I’m sure many of us have rules and boundaries that we like to stick to. Sticking to them is the hard part because breaking the rules can be so much fun! I am lucky enough to have someone in my life who has a list of rules that she abides by and will always remind me of her rules. They originate from the book called The Four Agreements. These rules can and should be followed by everyone and they are (in no particular order):
1. Never Assume
2. Don’t Take Anything Personally
3. Do Your Best Work
4. Be Impeccable With Your Words
Click here to get a better understanding of what each rule is about. Now, I’m sure you’re wondering how this ties into antiquing. Well, I had this idea that all started when I eyed this picture.
Notice the awesome number canvas in the background? Well I loved it and had kept it in the back of my mind on my Pinterest board because I wanted to eventually do something with it. Well the time had finally come for me to get creative. I decided to use a canvas to display the four rules and incorporate those numbers. I started by playing with the rules and numbers on print shop to come up with the design I wanted to go on the canvas. Once I had it, I printed it and then copied it onto a transparency.
Next, just like I did with the burlap joy prints, I used a projector to send the image onto the canvas and then traced over the letters.
Then I just went over it in sharpie.
At this point I wasn’t completely sure what my plan was. I began to fill in the letter R in sharpie but as I kept going I knew that would never work to cover the whole board. So I decided that I was going to use black acrylic paint but I still felt it needed more and that’s when I decided that I would try to give the canvas an antiqued look. I went out to Michael’s thinking they would have some type of easy to use antiquing product but the person who was helping me wasn’t as helpful as I hoped so I ended up using something that wasn’t going to cost me anything. Tea bags.
I literally put about 3 bags into warm water and then ran the tea bag up and down the canvas to help stain it. It worked like a charm! After I covered the whole board I went around with a sponge to lighten some areas.
I let the canvas sit for about and hour until it felt dry to the touch. I wanted to add a bit more aging so I took out an old brown stamp pad I had from my scrapbooking stash and rubbed it against all the corners. The pad was pretty old so it wasn’t full of ink so then I just dragged it all around the canvas to add a bit more color.
Now it was time to paint. I just grabbed a small paint brush, some black acrylic paint and went to town. Having the letters outlined in Sharpie really helped me stay within the lines and keep the letters neat.
I let that dry overnight and then in the morning I lightly went around the edges and over the words with a fine sand block.
The idea was to give it a worn out rough look. I am happy with the outcome and she LOVED it. She makes sure to tell me everyday how much she LOVES it 😉
The photo looks a bit splotchy in some places but it doesn’t show that way in real life.
I hope you all have a fabulous weekend and enjoy whatever holiday you will be celebrating! And just for fun, here’s a catchy tune to get you through the weekend that I am currently playing on repeat!
K’naan -Is Anybody Out There (feat. Nelly Furtado)
