Paris and Pooh

How does a dear friend's 50th birthday slip by so quickly?

There was that surprise party in early November. That's when I thought I still had plenty of time to make a special gift. Then Thanksgiving AND the actual birthday came and went.

Then Christmas, then New Year's. Suddenly months have slipped by and all I had was a blank canvas and some ideas. I decided the canvas should represent all the 50th birthday celebrations that she had been blessed with.

A trip to Paris with her husband. A trip to the Azores with her high school friends. The surprise party with local friends, and Pooh.

Pooh was important because she loves Pooh and so do I.

The phrase I chose makes me think of an imagined conversation between she and I.

You see, I don't just slap paint on a canvas, I put my heart on the canvas.

Here's how it went.

I started with Gesso and bubble wrap for some 'behind the scenes' texture. I painted Gesso on the canvas then pressed the bubble wrap on the wet Gesso to make an impression.

After the Gesso dried I layered color until I liked what I saw. Or at least BEGAN to like what I saw! This too was a changing process.

The Gesso/bubble wrap dots were not showing up as much as I had wanted them to. So, I accented the dots with color.

I added embroidery floss for the stem of the flower for more texture.

I cut out my stamped words so I could try the layout of the quote in different positions until I liked what I saw. I rearranged them a few times, taking photos along the way. {this is a handy trick I like to use. I take photos with my iphone of the different choices. Then I can compare them and make my favorite selection. It is easier to go back and forth quickly between photos than to lay all the words down, try to capture that image in my head and then switch the layout and capture THAT image in my head for comparison. Take advantage of those camera phones people! Snap, snap, compare, delete!} When I liked what I saw, I stopped.