Crafty Rach: "Project Beyra": Creating a wall name plaque for a dear friend with an unusual name

I'm always thrilled and energised when I start and new project. I wanted to create something unique and different for a friend of mine's birthday. As she has quite an unusual name, it's very difficult for her to find personalised items such as name plaques, key rings etc. I thought it would be really nice if I could design and create a wall name plaque and have it ready on time for her birthday.

I initially did a search on eBay for places that take custom orders for MDF (craft wood) letters and accessories. I finally found a contact through Facebook who was willing to help me make my friend's day. They were very patient with me as I "ummed" and "ahhed" about the different font styles, thicknesses and heights for my friend's wall name plaque. All deliberations took place via email. I finally decided on a design in "Curly Script" as I felt it showed the letters in my friend's name clearly and boldly. I also ordered name plaques for both myself and my husband too - indeed, this too will be a craft project to be completed in the next month (watch this space)!

It took about a week for the whole order to go through, with postage taking an additional couple of days. The names were finally delivered on Monday - and that's when the real work began on "Project Beyra".

Firstly, after checking that everything had been delivered as promised, I commenced painting the Beyra name plaque with a base coat of acrylic white gesso. I've only discovered acrylic gesso in the last couple of months. Gesso is typically used to prime surfaces prior to painting the surface with colour. The gesso product I'm using is one that dries hard, with a "toothy" texture. The beauty of using gesso is that the acrylic paint being used afterwards adheres more readily to the surface. Typically, if I'm applying gesso to a wooden surface, I will sand the area to be painted once the primer is dry.

I have fallen in love with Derivan's Matisse Structure acrylic paints! The range apparently consists of 96 different colours and honestly, if I had the money, I'd buy the lot! The paint is a richer, thicker consistency than other acrylic paints on the market. The colour range is amazing. It also seems to be more durable for every day use - especially suitable for those household items needing to be spruced up with a coat of paint! For Project Beyra, I chose to paint the front with "Brilliant Alizarin" (a crimson colour) and "Metallic Silver" for the sides and back.

I also used one of Derivan Matisse's acrylic paint mediums, "Iridescent" to add that extra metallic shine and colour dimension to the paint. I'd always thought that mediums were supposed to be added over the top of acrylic paint. However, I find it to be more effective for this type of medium to be mixed in with the paint. In order for the colour to really "pop", I used a mixture of plain paint and paint with added iridescent medium.

In hindsight, it was really hard to make sure the Metallic Silver sides were neat. It was a real pain painting around every bump, curve and crevice - trying to make sure that I didn't mess up the front. As I don't have very steady hands, I had to sometimes wait until all paint was dry and then correct the paint where it had bled.

I then finished the design off with a "Polymer Gloss Varnish" in order to protect the paint and the wood underneath.

At the last minute, I raced down to Lincraft to buy blue jewel embellishments to add a contrast to the crimson colour used for the front of the name plaque. I have a number of small blisters on my fingers from using a glue gun to attach them!