Tuesday, May 29, 2012

Laundry Sign Inspired by Ballard Designs



I finally finished a project that I started about six months ago.  Have you ever done that?  Started a project then for some reason or another it sits there forever, unfinished?  I hate that.  Back in December I decided to make a piece of art for my laundry room.  I used this beautiful sign that I saw in the Ballard Designs catalog as inspiration:

Ballard Designs


Here are the materials I used:


  • 16x20 wrapped canvas from Michaels
  • Martha Stewart Crafts Multi-Surface Satin Acrylic Craft Paint in the following colors:
    • Putty
    • Vanilla Bean
    • Acorn
  • Martha Stewart Crafts Weather Crackle Effect
  • Adhesive Vinyl and my Silhouette machine





I started by painting two coats of the "Putty" paint color on the canvas front and sides.  Then I created the wording in my Silhouette program.  I used Times New Roman font for all of the words.  The word "Laundry" is 200.0 point, the second line is 93.6 point and the rest of the wording is 63.0 point.  And THIS is when my project stalled.




Canvas with 2 coats of "putty" paint
I have used my Silhouette many times for cutting paper, but not often to cut vinyl.  I wanted to cut the letters onto vinyl so that I could stick them to the canvas and use them as stencils.  I could not get the smaller letters to cut without them pulling up and getting all tangled and mangled in the machine.  I spent hours working on this.  Finally, in frustration, I put the whole project away until last week.




I got the vinyl loaded into the Silhouette and tried again.  Same problem.  Yeah, I'm not sure why I thought time would solve this issue.  :)  I sent Silhouette Customer Service an e-mail describing my problem and asking them if I was trying to cut letters that were too small.  They responded in ten (!!!!) minutes - awesome!  Their suggestion was that I slow down the cutting speed to 1 and decrease the cutting thickness to the lowest level.  WHADDYA KNOW?  It worked!   



Using transfer tape, I transferred the wording to the canvas.  Then I put one coat of "Putty"-colored paint over the words to kind of seal them onto the canvas in preparation for the darker color.  I let this coat of paint dry.





Once the coat of "Putty"-colored paint was dry, I put one coat of "Vanilla Bean" on the canvas.  When this coat was dry, I applied a coat of the Weather Crackle Effect.  The photo below shows the canvas at this point in the process (while the Weather Crackle was still wet):





I let the crackle effect dry overnight and this is what the canvas looked like in the morning:





At this point, I worked quickly and didn't take photos of the process, but here's what I did:  I covered the entire front of the canvas in "Acorn"-colored paint.  While it was still wet, I removed all of the vinyl letters using the weeding tool that came with my Silhouette.  Once the letters were removed, I used my hand to get the canvas wet with a bit of water and I scraped the acorn paint off with my fingernails and with a paper towel.  I wanted the sign to look like weathered wood.  I just scraped and rubbed until I liked how it looked.  If the paint started to dry too much then I just lightly wet it again so that it would scrape off.





So now, in retrospect, it wasn't a difficult project.  I couldn't be happier with the customer service department over at Silhouette America - they were so quick to respond and their suggestions were right on target.  Now, if you've got a project that you've set aside, I encourage you to pick it back up and finish it!  It's a wonderful feeling!


Signature

I'm linking up to these parties:



46 comments:

  1. Very very creative. And it turned out nicely too. I enjoyed reading about this experiment of yours.

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  2. I love it Catherine, it looks amazing! You are so talented!!

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  3. I love your project, it turned out really great! Now following :) Tanya

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  4. I LOVE it!! I've pinned it to remember it!

    Leanne @ Because (I think) I Can

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  5. This is very cool Catherine - love it.

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  6. That's so awesome Cathy! Way to be super creative! I want to do something like that! I'm not cool enough to have a silhouette machine (I don't even know what that is but I want one now). It looks GREAT!

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    1. Thanks, Kjerstin! OMGosh, yes, you want a Silhouette machine - they are awesome. I have had no time to read and catch up on the blogs that I follow, so I haven't been to The Way I Am in awhile, but I'll head over there soon. I love reading your posts! Thanks again, hon!

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  7. Oh I LOVE it!!! What a cute thing to put in the laundry room! Thanks so much for sharing at Thursday's Temptation.
    Jill

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    1. Thank you, Jill! I love love love your latest 4th of July wreath!

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  8. Looks fantastic!
    Kindest regards,
    Jennifer

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    1. Thank you so much, Jennifer, and thanks for taking the time to comment! :)

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  9. That looks great! Love it and the tutorial as well!
    I would love if you stopped by to link it up to my party which is happening now!
    Stacey of Embracing Change
    http://staceyembracingchange.blogspot.com

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  10. I found this technique to be so interesting I couldn't help but Follow you. Come visit me too, and if you like what you see, please, Follow Me:-)

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    1. Thank you, Lilly! I just went over to your blog to take a quick peek, and I cannot wait to spend some time there - all the Harry Potter party stuff looks amazing!!! Thanks for following me!

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  11. Yay!!!! So exciting! Thank you, Ginger!

