When I created this plaque back in November, I bought a whole slew of them, probably 30 or so. I painted them all with acrylic paint, and in a bag they sit in the floor of my stamp room, waiting for someone to decorate them and give them a loving home. As I was creating cards using Because of You, the idea for this project popped into my head, so I thought it would be perfect to share with you!
These 3 plaques were painted with Cream acrylic paint, and after they dried, I applied some Cosmo Cricket Dutch Girl papers to the front. I sanded around the edges to remove any excess paper and also on parts of the plaques for a distressed look. Once my adhesive was dry, I painted a small area with the same Cream color in the center of the paper, just large enough to have an area to stamp on. After that dried, I stamped the three sentiments from Because of You, one on each plaque, in Versafine Onyx Black ink. I added a few buttons to each one, and dry brushed some brown acrylic paint around the edges of the plaques to make them a little more distressed. As a finishing touch, I adhered a strip of Riding Hood Red striped ribbon to the back of each plaque with Score Tape and created a hanging loop at the top. The plaques are a little heavy, so I had to reinforce the very top and bottom of each one with a little staple to keep them from tilting forward.
This whole project, start to finish, took me about 25 minutes to make, and I had a nice, handmade gift to give. When I start to stress about purchasing "just the right thing," I remember what my grandmother said once. "The best gifts come from the heart and not the pocketbook." Even though this project was fairly quick, it was definitely heartfelt. This set is probably one of my all-time favorites.
So, do you want to play along with us? Just make a project or card that fits your style and celebrates a woman in your life. It can be any woman ... mom, grandmother, daughter, sister, aunt, friend, teacher - you get the idea! Just add your project link to the Mr. Linky form IN THIS POST before 8PM Mountain on Thursday, May 14th. Two random participants will be chosen and win $25 gift certificates to the Verve Store. Have fun and good luck!
