Friday, April 20, 2012

Canvas Monogram - Make a Wedding Gift



Just think -
You could personalize wedding gifts
for your friends this summer!
Or-
make one for yourself.

Either way, this is a good punch of pattern and color
for your front door
or inside your home.

Start with a canvas Panel (about 2 or 3 dollars)
This one measures 16 X 20.

Start with painting the back semi-gloss black
for a nice finishing touch.

Paint the front of the canvas one solid color
or mix two tones.
I double loaded a brush using
lime green on one side of the brush and
darker sour apple green on the other.



When you look at the background pattern,
what shape do you see?
diamonds?
circles?
4 leaf design?

I suppose you could pick any of those shapes
to make your stencil.
I chose the 4 leaf pattern:



For my stencil
I started with a piece of cardstock paper.
Draw your shape
leaving good margins around your design.
I cover both sides of my cardstock with
wide packaging tape to sturdy it up
and make it reuseable.
Then using an exacto knife
on my cutting board, I cut out
the 4 leaf pattern.
This pattern shape
needs to be a 4 inch square so it
will fit nicely on the 16 X 20 canvas.
Then lay in the white paint
and repeat so that the edges of the
stencil repeat just touch.



Any rough edges can be cleaned up with paint
or wiped off if you catch it right away.
Baby wipes are a staple on my art table!
To give the white leaf pattern
a nicer finish,
take a 1" flat brush loaded with white paint
and pull it on it's side making a clean line.



Lightly sketch in where you want
your flourish pattern to go.
I made a large paper pattern
to trace around.
Then use a liner brush
loaded with grey and white to paint  the flourish design.
I add clear glaze to dip my brush in
to extend the paint and
get better flow.

Then make a large pattern
for the monogram letter.
Trace around and fill in.

Now for the grommets on top:
Using a 3/8" inch spade bit
drill two holes away from the edges













Clean up front and back edges
with an exacto knife.



Put top grommet extender through the front of the canvas.



Hold flat piece on back.



Using the grommet tool kit,
lay the front ring into the receiving flat disc.
Hammer the little silver driver
down from the back side.



You need to be firm with your hammer
and working on a hard surface
(a concrete floor is good).

Ta Da!
You're ready for the ribbon.











You can do it!
Wouldn't that make a great gift!

Have a great weekend,
Deb


Linking to:
HookingupwithHoH


Linking to I heart nap time



6 comments:

The Checkered Apple said...

I have a lot of canvas boards hanging around and this is a great idea to use them up! Thanks for the tutorial!

Deb Hrabik said...

Thanks, Diane.
I hope you give it a try. I appreciate your comments!

Katherines Corner said...

It's lovely! Hugs

Deb Hrabik said...

Nice to meet you Katherine! I can see your site will be a great resource for any wedding tips.
Thanks for stopping by, Deb

Shannon @ 2ndstorysewing.com said...

Thanks for the great idea! I have some new projects to work on in the near future and this looks like the perfect tutorial to get the jobs done!

Betsy @ 2nd Story Sewing

Deb Hrabik said...

It's always so good to hear that the tutorials are helpful and really useful. Thanks for your visit!
Oh - and the photography on your blog is wonderful!