DIY – painted quote: The meaning of life…

DIY

I love quotes and I love having them around as reminders. This one is currently pinned up right above my computer, and I think it’s gonna stay for a while. As someone who only recently felt brave enough to call myself an artist, this is something that I still need to be reminded of:

The-meaning-of-life-quote_620

” The meaning of life is to find your gift,

the purpose of life is to give it away”

― William Shakespeare

(Print for sale in my Etsy shop)

To make your own…

You need:

  • a painted paper with lots of bold colours. Mine was a piece of watercolor paper where I’d been playing around with fingerpainting and making marks with bubble wrap etc. but you could also make a collage or find a page in a book or magazine – or anything else with lots of colors. Just make sure that the paper is heavy enough to paint on, or glue it onto a heavier piece .
  • a print of you chosen quote (or feel free to use one of mine – link below)
  • tracing paper
  • pencil
  • two shades of grey paint
  • small brush
  • paint markers (I use Posca pens)

quote_materials_needed

Step 1: Print out the quote.

Make a sandwich; colored paper, tracing paper and the quote on top.

quote_materials_needed_2

Step 2: Start tracing the text, but only the bold letters for now.

quote_trace

It would look something like this on the painted paper.quote_text_traced

Step 3: Start painting around the letters.

quote_fill

I used two shades of grey and blended them right on the paper. As you see I left a border of the multicolored background, but if you a going to put the final piece in a frame, I would recommend either no border or a wider one. Mine almost dissappeared as you’ll see in the last photo below.

quote_fill3

Step 4: When the paint is dry, place the quote and the tracing paper right on top of it again and trace the rest of the letters. Paint the text with paint markers (sorry I forgot to take photo, but I’m sure you know what it looks like) . Notice how I made sure to paint the darkest grey, where I knew I wanted to have white text on top.

quote_almost_done

Step 5:  I also outlined the bold text with markes and pencil to make them pop. Finally I added a tiny bit of decoration, but feel free to doodle all over the place if you’d like to 🙂

quote_trace_marker

Step 6:  Now frame your masterpiece if you’d like and enjoy a job well done!

The-meaning-of-life_01

Download PDF with quote.

 

^ Charlotte

 

 

DIY – Spiral quote on stone

DIY

 
I love this quote:

“Creativity is inventing, experimenting, growing, taking risks, breaking rules, making mistakes and having fun”

― Mary Lou Cook

 
It’s such a great reminder of what been creative is all about. Some times  I forget and get all caught up in the end result…

Maybe you need a little reminder too? Writing your favorite quote on a post-it note is fine, but if you are a little messy (like me), they tend to disappear in the mountains of stuff on the desktop. A stone is a little harder to misplace, and a lot more decorative. Without further ado; let’s create!

quote_on_stone_color

You need:

  • a stone, a nice round one with a smooth surface is the easiest to write on
  • a print of you chosen quote (or feel free to use mine – link below)
  • tracing paper
  • pencil
  • tape
  • paint markers (I use Posca pens)

quote_on_stone_materials
Step 1: Print out the quote.

Cut out and tape it to the stone.

Insert tracing paper.
quote_on_stone_carbonpaper_

Step 2: Start tracing the text.

If your tracing paper behaves like mine, you’ll need to go right to step 3 before the text on the stone disappears like fairy dust. Now is not the time for a coffee break! quote_on_stone_carbonpaper_hand

 

Step 3: Trace the text with your paint marker.quote_on_stone_hand

 

Leave it like this, or…

quote_on_stone_white

 

Step 4: Bring out the colors and have fun!quote_on_stone_posca

 

You may want to give it a coat or 2 of varnish if the stone goes outside or if you want a glossy finish.  quote_on_stone_color

Download PDF: Quote_spiral_MaryLouCook

If you want to make your own spiral quote in Adobe Illustrator, download an .ai or .eps file here.

 

^ Charlotte