Showing posts with label Stencils and Image Transfers. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Stencils and Image Transfers. Show all posts

March 24, 2014

Tea Towel Pillow Cover | No Sew



I am a crazy huge window shopper, it's like a disease- I just can't get enough. I like to visually devour the eye candy, and then take that inspiration home to DIY my own version. I will look and look and look, without buying and I know that that drives Zack crazy, but at least it's not as crazy as the time my friend's husband sleepwalked a so-called, "pillow bomb" out the front door in the middle of the night to "save" his family. Ha! Ha! Ha! 

February 10, 2014

Faux Bois "Love" Drop Cloth Pillow
[ No Sew ]


Pillows are a girls best friend! It's not diamonds. Who ever thought that up? Those splendid, delicate, soft, clouds of glory catch me every time I need them too. Think I'm wrong? Think again. When a girl feels sad, she cries on her pillow. When a girl is happy, she plops down on a pillow. When a girl is angry, she buries her face in her pillow and screams at the tippy-top of her lungs. When a girl is confessing her true feelings, she's laying on a pillow. We even we have our own kiddos. Where do you put your them? That's right, on a pillow. We ladies use pillows for everything. Not even sure why they put a diamond in the center of a ring. It should be a piece of fabric from you favorite P-O-Double L---OMG-W. Am I right, or am I right? 

September 9, 2013

Create Textured [French] Canvas Art


Thought I would share a little French conversation I had with a Frenchman today. 
  • Me: "Bonjour, mon nom est Bec, et votre nom est?" This reads, Hello, my name is Bec, and your name is? 
  • French Guy:  "Mon nom est Français Frank, et vous êtes un Américain stupide!"
  • Me: "I love your french accent, it just sounds so..."
  • Husband: "I only took a year of French, but I think he just called us stupid Americans.
  • Me: "Ahhh..."

April 13, 2012

Herringbone Pelmet Tutorial


Isn't pelmet a funny word?
Well I think it is, and I decided it was the perfect solution to my kitchen window dilemma. I'm not a kitchen curtain person- and if you are, I'm not judging. I'm just saying, they're not for me. I saw a pelmet tute ages ago from Cassie, and filed the idea away for later.  Today, my friends, is later!
Wanna know how to make one? {This is where you start skimming if you don't care how to make one of these bad boys!}
Here's how I did mine. You Need: Fabric, Foam Core, Exacto knife {or something like it} Ruler or Carpenter's Triangle and Batting, L bracket or Curtain Rod Hardware

1] First, measure your window and determine the measurements of your pelmet. I used two pieces of foam core- then taped them the length of the window with packing tape.
2] Measure your curtain rod hardware, then cut the top of your board the same amount as your hardware is long. Like my hardware was 2.5 inches, so I cut down the board 2.5 inches.  Make sure you don't cut all the way through the board. I cut through the outer layer and the foam so I could bend it.
  3] Then cut out the corners. You can cut them all the way through, then remove the piece.  
 4] Then bend the sides and the top down and secure the corner. Again, I just used packing tape. I also taped the tops and sides to reinforce them. You can see from the pic on the right what mine looked like.
5] Once you have the pelmet shape, you can cover it with batting. I used a spray adhesive to secure the batting to the board. Then again, I just used tape to adhere the batting to the back of the board.

6] Lay out you fabric, and repeat the process of the securing it to the board just like you did the batting. This time I used a combo of staples and tape because I wanted the fabric to be stretched tight.
About this time- I looked over my finished pelmet and thought my linen looked a bit plain. So although I had already secured the fabric- I decided to spice it up a bit.
I wanted a herringbone print- but I couldn't find a place that sold a stencil resembling anything like I wanted. So- I made one with Word. I just manipulated rectangles and their angle, until I made something I liked. I wanted an abstract herringbone with a Native American flair. I love how this resembles the feathers on an arrow.
If you want to make your own print, here's what you need: Freezer Paper, Paint, Fabric Additive, Exacto Knife, Cutting Board, Brush, Container, Spray Adhesive and a pattern
I] Make a pattern or download a template.
II] Once I had a pattern I cut it out using my Exacto knife, then used that as a template to cut a stencil from freezer paper. It didn't take long at all, and if I did anything differently, I would have spent the time to cut out a bigger stencil. That would have saved time in the end. 
III] Mix your fabric additive and paint
IV] Use the spray adhesive to coat the PAPER side of your new stencil.
V] Your ready to use your stencil, make sure you're stencil is straight and using a foam brush apply the paint. Make sure the stencil is pressed down firmly and that there isn't a lot of paint on your brush.
And that, folks, is how you do it! I wanted a slightly handmade look. Like I the end product to look like it was hand done or done with block printing. You know- how the color will have variations and each line will look different? So I was careful to load the brush differently here or there, or apply different amounts of pressure.
I used the same gray paint that I used to stencil the damask curtains in the rest of the room. I wanted something that tied in- but that stood out. Damask is such a timeless print, but I wanted something more fun and current for the small kitchen area. 
And remember, you cannot judge these glorious {yeah right} honey oak cabinets. You guys know we rent this place- so what you see is what you get! Though I did try to convince Z that the landlord would never notice if they were suddenly turned white! Sadly, he was not on board! ;-)
Now for the money details! I purchased my supplies mostly at Joann's. With several coupons for "March Madness" the supplies totaled around 15 bucks. I bought a linen fabric (2 feet, half off, coming in at $8.) At the time I thought linen was important {to tie on with the linen-like Ikea curtains}, but now that I see the final product- I think a drop cloth would have looked almost the same. If I had used the leftover dropcloth this would have cost $6. 
Now who wants to make one of these bad boys!?




