Children's Name sign

     First things first, let's give the credit to what inspired me to make this in the first place : http://aimee-weaver.blogspot.com/2011/05/sign-projects.html .  This supremely talented woman makes beautiful signs, which inspire me in a huge way (UNDERSTATEMENT! )  Anyhow, I made this for a friend from church.  I used the technique of printing the wording out, then rubbing in pencil the back side of the paper, and attaching it to my board with a little piece of tape as a hinge.  I then traced around the words, and when I took it off, the paper had transferred a light outline from the pencil underneath.  This is a great technique, and not one I thought of on my own either.  I honestly can't remember where I found it now, since I've looked at so many blogs and sites that have given tips on sign making.  I used my fine tipped brush to paint in the lettering.  It takes a bit of practice, but the second time I tried it on this, I was much happier.  Yes, you heard that right, the SECOND time- because I was not happy with the original font I'd chosen when I painted it in.  So, I PAINTED OVER IT AND STARTED OVER.  'Cause I'm anal-retentive like that.. yes, it's painful being me in so many ways- the least of which is creatively.
       For my board, I used a scrap of MDF board and used a piece of scrapbooking paper with this shape as a template.  I used my jig-saw to cut this out.  This also took a little bit of practice, but I'm getting better at using my jig saw :) .  I used contact paper measured and cut into strips to make the stripes- it makes such a clean line, I love it.  I only had to clean up a few spots here and there.  I would have had this thing done at least a month ago if I hadn't re-done it... bummer.  My friend was very happy with it, and that's what counts, right? ;)