Art

I don't know about you, but I really suck at art.  I am not, nor will I ever be an artist... So since I cannot draw or paint or sketch, this is what I have done for art instead.  So here are a few cool ideas for some custom art that is a bit more crafty than artsy!

Art for Evey!

My cousin also wanted some cool and unique art, so here's what we did to make her some for the living room.  Please understand that her favorites are Zebra prints and Hot Pink... She has a pink Kureg in her kitchen, so these match!

You will need:

Paint
Canvas
Scrapbooking Paper
Mod Podge
Stencils or Letters

Step 1:

Picking out Supplies

I started out with these 2 very large white canvases I got at Michael's Crafts. You can also find canvases at Walmart, Jo-Ann Fabrics, and Hobby Lobby.  You can also sign up for coupons on your smart phones for Joann's, Hobby Lobby, and Michael's, they also accept each others coupons.  I had coupons so they ended up being around $7 for the 2 pack.  You can get them in many sizes and shapes, and some of them already come black now.  I suppose you could use the burlap or jute ones, but be careful if you have sensitive skin like I do, because it could make you break out in hives.

Then I had to find paint.  I already knew I wanted to use an oil paint.  It's very thick and that's also how it can be applied.  It creates a very interesting texture but takes a long time to dry, and is particularly complicated to clean off without the right cleaning product.  You can use something like an acrylic because it is better suited for clean up.

For the scrapbooking paper I found it at Hobby Lobby.  It's a pink zebra print and is a bit thicker card stock, but any will work.  I also found a black zebra print paper with an interesting newspaper detail behind it which I located at Michael's.  You can get all of these on sale usually for anything from 40% off to 5 for $1.  Just keep your eyes open and don't settle for paying too much.

For this project I originally used a spray adhesive but I am going to recommend a mod podge or a school glue that you have diluted with water to create a creamy textured substance.  The spray glue started to come up off the canvas while drying, and the mod podge stuck like liquid butter.

I also wanted to create a unique message on these for my cousin.  I could have used letters, or lettering stencils which can be found at any craft store, but instead I actually used Microsoft Word.  Using the word art, I created the sayings I wanted, and then enlarged them to fit the space I needed.  This also allowed me to stay on the cheep, as well as create some very unique letters,


Step 2

The first thing you are going to want to do is paint the canvas.  In fact the first part you should paint is the sides.  It's harder to go back over and fix the top part, so if you choose to paint the sides black like I did for a more dramatic color, paint them first.  Wait for it to dry.  It usually takes at least 24hrs, or if you went a little heavy on the paint 48hrs.

Then you can paint the top part which here I painted a bright pink, which I made using red and white paints mixing them together and adding a little bit of black to get the right shade of hot pink.  I love that you can see the texture that's added by the oil paint.


Step 3

After letting all of the paint dry, it's time to play with the first scrapbooking paper... The Pink Zebra print

As a reminder this art was not for myself.  So I wanted my cousin to have a hand in helping me to create her one of a kind wall piece.  I took the canvas and the paper to her house and made her cut out shapes for me.  We used 3 pieces but you're welcome to use more and in any shape and size you want!

Step 4

Now that you have all of your pieces cut out, it's time to arrange them how you want them to appear on the canvas and to glue them down.

I would recommend using something like the paper bag flooring technique to put these onto the canvas. We used a spray glue and what happened is the paper started peeling itself off of the canvas.  With mod podge or the water/glue substance you apply a layer first to the wrong side and apply it to the canvas, then go back over the right side to seal.  When it's down you are able to flatten it out and it creates a better look.

At this point I sealed the first part with Mod Podge.  There are several different finishes, get the one that makes sense to you.


Step 5


I'm going to create a custom saying for these 2 pieces.

One will say:
Be yourself because


One will say:
You are Beautiful

To create the lettering I am going to use Word art in Microsoft Office.  I absolutely love the free range you have to design and make wording that suits your style and tastes.  This is a script font.

You are also able to make them as big or as wide as you'd like.  You can also purchase templates or stencils but remember if you are using oil paints you will not be able to reuse the letters you will have to throw them away.

I found this paper at Michael's and I love how it contrasts the pink that we've already used, so I am going to cut all of the letters out of this.  I cut them out 3 at a time and then glue them down so that I don't mess up the order of the letters.

Step 6

Seal it with one more layer of Mod Podge and allow it to dry!