January 26, 2012

✥ Matthew Heller Art Knock Off ✥


I saw the pic below ages ago, probably last Spring right when I began blogging. I adore the silvery letters, the classic look of the typography. 
From the moment I saw it I knew it was meant to sit over my couch, like from before I had even bought our new sectional. I also knew I just had to put "our song" on it, "Bubble Toes" by Jack Johnson. That was before I knew the name of the art- it's "Homage to Music" check it out m-kay, Matthew Heller and I are on the same wavelength for this one. Oh- and in case you were wondering, Molly Sim's has Heaven by Bryan Adams.
And here's a pic of the same piece from the artist's {Matthew Heller} website.
I like the pic from Molly Sim's home a lot more- the words look much softer and purpley- probably from photo editing or maybe the lighting in the room- but whatever the case I dig it.

This project was a real pain the buttocks. Like serious. I don't think I would ever do it again, well, maybe I would BUT NOT the way I did the first time.
Here's how it went down.
1] I scored a super large "piece of art" many moons ago at the close of a yard sale. Yes, sometimes being the last stragglers into a yard sale can score ya a massive piece of original Santa Fe art {and the before pic seems to be MIA, since I took it a million years ago last summer!}

2] Have it sit in your spare bedroom/office/"trash pit for projects" for months while you decide what color the frame will be. Prime the frame and the whole painting to cover the Santa Fe-ness. Wait an inordinate amount of time, decide on oil-rubbed bronze and finally spray paint the sucker during a wind storm off your third floor balcony.
{3rd floor balcony and wind storm optional, in fact- avoid them if at all possible.}
3] Because I was repurposing this canvas I had to level out some of the crazy shrubs painted at the bottom. The artist had built up the paint and it stuck up off the frame at least 2mm. First, I sanded down the most prominent areas.
Then, I mixed paint and Blended Fibers Texture Gel to create a thicker paint, looking more like putty, to level out the texture a bit. I painted on layers of this mixture until I was left with a texture I thought would work for my new piece.
Then I used plain old white paint for the entire background.

4] Format the text to your song on Microsoft Word, I used Publisher. I measured my frame, then set up a text box in the same length width ratio. For example, if you frame is 24 in. by 36 in. then you would want the text box to be in a 2:3 ratio, so you could make the box 2" by 3" or more realistically 6" by 9".

5] Copy the text you've picked into your box and change the "Alignment and Spacing" so the text fills the line.

6] Print'er up- You all know I use Staples to print cuz they're cheap yo! This print cost me $3.40.
 
7] I use spray adhesive to attach the print up to contact paper- you know the shelf liner that comes on a roll. I bought the cheapest kind- it was like 3-4 bucks. If you spray the back of your paper, then spray the front of the plastic, then wait for a minute or two, they will be stuck together permanently!

8] Now you need to make a stencil- this is the part that super sucked. I used my Exacto knife and several refills blades to cut the letters out.
To be honest, I thought about buying a Cricket or Silhouette for this project. I thought if there were ever a project to make the buy worth it, this would've been it. But then my crazy type A personality kicked in and I was all, hey if I cut the letters out I wont' have to worry about spacing of the letters or letters not being perfectly straight. And then I thought- I can do this, who needs a fancy schmancy machine? Answer. I do, or I did.


9] The good news is- once the letters were cut out I was able peel off the backing to the shelf liner and attach my stencil to the canvas. Use a credit card or something like it to rub all over the stencil, making sure it adheres well. I had good adhesion everywhere except where there was still lot of texture.


10] I mixed versions of silver paint and painted the letters the darkest at the bottom and lightest at the top. I added a few drops of purple paint, cause remember, I was looking for a result more like Molly Sim's room.
Here's the stencil coming off-
Then the after shot-

I decided I'm not really good with random. If I copied my inspiration piece and used darker paint randomly in places my mind would constantly be looking for a pattern in the dark and light paint. So  a ombre color pallet makes a lot more sense for me.

So there you have it.
If I was to do it again, I would def use vinyl lettering cut by a machine or if not that, then plain old stencils. This project was craaazy long- but, it's good to know you can make your own stencils using contact paper, right?- Even stencils that are as complicated as this one.

Molly Sims' art piece, Heaven, measured 48” by 80”. My homemade art is 40" by 50". I would've liked it to be a little wider- but no worries, I  think it fills the space.





So that's how you do it- if you're crazy type-A and decide you want your very own copy of a super duper famous and expensive art piece.
What have you made lately?