So, this shall be the official last post devoted to The Embellished Paper Doily tutorial. It's been a month in the making and at last, it is finished. All sixteen doilies have been permanently sealed inside their box and are awaiting a home upon one of my walls. I haven't finalized a spot for the project as of yet, but I'm think'en it will follow me upstairs after I've rearranged my new scrapbook space in the next few weeks. The next challenge will be trying to figure out how to best hang the box so that it doesn't fall and implode upon itself. I've already had that happen once (a different project) and let me tell you, it's none to pretty. I don't want to jeopardize the safety and security of this new window box, so I'm contemplating utilizing some kind of velcro set-up. It's amazing the durability that velcro exhibits for holding things together - 3M has a really great velcro product available that's supposedly designed for hanging light weight items on walls. I have a few samples of the product..we'll see if it actually works. I'm keep'en my fingers crossed...cause I've had very little luck hanging things the traditional way. Yikes!
Here's the final product..seeing it come full circle yesterday brought me a great deal of joy as I've been committed to the process of creating it for nearly a month! Having done so has been entirely worth it - I felt an unexpected nudge of excitement the moment I turned over the box..I knew this was going to be a good one. Upon first peek, I reluctantly smiled before giving way to pure happiness. Ohhh, so much better than I could of ever imagined...sitting pretty amongst small squares of crumbled pattern paper, the doilies look astonishingly beautiful. Together, they're a culmination of wonder and awe and to think, all were accomplished in less than thirty days!! Perfect timing and so worth the wait :)) Now, tell me about yours...I'd love to see it if you haven't shared it already (Flickr).
You're probably curious as to how I glued everything together now that you have doilies awaiting a home..it wasn't too terribly difficult as I had originally anticipated when I first began the project. Instead of adhering the background patchwork pattern paper squares directly to the background foam board that accompanied my window box, I adhered them on 12" x 12" cardstock first. The cardstock is slightly smaller than the foam board though, so it's vital that it sits on top the foam board while adhering your pieces down to avoid any of the board showing through once the project is complete. You'll have to maneuver the squares just slightly outside the boundaries of the 12" x 12" cardstock so that the squares cover the entire board - The board shouldn't be noticeable! Even though your adhering the squares onto cardstock, it's the board that ultimately matters - cover it up! Sorry about having to repeat this..I don't want any of you to jeopardize the effort and time you've invested in creating your lovely doilies. It's important to get this right the first time to avoid having to tear things up later on. Whatever backing came with your window box, make sure that it's entirely covered via patchwork to avoid having it peek through your project.
A quick note about the patchwork; I hand-trimmed all my squares because I desired the not-so-perfect, hand-quilted look. If you chose to trim your squares using a straight edge trimmer, your patchwork may look slightly different then mine and that's totally ok. Just go with it...After hand-trimming a square, distress it with Ranger Distress Ink ("Frayed Burlap") and then curl forward the four sides of the square using your fingers. Set each square down in it's proper location (with it's corresponding doily) to preserve the appearance of your project's design. After all squares have been distressed and curled, adhere them down as instructed using a strong wet adhesive (Scotch Quick Dry Adhesive). Start from the top and then work your way down in creating your patchwork.
The doilies are the last items to be added to the project. Simply adhere them accordingly using again, a strong wet adhesive.
Allow your project to dry a few minutes before moving on with this final step. We're now going to adhere the entire patchwork/doily creation to the backing of the window box using a strong spray adhesive. Find a large box or large piece of newspaper and set it down on the floor. This will serve to protect the surface of whatever it is you'll be spraying near or on. Set the backing on top of your spray area. Holding the adhesive spray about 7" or so from the backing, spray an even, light coat of adhesive onto the backing. Carefully lay your patchwork/doily creation onto the backing while the adhesive is still wet. Lightly apply pressure to all four sides of your creation to ensure that it's securely adhered to the backing. One or two of the edges may "pop up" unexpectedly - apply additional pressure where needed.
Ok, so my window box is hanging, though temporarily. It's not at all secure in this spot..I simply put it there so that I could photograph it while on display.
Thank-you again to all who followed me on this journey. I've thoroughly enjoyed your company and comments and already have plans to start a new tutorial next month. I think I might need a lil' break though before then, so I'm taking the next three to four days off from my blog to catch up on some work and other various projects needing to be done this week, including one for Elle's Studio!! Share more about this with my next post :)
Also, I quickly want to mention that Crate Paper is still seeking applicants for their new, upcoming design team..haven't heard about it yet? Find all the latest details at crate.typepad.com - the deadline to apply is the end of this week! Have a question about the call? Feel free to email me - I check my inbox daily!
