canvas word art diy

First of all, I want to thank you all so much for your advice and kind words on the previous post. I am so relieved to know that not only have many of you been there, but that I'm not crazy for wanting to get out. Sometimes I feel like I just need to suck it up and tough it out. So I really appreciate it.

My first major when I was in college was Interior Design. Sometimes I really wish I had stuck with it because I love creating things, but at the same time, I think the stress of having to make clients happy with my designs would probably have killed me. Anyway, some of my favorite things about that major was that I got to take so many awesome art classes. Including painting. I learned some awesome tricks, such as using a cheap glass frame for your palette. There's so much more room to mix your paint, and when you are done, it's easy to scrape off with a razor blade or exacto knife. Real artists use old pictures frames. Probably.

I came across this diy tutorial on A Beautiful Mess. I couldn't find the actual page, so I apologize for not linking to it exactly, but trust me, that's where I saw it. Anyway, what you do is buy some sticker letters, some acrylic paint, a brush, and a canvas. I actually have tons of canvases lying around that I have been wanting to do something with for awhile, but have a hard time getting started. Sometimes just the blank canvas itself is enough to stress me out because I'm afraid I'll mess it up. So sometimes I just paint a canvas a different color to get the ball rolling. For this one, I had a bright yellow canvas that I was thinking of maybe painting some Van Gogh flowers on, but it worked better for this project instead. I apologize for not having more step by step pictures, I got so excited working through this that I totally forgot!

Steps:

1. Paint a canvas a background color (mine was yellow) and allow to dry. Unless you want white, you could totally use that too.
2. Choose a saying you want and spell it out with the stickers. Make sure you have enough stickers to spell the words out so you don't have to remove them and re-stick them to spell all the words like I did (oops).
3. Mix together your cover coat (mine was grey) and carefully paint over the stickers. 
4. Allow to dry for 10-20 minutes and carefully peel up the stickers. An exacto knife or razor blade works well for this step so you don't smudge the paint trying to lift the letters up.
5. Let dry completely and display your new painting!

Acrylic paint + stickers

Real artists do it on picture frames. Hah.

This was a gift for my friend whose niece is in the hospital. It was really fun and easy to make and it made her really happy (and me!).

Also, I am having a romantic fling with acrylic paint! It dries sooo much faster than oil! I had no idea I was missing out! I can't wait to make some more. Unfortunately, I won't be able to display them in my house because I think it would drive my typing hands crazy. But....they make fun presents! And it gives me a chance to paint again!

This whole project cost me about $20 for the paint and stickers, since I had all the other materials. But you can find some really cheap canvases at Michael's as well as a cheap frame for your palette. But it was really fun and totally worth it!