QUEEN ANNE, QUEEN BEE

Welcome back to another fabulous Monday! I use to always dread Mondays, the long work week ahead, but now I love Mondays! Its a day when I get to showcase my latest creations with you and see what others have been up to as well. 

This past week I accomplished my first graphics transfer onto a piece of furniture! You gotta love "The First Times!" I always have a romantic idea in my head of how wonderful and simply amazing it will be, and then it turns out to take longer than I expected and the process is never quite how I imaged it would be. But in the end, I pull through and come out loving the final product! At least, that is usually how I feel, well, so far anyways!

With out further ado, I would like to introduce you to Queen Anne, My Queen Bee!!

I have never distressed a furniture piece before or completed a graphic transfer. I must say I really am pleased with the way she turned out! I have been reading some great blogs and have seen some amazing transformations that have been done with pieces of furniture using graphics from The Graphics Fairy! If you have never visited this site, I recommend checking it out immediately. She has some wonderful graphics and so many wonderful ideas on how to use them!!

For this particular piece, I started out with a Queen Anne side table that I found at the Salvation Army. I painted, sanded it and distressed it. I then turned to The Graphics Fairy to determine which graphic I wanted to use. I began by selecting this French themed wreath with a bee. I find it to be so sweet and simple, yet so elegant!

This particular graphic was not exactly the size or scale that I needed for my table. Not to worry, on The Graphics Fairy site, she has a list of transfer tutorial links on how to transfer your graphics. I uploaded the graphic to a site called  Block Posters. From there I was able to scale the graphic to use on my table. When I was done sizing it, it looked like this!

Not sure why the top right page printed like it did, but it didn't matter. Next I cut out the negative space in the middle of the pages and taped them together on their edges. Be careful not to tape anywhere on the graphic itself. Next, I went back to The Graphics Fairy and found a wonderful Fleur-De-Lis crown to adorn my bee with. I also looked up the phrase "Queen Bee" in Google translate. I copied the French version in Microsoft Word, rounded the edges with word art and added Paris, France to it! Once I was done with that, I cut all my pieces out and attached them together and arranged them to my liking. I wanted to verify the placement and proportions before I transferred them on!

There are a million tutorials out there on how to transfer graphic images. I thought I picked one of the easiest ones. After completing this project, I wouldn't say it was necessarily the easiest, but it wasn't terribly difficult. You will see what I mean further down in the post. I found this simple Mod Podge tutorial from a blog called Distressed Decor. She made it looks so easy. Her project, however, was transferred onto canvas and not furniture, maybe that is where the problem lies? Never the less, it still worked and with minimal effort!

The first step is to cover the entire surface of your graphic with Mod Podge, flip it onto your surface, smooth out the bubbles and allow it to dry completely! Note: When doing this method, it is best if you select a mirror image of your graphic in order to make sure it reads correctly when it's on. I placed my typography on with a different method so I didn't have to worry about it being a mirrored image.  

Once it is completely dry, you take a sponge brush or paper towel and moisten the back of the paper, allowing it to seep into the paper. In a circular motion, gently rub off the paper. You can see below how the paper comes off, but the graphic stays on the furniture.

Once this is done, allow the entire piece to completely dry so you can see where any paper was left. Repeat the removal process. You can see below how it looked after my first attempt to remove the paper.

I went back and repeated the process and the rest of the paper came off. The only thing I did not like about this method, is that I found that it did end up taking some of my graphic off. I ended up having to fill in those voided spaces by hand using a technical pen. I found the technical pen to be much easier and precise than using paint and a brush, because I had more control and it also matched the color ink better!

Once my graphic was completed, it was time to add the typography! I simply cut the outlying shape of my words and placed graphite tracing paper underneath. I taped them down and used a pen to trace the words onto the table. When that was complete, I again used my technical pen to fill in the outline!

And that my friends is it! A quick coat of  polyurethane to keep everything in its place and she is complete!    A side table fit for a Queen, A Queen Bee!!  

THIS POST HAS BEEN LINKED TO:

Craftomaniac *  Skip to my Lou * Mad in Crafts * Keeping It Simple * Sumo's Sweet Stuff * C.R.A.F.T. *  Alderberry Hill * So Very Creative * Singing Three Little Birds *Ask Anna * Get Outta My Head Please *Polly Want a Crafter * DIY Home Sweet Home  *  An Original Belle * Destination: Craft * Toastie Studio * I should be mopping the floor * Nifty Thrifty Things * It's So Very Cheri *  Under The Table and Dreaming * Debbiedoos * The Graphics Fairy * Decorating Insanity * Rustic Crafts *  Tip Junkie * Sugarbee Crafts * My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia * Crafty Confessions * Home Stories A to Z  * Not Just a Housewife * Project Queen *A Diamond in the Stuff * Cherished Bliss * Blackberry Vine * A Bowl Full of Lemons * Kammys Korner * Creatively Living *  Northern Cottage * Blue Cricket Design * Lil Luna  * Restore Interiors  * The Southern Product Queen * It's Overflowing  * Chatty Chics * Free Pretty Things For You *  My Girlish Whims * I Gotta Create * House of Hepworths *  At The Picket Fence *  Chic on a Shoestring * Craftionary * 504 Main * Redoux * Creation Corner * The Girl Creative * Funky Junk Interiors * Mom 4 Real * Every Creative Endeavor *  Miss Mustard Seed  * Three Mango Seeds  * French Country Cottage * Adventures of a DIY Mom * Twigg Studios * Le Chateau des Fleurs

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