Red Stripes vs. the Perfectionist

Red stripes on a white wall are not what I would recommend for the perfectionist. After two coats, the color was not even and boy was I worried about what had bled underneath the tape which had been up on the wall for over a week.

With that in the back of my mind, last night I painted coat #3 in Justin's room. I walked away thinking that the edges just were not going to be dark enough and that that I was just going to have to accept less than the ideal because I was not going to paint another coat of red.

Today after church, I took off the tape...

There was a lot of tape...

Pixie helped me with said tape.

And what about all that worry about the edge?

The edge was much nicer than I expected. There is a little bit of pink primer in spots and other spots have a bit of red but if you take a step back, those little imperfections disappear and I am learning to accept that as good enough.

But, really, I am so pleased with how the walls look - it is more that good enough. In fact, Keith, Emma and Justin have had to listen to me say how wonderful I thought the walls looked and were asked over and over again this afternoon to come and look ('did you see?' I'd ask). I'm so happy with how the stripes turned out.

The jog in the stripe is going to become a wave in the flag.

Now, Keith and Justin have the job of doing the shading to make the flag look like it is really waving in the breeze. I do have to go back and do some touch up. I had quite a few drops of red paint that I was able to wipe up with some degree of success but there are pink streaks and faint spots where I couldn't quite get it all.

Be aware of wonder. Live a balanced life - learn some and think some and draw and paint and sing and dance and play and work every day some.
~ Robert Fulghum (from thinkexist.com)