Canvas Art -- Lyrics & Letters

So today was Chad and I's anniversary of three years dating. Not a super huge deal, like three years of marriage, but we're gettin there! For Christmas this past year, he wrote and recorded me 3 songs, and I have been trying to figure out something clever to do with the lyrics for a while now. I've seen the posts on pinterest of using sticker letters, putting them on a picture, painting over them and peeling them off and it inspired me! I decided to use his song lyrics, all of which are written in the background, as a theme for this little anniversary craft. You could totally do this with your best friends favorite song, your wedding song, words in your child's favorite children's book, anything! I am no professional artist, I just enjoy doing crafty things :) 

Here's my little attempt at a step by step.

Materials:
- 16x8 canvas (or any size)
- acrylic paint
- paint brushes (I used mainly "fat" brushes)
- 2" (or any size) letter stickers (I got mine at Hobby Lobby)
- a Sharpie (I used black)

(1) , I painted the background of a 16x8 canvas. I blended the red and yellow acrylic paint colors to create this ombre sort of look. (any design works!) 

I did not make the edges perfect, because when the painting is all done you will not be able to tell the difference! 









(2) Next, after letting this dry over night (or however long it takes), I used a regular black sharpie and carefully wrote out the lyrics to the song he had written on the canvas. 

Even though it doesn't seem to show up well here in the darker red areas, when it is completed it sticks out much more! (And the picture makes it look dark)








(3) The third step I did was, after making sure the Sharpie was done drying so that it wouldn't smear, I stuck 2" (ish) letter stickers on the canvas in the order of the words "Something about you" - the main line in the song. 

The easiest way I did this was by cutting out the letter stickers before taking the back off so I could lay it all out and make sure I liked how it looked! I also added, with smaller letters, the date of our anniversary in the bottom right corner. 

(4) Next I painted over the letters with a darker paint then I used on the bottom coat. I painted the edges this same dark color as well, using a more fat brush. 




(5) After the paint has completely dried (so that you don't get smudges), I peeled all the letters off creating my final project! :) 

My letters look a little smudgy because my letter stickers did not stick very well! Next time, I will test my stickers and make sure they stick better, so that I can get a smoother line around the letters' edges. 


But there you have it! Simple Enough! 
 If I can do it -- YOU can do it!



Happy Crafting!
 ~Liv

Firefighter Preschool Art

Last Thursday, I was teaching art in the preschool and they were learning about fire safety! I decided to make a hand-print craft that was turned into 5 cute little fire men on a fire truck! With the help of the die cut machine, I created 20 sets of cutout heads, hats, and ladders (which were actually made from a xylophone die cut :) ) This one turned out GREAT! All I added to the picture was tires and the water hose, but you could even cut out the tires and let them glue it on! All the kids could do it, ages 3-5!