Day 25 of Christmas Crafting, Part 1

Hmmm.  It seems my nifty idea for my first Silhouette craft is not working out as well as expected.  In fact, I'm on the third try.  Here's hoping it's the charm.  As I mentioned in Day 24's post, I want to make a piece of wall art featuring a Christmas scripture.  I had no trouble whipping up a pleasing design to cut, but sadly, it did not cut quite as well as I had hoped (Rookie mistake: Small intricate cuts on heavy cardstock are not a good idea, I guess.)  First try = fail.

I was not easily deterred, however, and decided that I could use the cuts as negative space.  I bought a 16x20 canvas, and my paper was 12x12, so I figured I would paint the paper and canvas the same color and go from there.  By leaving the space behind the paper unpainted, I would end up with white lettering on my navy background.  However, a 12x12 piece of cardstock glued in the corner of a 16x20 canvas is glaringly obvious and so sadly, second try = fail, too.

Still hopeful, I decided to try a different tactic.  I thought that perhaps I could use the cut cardstock as a stencil.  I laid it out on the canvas and started daubing white acrylic paint on the stencil.

 But when I pulled back the stencil to check it out, sigh...

the paint bled under the stencil, and that was not the look I was going for.  Rats! Foiled again!  Apparently the third time was not the charm this go 'round.

Ever the optimist, I know I can still make this work.  My new plan is to beef up the font and try cutting it out in white this time.  I'm also going to see if I can find some adhesive cardstock to speed the application process.  Wish me luck!