DIY: Letter Art

My sister, Angie, wanted me to create a letters for my soon-to-be niece Hadley's bedroom. 

The process started with Angie's (what appears to be highlighter) sketch.

Hence I turned it into a little bit better marker/pen sketch from Pinterest images she sent.

Mind you, my sister is in Colorado and I am in North Carolina, so this is all being done via text/FaceTime.

She found the letters online, so I went to Michaels and picked up the white letters.

I made several attempts on some letters but the following mistakes occurred before getting the below results:  1) paint seeped under stencils  2) paint was easily wiped off or scratched off 3)one layer of paint was not enough...if using the crafters paint which I was.

So to rremedy those errors, do the following:

1) lightly sand off the letters before painting

2) add a gel medium to paint for a thicker consistancy; thus it will 3) to avoid seepage when stenciling.  Also, using a palette knife to apply mixture helped.

Each letter had a different technique applied:

H) 3 coats of paint  (this was the easiest one)

A) mix of gel medium and orange paint used in a circle stencil

D) light turquoise wash as base, then layer of gel medium and turquoise paint with stencil

L) gel medium and magenta paint with floral stencil

E) gel medium and light green paint with chevron stencil

Y) HARDEST LETTER....tape, paint, dry...then repeat about 10 times.  Then cleaning up the lines, making sure they were straight....and then repeat the whole process...probably 3 times.  I was not a fan of "Y" after this.

 

And then my sister wanted...........

 

 flowers....

So this was the end result...

Ready to ship and brighten the room up :)

SPRAY PAINT PROJECT: ARMY Canvas

Starting with a few stencil cut with my Silhouette and some spray paint, I created a fun canvas in less than an hour.  So easy and much enjoyed by the recipient.

INSPIRED ARTIST: Day 2

MR. DONUT IS BACK!! (and of course my favorite Trenta Cool Lime Refresher)

And helped fill me up while the inspiration found me.

And yes, I have a bandanna on.  Or rather a head scarf. AND I LOVE IT.

Despite those who may not.  It was fun to try and add a flair to my messy bun I usually sport while crafting.

Plus I broke in my white overalls ...no apron today :) (and no makeup)

After munching on donuts, the class started with another wonderful tutorial from Donna on various paints, mediums, applications, inks, drippage (Oh, how we all love some drippage!), pens, markers, bottles, and application tenchniques.  So love the amount of information she stores and shares with us.  It is neverending and she has the answer to every artists' dilemma.  Just the color mixing theory had my mind thinking early in the morning.

And then it was time to start applying the knowledge onto the dried pages....so again, I just went with the flow, and blobbed anything and everything on to the pages.  (my table-mate said "I just have never seen anyone put so many layers onto one page than you." She repeated that each day as I tend to not like something and then just cover up most of it.  Good things the pages were sturdy.

I tried to lump my page progress together on the days posted.  So you can see how things changed.

I plan on doing a final album post once I get it completed.  It is a WIP.

Hard to tell, but that is an image transfer of Paul McCartney playing a guitar to his son.

(Did he have a son? or just a daughter? ...well it is a child nonetheless)

Loved the glazing effect on things. This may be my favorite new techniques.  You can't tell but the letters are a lot higher due to the thicker stencil used.  Plus I think I fell in love with the red/turquoise/teal combo.

This alphabet has since been covered with gesso.  I liked it at first, but then didn't.

So gesso solves everything.

Some ink and per Donna's advice, a teal glaze.  Love!!

Another teal glaze...

And then this pocket page...LOVE it too.  Some black lava, Dina Wakely stamp, glazes, and lots of mediums.

As the pages dried, I worked on my album cover...applying masking fluid over various parts along with an image transfer from Donna's packet of goodies.

It was so great getting personalized items with the class.  Especially when it is embroidered on art materials and not a work shirt :) And having my name spelled right was even more a reward. 

Failing to prime the canvas before the masking fluid was a pain once this all dried...Lesson learned.

I should have primed it to prevent the paint from going under the mask due to it being a canvas material.  So I applied clear gesso on top, then applied glazes, paint, and gesso to complete the look.

It is amazing how a day of art flies by and you never realize how much time is spent indulging in such joy.  And then at the end of the night, you feel so lightened, but yet so exhausted.  It is a great feeling.

Side Note: Another great day of meals was also prepared by Grandma Cookie:

 Shrimp Scampi for dinner = DELICIOUS!!