waterlogue photo decor ~

Do you know about the WATERLOGUE photo app for iPad, iPhone and iTouch? I LOVE this app, and especially when it helps complete a long neglected project. 🙂

You’ve probably seen these custom-cut mat signs at frame shops or craft shows. Names, towns, sports teams, colleges, you name it, they will cut it for you! We picked up a few at a craft show nearly two years ago. That is how long this project has been patiently hanging out. Our trio included Beach, Clemson, and Florida. I completed the Clemson one as a Christmas gift for Bluwatermom not long after we bought them. The other two ~ Beach for me and Florida for Bluwaterguy ~ have lingered way down on the project list.

A while back I made a pact with myself that no new projects could come into the house until I complete most {if not all} of the projects already hanging around. I’ve mostly stuck to that and I’ve slowly been making my way through the backlog. It’s a good feeling to get things done!

 

I’m changing up the guest room into more of a project studio and knew I wanted to add the Beach sign to the mix. And I knew the photos I wanted to use in the sign. Selecting the right group of photos is a bit of a card game. Finding ones that will fit well in the letter cut-outs, look good together, and have the right scale and colors takes some time. I knew that from the first one I did for Bluwatermom. After collecting most of the digital photos I wanted for the Beach sign, it finally hit me to create WATERLOGUE photos!

It takes literally seconds to convert any digital photo to a wonderful watercolor print with this app. For this group I used the “Luminous” style in the app, and I after I converted all the photos I inserted them into a blank Word doc to size and print. The Beach letter cut-outs were roughly 4″ x 3″ and I’ve found sizing the photos in a blank Word doc with the displayed ruler to be the quickest way to get the proportional size ~ and then you can print on standard paper and cut out the finished cards. Because I wanted a slightly faded, vintage look to the watercolor photos, I printed on regular printer paper. You could easily get a more vivid finish printed on photo paper.

I still want to change out the color on the black wood frame for something softer and more aged. I think the black is too harsh for this look, and will paint the frame before hanging in its final spot. Hope you’ll come back to see final product!

So here’s the before, during, and after. The cut-out mat in the plastic sleeve from the craft show, then the mat with the printed photos, and finally the photos cut and put in place behind the letter cut-outs. When I showed the finished framed sign to Bluwaterguy it took him a minute to realize they were all our photos. At first he though I used random vintage cards, until he noticed my favorite hammock photo from Islamorada!

Here are all three of the mats we bought at the show. They all came with the same black wood frames and were a great “three for” price bundle!

So now I’ve done the Clemson sign for Bluwatermom, and the Beach sign for me, and I need to get busy on that Florida sign for Bluwaterguy! No new projects until that {and a few other others too!} are finished. 🙂 Well, except maybe those WATERLOGUE Christmas Cards I wanted to do last holiday season. If I get started on them now, I might get them done before the New Year!

Working my way down the project list ~~~