Modern Art Tutorial

OK, it's time for my tutorial! (Bet you didn't think I'd get this up this fast.)

I decided I wanted some new art to hang in my new apartment and luckily I had a few blank canvas in my craft supply that I could paint. I knew I wanted something graphic and modern, so off to Pinterest I went.

What I found was this piece from the blog younghouselove.com.

I decided this design would work for me. It was colorful, not too distracting, but still had enough interesting details. 

I headed to Home Depot to get paint (and a few small items I needed.) Thank you to Christianne for telling me a few projects ago that you can get a little sample of any paint color for $2-3. This will last a WHILE! 

I decided I wanted to incorporate some yellows and grays and found three colors I liked. After running a few other errands, I went back to my basement and set to work following the instructions on the tutorial. 

First, I used a pencil and straight edge to mark off the columns.

Then I used the corner of a 3x5 card to randomly section off the lines and create the pattern. I used both inverted and ... what is the opposite of inverted?? ... angles to add more variety. 

I started painting and decided I should probably decide what color would go where. So I put a dash of color in each section. And this kinda turned into a color by number project. Except there were no numbers. 

For the first round of painting, I didn't focus too much on the lines and being precise. 

I missed pictures of a few steps here, but after my first color (light grey) dried, I used painters tape to cover any overlapping sections of colors 1 and 2. I then painted and let dry.

After THAT paint dried, I removed the painter's tape and reapplied (yes, I reuse tape. I'm that cheap.) where the 3rd color would overlap with the others. 

I could have been a lot more precise with this process. (I watched two movies while I worked on it...while doing a few other things and waiting for paint to dry.) But I wanted to move things as quickly as possible and undoubtedly cut a few corners. 

A look at my setup while waiting for the final layer to dry. 

I wanted to have a bigger piece so I actually used two separate canvases and designed them to hang side by side. I would have gone even bigger if I had the materials on hand. Here's one finished and another in the works. I could have done them at the same time, but I wanted to make sure the process worked on Canvas #1 first.

I also used the yellow paint to cover the canvases on the sides. These were previously painted black with lovely swirls some say resembled DNA. :P Here's what they look like on the wall. The lighting is horrible.

Some tips and thoughts:

I used a mechanical pencil for my lines, but it ended up kinda dark, and I had a hard time covering the lead. I would think a soft pencil that was lighter would work better.

I think it would look cool with thicker columns. Mine are just less than an inch because that's the width of the stick I used to measure. I'd love to see it done with 2 to 2.5-inch rows. Plus that means less work!

Again, I would have loved to go even bigger with the canvas size!

An update on my refinishing project

Hey friends! Do you remember this post where I talked about being crafty and teased, if you will, my first refinishing projects with this lovely piece:

Well, I have finally posted about the complete project! Check it out on the crafty blog my sisters and I have (although we've been slackers for like a year!) 

Scrapbooking!

Anyone remember my post from last December about American Crafts' a-mazing warehouse scrapbook sale? Yes, I was kind of obsessed. :) Well...I was thinking I was just getting addicted to BUYING scrapbook supplies but not actually USING them. Seriously, I've done a little here and there but nothing to even make a dent in my newly stocked scrapbook supply. But no worries...I've been doing a bit lately and wanted to share! (Especially for those in the pictures and the previous scrapbooking buddies!) I just took some quick pictures, so sorry things aren't the best quality—and, yes, they are just on my carpet! I've also linked them to a Picasa album if you want a closer look.

First up,

GRADUATION:

Yes, it's been two years and I still hadn't done these pictures. I managed to narrow things down to three pages—we all know I'm somewhat picture happy. Although after I finished I saw a picture I had put in a frame but didn't have a double of. ... don't you hate that? I started out really liking the first page of the series, but in the end after everything was glued on, I think I like the "inside" pages more. I think these colors kinda define me. I LOVE black and white patterns and LOVE darker red/maroon accents. Uh, remind anyone of my bedroom? It's EXACTLY like that :P 

Graduation 

Graduation Inside

21st BIRTHDAY DINNER:

Don't you love finding pictures from years ago that you never got around to scrapbooking? (haha, for you scrapbookers out there :)) I actually have had a plan in mind for this page for a while: the"Funny Faces" part. Yes, I believe I have a million of those type of photos. I wanted to feature them all somewhat equally so before getting the photos printed, I sized them in Photoshop to fit two to a printed photo. Some are more zoomed into the faces than others, but there wasn't much I could do about that after the fact.

Funny Faces

HIGH SCHOOL DANCE:

OK, now this would be a more accurate example of finding pictures from years ago. Yes, this is from, I think, my senior year in high school. Ah, crazy! I think I got extremely behind during my last year in high school and my first couple in college. These are just two pages of the four-page spread. Again, I'm a picture addict. I always have problems completing the journaling on my pages. But...I leave a space for it anyways. Haha, I used to NEVER personally write on my pages. (But note that I actually DID in "Funny Faces") I'm a perfectionist and couldn't stand any mistakes or even just how my handwriting looks. So I always plan on typing something up later and actually printing it. I just recently FINALLY got a printer so I'm hoping to go back to several pages with blank spots as shown in this one and actually finish them. (Because, yes, journaling is important.)

Stars are pretty much my favorite shape and I love incorporating them when I can. Some of the dance's decorations were stars, so I love that aspect of these pages. I also like the repeated style of squares at the top left and again in pictures on the bottom right. Oh yes, this also shows my recent fascination with incorporating RIBBON! 

High School Dance

NERD FEST:

I've mentioned how I have lots and lots of paper and supplies that often sit for months without use. BUT having supplies on hand, specifically supplies that fit a page PERFECTLY, provides an awesome satisfaction. I loved using these polka dot and argyle papers to feature these pictures from our nerd dress-up party. Again, sorry for the poor cropping! :P  

Nerd Fest

BABY WESLEY/FRIENDS:

I did these next two pages because I love when I see layouts and examples that feature just one picture. Sometimes it's hard for me to completely focus on one moment because there's so much else I also need to scrapbook. But I wanted to play around with some options, and I loved doing it. Another random note: I'm just barely getting into using lettering like Thickers and other lettering products. I used to ALWAYS draw my own letters and just cut them out of paper. (Note the differences from the first examples to the later ones.) I actually used to have a binder of stencils that I'd use. Sometimes I'd even make my own by printing out every letter of a font I liked on cardstock and then cutting the letters out. 

Baby Wesley

Friends