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  12. Great project!
    Once in a while I've had a problem with vinyl letters coming up when weeding my vinyl design. I just assumed the lettering was too small or intricate.
    Now, I wonder if your trick would work for me.
    Also wondering why cutting on a lower pressure works....

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    1. Thanks, Teryl. I know, I assumed the letters were too small too, but then I'd see projects around blogland that looked like the letters were just as small. It was FRUSTRATING! So yes, if you're having issues, try changing your settings like I did. I hope it helps you too!

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  13. AWESOME!!! Another great use for the Cameo.

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    1. Thank you, Natalie! And thanks for taking the time to comment!

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  14. Totally love it! This turned out BETTER than the inspiration piece from Ballard Designs!

    I would love to have you share this at my linky party - Time Travel Thursday. Hope to see you there!

    Blessings,
    Liz @ The Brambleberry Cottage

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    1. Thanks so much, Liz! I've linked up to your party. Your blog is beautiful!

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  15. You won't believe that I have wanted this sign FOREVER too, but even on sale at Ballard for $89.00, I just can't! Plus I want to say I did it myself! My graphic design student daughter was home from college last weekend and we actually laid out the text to print on a 12X12 piece of paper, and that is where I stopped! I was kinda hoping Kinko's could print it out for me and I could just put it in a 12X12 scrapbook frame. Sounded like a great idea but didn't find any scrapbook paper that I liked OR a 12X12 frame either, so I put the whole idea on the back burner for another day/year! You should think about selling the cut out vinyl to those of us not crafty enough to justify having a silhouette machine! I would be your first customer!

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    1. I totally know what you mean, Joanne, about the $89.00! I just couldn't either. I'll keep your suggestion in mind and if I decide to sell the vinyl cutouts you'll be the first to know!

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    2. Catherine, I was going to ask the same thing. I do not have a silhouette machine but would be interested in purchasing the vinyl cut outs. Let me know if that is possible and how much you might charge. Amy1green@yahoo.com

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    3. By the way, that is a numerical one in my email, not a letter L. ;)

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  16. I love this! I like yours better than the original. I have a question though. It may be because it's late and I'm tired, but I can't figure out how you got the letters white. If you put the vinyl on, and then the vanilla bean color, shouldn't it be gray underneath? I've read it three times, and I feel silly, but I can't figure it out.

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    1. Hi Savannah, the letters are actually the "putty" paint color, which is kind of a beige-ish color. I started with 2 coats of putty, then applied the letters and "sealed" them with 1 coat of "putty"-colored paint. After that, it was 1 coat of "vanilla bean", 1 coat of "crackle effect", and 1 coat of "acorn". So when the letters are peeled off those first 2 coats of putty are what show. I hope that makes sense! And thanks for asking!

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  17. Featured you!
    Stacey of Embracing Change

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    1. That's awesome, Stacey! Thank you so much!

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  18. Hi Catherine, I'm new to your blog. Love your laundry sign! I've also had the same problem with the lettering on my silhouette. Nice to know that Silhouette gets back to you that quickly!

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    1. Hi Mandy - welcome! And thank you! It really is nice to know how quickly Silhouette responds. Try those suggestions and see if it helps your vinyl issues too!

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  19. Thanks! I guess the letters just looked white on my phone for some reason! :)

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  20. You did a fantastic job with this. And thank you for the Silhouette tip. I had the same issue. I'm hoping to make large stencils that I can reuse with the machine. Have you had any luck with this? When one comes out so well, it seems everyone wants one too and it's not NOT a lot of work!
    Thanks!
    Dani

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    1. Thank you, Dani! I have not tried to reuse stencils - would be interested to know if you try it!

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    2. Yours looks more authentic than the original. Well done!

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  21. You know I saw that sign in my new Ballard catalog yesterday. Yikes - way out of my budget! But it was so cute!! It's good to know you can do it yourself. Unfortunately, I don't have a Silhouette machine - don't even know what that is. And if you happen to visit my blog and see my post titled "Stenciling isn't for everyone, you know!" you'll know that I can't stencil either. What's a girl to do? I'll have to think on that one awhile.

    Thanks for sharing. I found you through Knockoff Decor. I am so excited to be your newest follower!

    Jaye @ Just Tryin' to Make Cents of it All
    http://justtryintomakecentsofitall.blogspot.com

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    1. Thank you, Jaye! I checked out your stenciling post (loved it!). I've never heard of the heated stencil cutter. It looks way too difficult for me too! The Silhouette machine is an electronic cutting tool kinda like the Cricket (and no high-heat involved). ;) Thanks for stopping by - I am your newest follower!

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  22. Love the sign, came across your project because i was looking for projects with vinyl on canvas. did you have any issues with the paint peeling around the letters when you peeled them off?

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    1. Thanks, Elizabeth! I didn't have any problem with the paint peeling because I had applied the 2 coat of the letter color paint OVER the vinyl letters before I painted the dark color. Doing that kind of seals the letter on there so that none of the dark colored paint can seep under the vinyl.

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