Calm. DIY Wall Art

Last week, I came across this inspiring wall art via Pinterest. . .

Dans Le Townhouse

Sigh. is right!

Love the colors.  And the simplicity of the design and the message just make me take a deep breath and relax.  So, I decided I would attempt to copy this awesomeness myself and then put my own spin on it.

The first thing I did was get all my materials:

1)  22" x 28" Canvas  $6.99 on sale at Hobby Lobby

2)  Blank Stencils $3.99

3)  Acrylic Paint in Vintage White, Jamaican Sea, Calypso Sky, and Barn Wood.  $0.98 each on sale at Hobby Lobby

4)  Craft paint brushes (Already owned.)

5)  Exacto Knife (Already owned.)

6)  Painter's Tape (Already owned.)

7)  Pencil
8)  Tape Measure

Then I measured out where I wanted each section to end and taped it with the painter's tape.

Then I applied the Vintage White acrylic paint to the first section, brushing away from the tape to prevent seepage as she advised.

Before I got started, I decided what size and font I wanted to use for the stencil.  I chose Size 270 Georgia.  I decided to use the word "Calm" because that's how those colors make me feel.  While I waited for the paint to dry, I flipped the paper over and traced the letters.

Then I traced it onto the stencil.

And cursed grumbled the whole time I was cutting it out with the Exacto knife because I pretty much suck at using it.  I can never get crisp lines, no matter how hard I try!  I was NOT calm.  I was extremely frustrated and had to walk away from it a couple of times.  LOL!

Note to Self:  Shaky hands from 3 cups of coffee doesn't help either.

Thankfully, I wasn't planning on actually stenciling it on, I'm just wanted to trace it.  So, a crappy cut-out isn't all that big of a deal.  I like the look of hand-painted signs, but I'm not that great at the lettering, so this is how I get around it.

Then really quick before I had to take Noah to his football game, I put on the middle color - Calypso Sky, and let it dry while I was gone.

For some reason, I did have some seepage with this color.  AGGRAVATING!  Why is it that you do the exact same thing and the first time it works and the second time it doesn't?  I put the tape on the same way.  Made sure I had a good seal.  Still got seepage.  Go figure.

Thankfully, it was an easy enough fix.  I just painted the Jamaican Sea by hand and carefully painted over it.

So, while I waited for it to dry (worst part of any DIY project), I began cooking dinner.  My bro-in-law had recently butchered a cow and sent some hamburger home with us.  Seriously.  He butchered it.  Himself.  He's got a neat little butcher set up on his farm and he does it all himself.  I'm sure if I had listened close enough, I probably could have still heard it mooing.  Gross, I know.  I don't particularly like to think about where our meat comes from - city girl that I am, meat comes from a grocery store.  Right?  But, my gosh!  There is nothing like fresh meat.  No preservatives.  Grain/Hay fed with no growth hormones.  Best cheeseburgers I've ever had!

Anyway. . .  Back to the project . . .  I'm super impatient, so I put a fan on it.  :)  It did take a couple of coats to be able to get complete coverage.  I probably should have used painter's acrylic paint, instead of a craft acrylic, but I couldn't justify $8.00 a tube for one project.  It worked though.

After the paint dried in half the time with the fan, I traced on the word.  Calm.

Then, I painted on the word in Barnwood.  I coated it on pretty thick with a small round tipped brush.  I wanted it to have some texture.

All in all, I'm pretty pleased with how it turned out. . .

I probably should have gone a little bigger with the font size, but I still think it looks pretty good. . .

My husband was pretty impressed that I was able to do it and was picking on me all afternoon.  "Who knew I had married an artiste?" with a fake french accent.  LOL!  I just rolled my eyes at him and kept painting.  He's even stopped giving me a hard time when I want some piece of junk or other from his parent's farm.  I cannot wait until this week's Friday's Finds.  You should see the stuff I've already scored and its just now Monday!  His parent's farm is a treasure trove of all things junk, since his Dad never throws anything away and I am finding some cool stuff, plus a couple of steals on Craigslist.  To.  Die.  For.

So anyway...

I hope your Monday is off to a good start.  Its a rainy day here in Iowa, so it doesn't look like I'll get a start on the buffet today.  :(  But, I've got a couple of things I can do indoors to keep me busy.  Starting with a weekend's worth of laundry.  Fun.  NOT.

But before I start that, I think I'm just going to sit here with my cup of joe and soak in the colors and the word.  I can only hope that the rest of my day is that way.  In the calm.  What a great place to be.