Some of my projects involve a lot of fidgety gluing and glue spots have an annoying way of showing up despite all my efforts to remove excess glue. To find the spots, I give the project a sealer coat of shellac, which causes the glue spots to stand out very visibly. I mark them with chalk as soon as the shellac is dry enough for the chalk to adhere. Once the shellac is thoroughly dry, the glue spots become harder to see. I find that shellac works better for me than mineral spirits, and gives a good base for additional coats of shellac or spray lacquer.
The project in the picture is a small box with a loopy bow. The blue tape on the top of the lid keeps the area where the loops will be glued on free of shellac. Once the box is finished, the loops are glued on and sprayed. This project is for the "Boxes with Bows" chapter of my new book, which should be out in about a year or so.
