With March being National Craft Month, my mind keeps drifting to all the unfinished projects I have scattered throughout my craft room. Scrapbook albums. Decoupage projects. Sewing projects. I decided the best way to celebrate National Craft month was to “get crafting” and complete the long neglected projects.
My first “Get Crafting” project is a set of wooden letters (spelling mystery) that I bought about…I can’t even remember when I bought them. There’s a little twinge of a memory that says I bought them a few months after we moved to West Virginia. If that memory is to be believed, I’ve had these letters for about thirteen years. One of the reasons I put off the project was the messiness of it and I wasn’t certain I could pull of the “decoupage style”. Mixing didn’t patterns of papers isn’t my strong suit so I was worried the beautiful letters I envisioned would turn into a mess. But I figured it was better to try than have the letters in my “to do” craft pile, which rivals my to-be read stack, for another decade.
My first step was picking out a paper stack I believed would work with my word. As I write mysteries, I decided to use a DCWV (Diecut With a View) paper stack called A Type of Art Stack. 
I found that using a stack that has a mix of patterns that blend together as the paper has the same hue tones really helped me give the project the cohesive look I wanted to achieve. I went with the orange and pink hued papers, using primarily the patterns with letters but added in a sheet with bold flowers and symbols.
One of the lessons I learned during my try at decoupaging is if you plan on adding some special touches (like pen stitching), it’s better not to seal the paper until after that step is complete. As I’ve never decoupaged before, I was worried the paper would come off with only the layer of glue used to “stick” it to block. I didn’t want that to happen (as it wasn’t easy getting the paper around some of the curves) so I painted on the “sealing” glue after I completed the letters. At least I know better for next time.
I am happy to say I’ve finished up my decoupage project…one neglected project down, a couple more to go. I must say I got just as much glue on me as I did the letters. At one point when I was peeling the dried glue from under my nails, I fondly remembered making nails when I was in elementary. I wonder if anyone else made gel (glue) nails back in the day. Before school ended, a lot of girl would open their desk and add glue onto their rules that had the indention down the middle. When you came back to the school the next day, the glue came right off and could be trimmed with scissors to fit on your nails. Ah, good times.
My next neglected project will be a Monsters University quilt. I really would love to have it finished and give it to its recipient before the little one is no longer interested in Monsters University.
The Self-Rescue Princess 