It is Well

Here is another Pinterest inspired project. I repinned this collage. Unfortunately, whoever originally pinned it, didn't pin it from the original source. It may have been user uploaded, but whatever the case, I have no idea who to give credit to. Please message me if you know the original link or source!

**Here is the link to this at Etsy.

All that to say...I thought it was a great idea and loved the composition. I'm still pretty green on the whole painting thing, but here is my take on it. (I made it for a gift for my father-in-law.)

Here's what I did to make mine...

1. Find sheet music for It is Well with My Soul, size it to fit in frame (8x10), and print off on parchment looking paper.
2. Seal that with Modge Podge. (I did this so that my letters wouldn't stick and rip the paper.)
3. Cut out "It is Well with My Soul." I used Make the Cut and my Silhouette to cut out contact paper.
4. Adhere words to sheet music to use as a mask.
5. Paint two coats of very light color all over. Let dry.
6. Mix a medium color with some glaze medium, then brush it on working in small sections, wiping it off in circular motions with crumpled cheese cloth. Let dry.
7. Repeat with a very dark color/glaze mix. Let dry.
8. Carefully remove the contact paper letters.
9. Mount the mat. (I used clear packing tape on the back.)
10. Cut the bird image out of contact paper, removing the inside part, to make a stencil. (I found my bird on Silhouette's website here. I did tweak it a bit to make the branch a bit longer.)
11. Position stencil over mat and sheet music and adhere.
12. Paint inside the stencil with a light brown.
13. Mix dark brown with glaze and paint and wipe with cheese cloth like above. 
14. Remove stencil. Let dry.
15. Frame it :)