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State of Alteration

HOW does someone leave her blog for so long and actually accumulate more followers???  You guys are WONDERFUL!  Thank you for all the kind words and emails I've received over the past few months!!!   I have not fallen off the earth.  I really am thinking of all of you... I promise!!!   Today I want to share probably one of the COOLEST alteration projects I've ever done, but first I want to share where I've been and what I've been up to because it plays a HUGE role in this project I'm sharing coming to fruition!!!  In a nutshell, we are buying a new home.

Welp... after months of working to sell the home we were in, moving into an apartment (that is screaming to get us on an episode of Hoarders), we are finally getting ready to call the newly built house our home.  Yes, I will have TONS of pics to share as soon as we close and get settled... God-willing we'll be leaving this apartment in three weeks!!!  All the female decorator cells I have in my body are buzzing in anticipation of the upcoming new-home decorating.  So, in preparation of that I got THIS:


Sorry about the pic quality on these pics gang... both "before" and "after" pics were taken with the camera on my phone, but here it is.  This painting was ALMOST the perfect art piece for my formal living room:  it was the perfect size in the perfect frame with the perfect content.... EXCEPT..... the peach flowers were NOT going to match my decor!!!  My living room is gold, brown and red and OF COURSE this artwork wasn't available in another color and was literally the last one in the store (possibly the only one).  I didn't want to pass it up being so close to perfect... there MUST be a way to make this flower red!   So I sent a quick email to an altering expert I know (you are a GENIUS Krista!) who responded with, "Distress Inks!"  Well OF COURSE!!!  Could I do it???  I've never attempted to alter something like this before.  What if it doesn't work?


I'm here to tell you it DID work.... LIKE A FREAKIN CHARM!!!!  Can you believe I actually did THIS???  I can't!  And it was so stinkin simple!!!  Honestly!  The hardest part was the first stroke.  My heart was in my throat as I stood over this amazing piece of art that I could potentially ruin when the courage to make my first stroke with the Tim Holtz Distress Stain in Barn Door Red came over me.  This artwork appeared to be an art print that was covered with a layer of clear acrylic that was then tapped with the tip of a bristled brush... well that's what it felt like.  This really could totally work, OR the color could bunch into all that texture not working at all.   I think I closed my eyes as I swiped a huge red streak across the peach flower then looked to see 1) that the image would be clearly visible through the new red color and 2) that I was actually committing to this alteration project.  Yes... yes to both; project-a-go.  Once the entire bloomed rose had an even coat of the barn door red distress stain (which looked quite pink), I then went in with Distress Inks (the regular pad inks) and a brush adding darker hues of red and brown until I had  the depth exactly the way I wanted it... which turns out was UBER easy because the original image already had the shadows in place.  I was just changing the color.  I finally finished off the image by adding  just a smidgen of Tim Holtz Tarnished Brass Distress Stain to highlight the tips of some of the petals (only on the light areas).  Being that the Tarnished Brass is a metallic stain... I wanted to be sure it stayed in areas of the flowers that would be touched by light if the flower were being seen in the real world. Now my final step will be to apply another clear topcoat to seal this awesome alteration once I've moved in to the new house and it is hung.... just in case I want to make any minor changes after seeing it in the light of it's permanent home.  In the meantime, I vowed to "leave it alone" until then.
Really you guys.... WHY was I so afraid????

Comments

~Lady B~ said…
Fabulous alteration! I like it so much better in red. You did an amazing job!
Seriously AMAZING and SERIOUSLY upset that I missed it all!! :( However on a positive note ... Brookie and I got to see BD2 together Saturday night... so I guess the night wasn't a total loss!! LOL!!!
Krista said…
I refuse to take credit for anything. You had the idea to begin with and you did the amazing coloring job on this. And I can most definitely say that these pictures DO NOT do justice to either how HUGE this thing is or how gorgeous it was when you were done.

Unknown said…
Danielle....wow you are amazing! I am glad that I am getting to know you and I can't wait to see your finished beautiful home ;-) Pam
Gorgeous! Are you heading down south or up north?Carri~Abusybee

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Gorgous Leaves Bundle Revisited

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