Thursday, October 11, 2012

Their Way / My Way: Wall Art


Sources: 1 / 2 / 3

My sister and her husband (augh!) just moved in together and wanted some artwork for their walls, so I thought making something for them would be the perfect gift.  I had been toying with something using the phrase "home is wherever I'm with you," and my friend mentioned she had found some map art on Pinterest so I swiped her idea ;)

First I went to a used book store around the corner from my apartment and found a map of Lake County, where we grew up and my sister currently lives.  I decoupaged the map to a canvas and let it dry completely.  While it was drying, I laid out the words the way I wanted in InDesign and printed them out.  Then I lightly taped the words to the map and traced over them with a mechanical pencil, pressing down hard so that the pencil made an indentation on the map.  Using good lighting, I traced and filled in the letters using a marker.


Next, I watered down some paints (if I had watercolors in stock, I would have used those instead) and painted over everything to age the map up a bit.  Now, I used a washable marker, which led to a bit more of a distressed look than I was going for, so I used some paper towels to pick up the extra color.  Then I finished it off by tracing around the letters with opaque white paint and the tiniest paint brush you can imagine.  


Voila!  Present!

4 comments :

  1. Oh my goodness, I love the DIY! I need to make one :)

    I have one I made similar to #3 and I own a picture similar to #1 but putting them all together like that is pure GENIUS!

    Thanks for sharing :)

    -Michelle
    Fierce & Fashionable

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  2. Love the way this came out, Kristina! I actually have the tin and woof "home is wherever I'm with you" sign you picture up top, and it's one of my favorite pieces in my apartment!

    -Alyssa
    The Glossy Life

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  3. This is such a great idea! I love it.

    Amanda Rose
    http://sewmuchtosay.blogspot.com

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  4. What a fabulous gift idea! I need to become a more creative gift-giver. I also need more art for my own walls. Haha.

    xo,
    Hannah
    www.chillairandperfume.blogspot.com

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