okistampqueen: Cough...sputter...sneeze...pass the Kleenex, please...

I am still sick.

I do not do sick well.

And this is day three...

I am bored to tears and don't like being down.

I we resorted to looking at Martha on one of our "up" times...

(one of the few times I wish we had wireless back!)

This guy above (aka Poppa Cat)
has been by my side almost constantly.
Unlike Bad Cat, he doesn't mind sneezes.
That's a good thing!

Yesterday I did do a little something...
maybe too many little somethings...who knows.

15 minutes at a time yesterday...

I cleaned out a desk drawer

(actually, that only took 10!)

~~cleaned~~ straightened up the kitchen

and the bathroom
and attempted this project...

Thanks again to Tresa Black for helping to restore this

vintage photo

so that I could permanently attach it to the canvas

(it's been double stick taped on there for months!)

Been wanting to get this done for sometime...

it was my "reward time" after cleaning the kitchen!

I used the directions

from this blog

but---

there's always a "but..." isn't there...

I didn' want to wait

for a matte finished photo to be mailed to me

nor did I want scrapbook paper on the sides

AND...

my photo was only 8"x10"

and my canvas is 12x12" (or something odder than my photo size...)

and despite my best efforts

I couldn't find answers as to whether or not any of this

was really going to be an issue.

I decided to go for it anyway.

Here's what I learned:

1) the first time I tried this (a month or so ago---)

I tried using photos printed from home.

Bad news: it didn't work-print leaked ink as I tried to
Modge Podge over it, leaving ugly streaking my canvas...

Good news: warm soapy water saved it! Really! Washed all traces right off

(I hit it immediately upon discovering the project was going south---)

2. A glossy photo worked just fine (imo).

I did have it printed at our local Walgreens.

(in fact I had two done-backup!)

I couldn't see any issues with it at all..

3. I just let all coats dry 15-20 minutes.

Used a WIDE sponge brush.

BE SURE to coat to the edges of the photo when putting the MP

on the backside. Important!

4. Just wrap your sponge brush in wax paper between coats.

I didn't want to wash it out (I only had one...)

and didn't want it to dry out and stiffen up.

The wax paper kept it "wet" just fine!

5. Once I got the coat of MP on the back of the photo

and onto the canvas

and after I was SURE there was no MP "leaking" out the edges,

I put it face down on wax paper and actually weighted it down some

to help it adhere.

BE CAREFUL---if there's any oozing--you'll have issues!

5. Don't worry too much about brush strokes when putting the MP

on the front of the photo.

Keep it smooth as you can, sure, but don't obsess here.

The brush strokes and those tiny bubbles (mostly) disappear as it dries.
You want them smooth (yeah, I could have done a little better--next time!)
but they only show if the light hits it from a certain angle
or really close up...

Again be sure to get the edges well.

I had one spot that refused to go down.

It will be under a ribbon anyway so I didn't stress over it.

6. I had a real technical method to help speed the drying process

(it's rained off and on all day---not a good day to get anything to dry--
at least not quickly!)

I put my canvas onto wax paper...

put it on top of my candle centerpieces on our table

and turned the overhead fan on!

Told ya-real techinical! lol!