My Ladybug

So this month I got to be a guest designer for Say it with Letters. I was absolutely thrilled when Deb asked me to. You have seen me do several projects with her stuff before. :) Please do take the time to check out her blog and store. Her stuff is amazing! You can also click on the label "Say it with Letters" at the end of this post to see other stuff I have done with her products. This month I was sent a ladybug....and I just love how it turned out...here it is:

The papers I used were all from My Little Shoebox. And that fabulous stamp is from Unity Stamp Co.

And just for fun...here is a long, picture-heavy tutorial on this for whoever may be interested. :) Please excuse my messy paper that I was working on. Click on any of the images to view them bigger.

Ladybug Tutorial

There are a lot of ways to do this, but here is how I did my ladybug. :)

* I started with painting the antennas pink.

* Then I wanted to cover the head with patterned paper. The way I like to do this is to use a transparency. **If you don't have a transparency use the cellophane trash that comes on a lot of scrapbooking supplies.** I place the transparency over the head part and draw the shape and then use a craft knife to cut it out of patterned paper.

Let me tell you right now, I believe perfection is highly over-rated. Besides that, I think you can hide or fix almost any imperfection. If you look at my piece of paper then you will see that it is NOT perfect at all. :)

* Now I like to use Mod Podge to adhere my paper to the wood. I use a brush and dip it in the Mod Podge and then paint a thin layer of it over the wood. After laying my paper on the wood, I roll it with my roller. Just be careful if you have glue hanging over the edge of the paper (like I do in mine) you don't want to roll over the glue because you can get it over your paper. However, like I said before, perfection is over-rated so if it happens...no worries...it adds to the design...plus you can always try to cover it up late. Anyways...

* Next we want to cover the rest of the body with patterned paper. We don't need to draw a shape on a transparency this time because we can just line up the edge of the paper under the head. After adhering the paper, I turn it over and allow to dry some, then I take my craft knife to the paper and cut off the excess.

* Next thing I do is sand down the edges. This helps with the over-all look but it also helps hide flaws. :) You'll want to use a smaller sander for the smaller spots. Using emery boards? No problem...cut one in half (length-wise) to make it narrower.

* Next, I painted the edges. I typically like darker colors, like a dark brown, but since I already had brown on my ladybug I chose pink. Now, you'll notice that in my picture I already put my pearls on my ladybug (I just got too excited about the pearls, lol.) But I suggest you paint the edges before adding embellishments. :) Also, I allow paint to overflow on the top so you see some of the paint from the top. This is another thing that helps hide flaws.

* Now we move on to the spots. I am always adding stitching to my projects because I love the look of it, but keep in mind that this project would look just as cute if you left the stitching off or just drew a circle. I distressed the edges and added stitching to my circles BEFORE I adhered them to the ladybug.

* Next I added the lace...just for fun. I flipped my ladybug on it's back and placed some strong double-sided tape on both sides of the space in between the wings. Then I laid some lace on top, folded it and moved down for another row. After completing that section, I put more double-sided tape around the bottom and added more lace.

* Next I added large pearls for the antennas and drew squiggly lines.

* Finally I added a stamped saying on the head. :) And it's all ready to be hung somewhere in the house.

Now I know this may seem like a lot of steps, but take your time and enjoy the process! Granted I am a fast worker, but I did this whole thing in one night so maybe it will go faster then you think! :)