoyed using those pieces. I also used some glass beads from Finnabair's collection and also put in one my art tiles that I had made. I think it turned out fairly well.

I wanted to add just a tad more something so I decided to add another gear with a cute little brad in the middle from Paper Studio and then some twine and more glass beads from Finnabair. It was for better or worse, but I liked the little addition. Voila!

Not a masterpiece, to be sure, but done with lots of love! :)

If you don't have someone in your immediate family you can honor this month for their service, take the time to lift up the MANY who do serve on a daily basis on our behalf in your prayers. I know they and their families would be appreciative. Whenever I see a person in uniform, I always try to thank them at that time. I know they appreciate it when they are recognized! I am so thankful for my freedom, it is not something I take lightly! So I want to honor ALL those today who put themselves in harms way for MY freedom! :))) What a blessing you are to me! :)

Make it a blessed day