at home with kim: Quote Art

FYI, these are pictures mixed and matched showing different steps of different projects. I'm not very good at doing step by step pictures of one whole project....

1. Canvas - Pick out your size of canvas. I have gotten 12x12s and 16x20 two packs at hobby lobby- the cheapest brand because I wasn't using regular paints or making a painting.

(I also picked up paint markers/pens for doing the letters while I was here)

2. Paint - I picked up a sample 2 oz at Lowes of the color of my choice. (BM-Palladian Blue) This was more then enough to cover 4 canvases. Or just use some leftover paints depending on who you are doing it for or which room it is going in.

3. Verse, Quote, etc. - originally for our room I was going to do a hymn but I couldn't decide- It was a toss-up of either the first verse of Be Thou My Vision or Lamentations 3- seemed appropriate for over the bed as a reminder as you go to bed or get up in the morning. For other projects, just cute little quotes I spotted while wandering on pinterest.

4. Fonts - This may not be difficult for the average person but it was for me. I love cursive but I wanted something legible for anybody reading it. I printed off only one paper (two words) at a time until I got the size right. Microsoft Word was mad at me. :)

5. Wiggle room - I laid out the papers when I got to the right size and on my 16x20s I realized that the way I had them lined up was leaving some empty spots. So then it was back to Pinterest to find a way to fill them in.

Lace (clearance at the fabric store!) and Paint. I used double stick tape to hold the lace onto the back of the canvas. I was just going to sponge a lighter layer of blue onto the lace but the lace and sponge kept sticking to each other and the lace didn't stay in place. Spray paint to the rescue! I had white gloss laying around so I sprayed a light dusting of that onto the lace and then immediately pulled the lace off the canvas so it wouldn't stick.

6. Prep - Now your canvas is dry and you have your verse, quote, hymn picked out in your font of choice.

I used rubber bands to line up where my words would go. For example my 12x12 was split for 3 lines, so my 1st line 3 inches down and then my 2nd line was 4 inches down from that line and then the 3 line was down 4 inches from that- leaving an inch of space at the bottom for the "tails" on the the y and g. Measure and adjust accordingly for what you need.

7. Tools of the trade - Carbon paper (pick up at any office store), regular pen and your printed off quote. I used the rubber band to help keep my layers of paper and carbon paper lined up in the right spot. Trace the letters and it "magically" transfers onto the canvas.

8. Magic - Remove the papers and rubber bands. Look! It's magic!!! I mean carbon paper. Use your paint marker/pen to fill in the traced words.