Pink, Pink You Stink....

 

Edited 1/9/2012:  I've gotten lots of questions about the Ribbon Rosettes.  People want to know where I bought them.  I didn't.  I just made them.  You can find the tutorial for them on another post here:  Ribbon Rosettes

Well, I might have done it this time.  I may have made a craft that I don't actually love.  (Can I admit that publicly?)  

I should say that I do love the idea of this craft and that's why I'm going to share it anyway.  And, more than anything, it's the color that is getting to me.  I explained on another post that red and pink, specifically pink, clashes with my home decor so I don't decorate for Valentine's day with it.  However, I thought since this project would be on my front door that it wouldn't matter.  

Wrong! 

I'm just not a pink person. I should be, I have three daughters but I've never been one for pink - or lace - or frilly, and the end result of this project is, well, too girlie for my taste.

My idea for this project came from another cool crafter named Amy.  (are all Amy's crafters?)  You can see her fabulous creation here:  Framed Heart Valentine  (she was smart and did her's in red)

Anyway, Here's what I did in case you like it and want to make your own.

Gather your supplies:

1 - 11x14 canvas

a boat load of ribbon rosettes

Dark pink paint

White paint

Crackle Paint

Alphabet rub-ons

Paint brish

Glue gun

ribbon

Optional: sand paper

  

Step 1:  Paint your canvas with the dark pink paint and let dry.

Step 2:  Paint on your Crackle medium.  If you haven't worked with crackle before, it's really easy.  You just paint it on over your base coat and let dry.  It's wise to paint it all in the same direction too.  And, because it is clear, once it is dry you can't see it so be sure your base coat is completely covered.

Step 3:  Paint on your top coat.  Be consistent and paint all in the same direction.  Most likely your paint will start to crackle instantly and if you go back and forth with your paint brush you will cover up some of those cracks.  So just paint in one direction.

 

When you are done and your top coat has dried, you'll have something like the image above.

 

Step 4:  Now, very lightly sketch the outline of a heart onto your canvas.  You need this outline because it will help guide your placement of the rosettes.

 

Step 5:  Start positioning your rosettes in place.  It is wise to lay them all out before you glue them down.  This will help make sure your final design has a good balance.  I used various sizes of rosettes so I laid my biggest ones down first and worked biggest to smallest.  The very smallest rosettes I used to fill in any gaps.

Step 6:  Add your rub-ons.  Now, I know vinyl is the latest and greatest but I don't have a fancy-dancy vinyl machine so I still use the tried and true rub-ons.  Use what works for you.

Here's my rub-ons, well, rubbed on.   

Step 7:  Attach ribbon to the back and hang up.  (I attached my ribbon by stapling it to the canvas frame)

Also, one more thing you can do is lightly sand the edges of the canvas.  For me, this gave the canvas a very subtle frame by allowing a line of the dark pink paint to show from underneath. 

And there you have it, the craft that I can appreciate and will use for two weeks but don't love.  I think after Valentine's day I will find a new mom who loves pink and could use this in her baby girl's room or something.  If you're local and know someone that could use it, let me know.

Enjoy!