Happy Make It Monday Y’all!!

Hope everyone is having a great 3-day weekend! Last week I was a nervous wreak. Though I was released to drive again around Christmas, I had only been driving a little right around where I live – like within 5 minutes. Last Wednesday, my sister flew out of Dallas so it was the first time to drive that far/long since before my surgery. Then I turned around and left Thursday to drive down to the MS Gulf Coast for an interview. Today, I’m heading back home and hopefully will be able to rest a bit after all the driving but I doubt that will happen. Anyways, I thought this saying was just about perfect since it has so much to do with my interview — Chase Your Dreams. Let’s get started with today’s project…

Chase Your Dreams

Things Used:

• Chase Your Dreams Metal Plaque
• Nautical Rope
• Blank Canvas
• Ecoline Watercolors
• Pipettes
• Paint Palette
• Tombow Fudenosuke Hard Tip
• Black Foam Brush
• Yellow Round Foam Brush
• Medium Tip Paint Brush
• Small Tip Paint Brush
• Tape
• Glue

I purchase the Metal Plaque, Nautical Rope, Canvas, and Brush Set from Michael’s Craft Store. As of Saturday, the Canvas sets were on sale for $3, so I ended up getting two sets instead of just the one. I purchased the Metal Plaque several weeks ago when I saw it. I just loved the saying I knew I had to think of some type of project for it.

This project actually took all four canvases I had to finally get it right, however; I did finally get it the way I wanted it. **Please excuse the lighting on the pictures, the hotel room we were in didn’t have very good lighting. Though I tried fixing them as well as possible**

Canvas #1:

For the first canvas, I adhered the plaque to my canvas with the tape I had on hand to use it as a stencil. Then using my pipettes, I added each color I wanted to use to my paint palette. I used color numbers 506, 545, and 361. Next, using my black foam brush, I dipped it in the first color and carefully (so I thought) dabbed it onto my plaque to give each letter color. I went back and forth using my three colors trying to get a watercolor blending look going on my canvas. Using the same method, I dabbed each color into the line of circles at the top and bottom of the plaque. Unfortunately, using the black foam brush did not come out as well as I was hope as the watercolors got underneath the plaque.

Canvas #2:

For the second canvas, I did again used my tape to adhered the plaque to my canvas. This time, I used the yellow round foam brush to dab each color onto my canvas giving each letter and circle color. Once again, the watercolors managed to get under the plaque causing a big mess and not able to read the saying.

Canvas #3:

Third times a charm right? HA! For my third canvas, I used a medium size paint brush. Instead of dabbing the watercolors onto the canvas like the first two, I very carefully painted the letters. After letting this one dry, I did use my Tombow Fudenosuke Hard Tip pen to outline the letters in hope it would good enough to use. Though it did come out a bit better, as you can see, it wasn’t enough for me to want to hang it up somewhere for everyone to see.

Canvas #4:

Finally, my fourth and final try, as this was my last canvas I had on hand. This time around, instead of using the plaque as a stencil for the watercolors, I used my Tombow Fudenosuke Hard Tip pen to stencil out all the letters. Once I finished, using a small tip paint brush, I carefully painted inside my stenciled letters. Luckily, it finally worked! I was still able to use the watercolors liked planned and give it that blending look.

After I was finished adding the watercolors and let it dry for about 5 minutes, I added my nautical rope. So I could get an idea of how much I needed to cut off my big roll of it. Using my tape to tape it down in various places around my canvas. Then using my Elmer’s glue, I added a little in various places and put my rope in place.

There you go, though it took me several tries before getting it right, now you know what would work and what doesn’t work when it comes to using a metal plaque as a stencil. Now, hopefully soon, when I move into my new apartment, I’ll have something always reminding me to Chase Your Dreams.

My Thoughts:

Though I have always chased my dreams and it has finally (hopefully) paid off, I wanted to do this post not just for me, but for all of those who have dreams of their own. When I was in high school, I had a dream to one day work with dolphins as I have mentioned before; I also had an assistant principal tell me I MIGHT get in the local community college due to my ACT scores.

Don’t ever let anyone tell you, you can’t do something. Since graduating from high school, I have received my Bachelors in Psychology AND Marine Science. I have climbed mountains after mountains to get where I am today but nonetheless I have always and will continue to believe everything happens for a reason. Some things are horrible bad life changing events, others are happy life changing events, but everything is an adventure of a lifetime!

Though this opportunity that has come to me may not be working directly with dolphins as originally hoped in high school, it’s where I can teach others about their great abilities and that’s close enough.

Have any questions about today’s Make It Monday project? Feel free to comment below and I’ll respond back as soon as I can. Hope you enjoyed and to see you back! Don’t forget to sign up for the emails, “LIKE” me Facebook, and “Follow” me Instagram! Have a great day!

Crafty JBird