Sew Busy!

Today I want to share with you  the ABC artwork I made for my son's small playroom. Its been a good addition because he knows the letters ABC already...

But before I get to the How to, let me tell you why I was MIA last week. This last week was so busy. I was busy sewing up a storm. I completed the master bedroom drapes (post will up this week), seat cushion for the monster chair (chair reveal early next week) and the seat cushion for my brother's entryway bench. I was busy volunteering all day wednesday and ended up sleeping at 2 am on wednesday night after a whirlwind night that included my friend and a possible break in at her home. Apart from that,  my 16 mnth old has been under the weather. Its definitely a virus, with lots of coughing and the poor little guy can barely stay asleep during the night. Then the weekend was spent at my mom's house while my hubbie picked my MIl up in Edmonton. E continued to get worse and the cold lives on. Add all of these elements and you will know why I missed a whole week of blogging. Last time we talked, I was going to go skating and it did happen. I was definitely rusty but hope to get back out there soon. I'm also starting to come down with something so I'll definitely take it easy.

Basically, this was an old art piece that I bought from Homesense but my husband never really liked it so I decided to paint over it but ofcourse you can replicate it using a large canvas. If you are using a canvas I would omit the first step.
How-To:
1. Prime the old print. I completed two layers of primer.  This was important to do because the previous print had a glossy finish and the acrylics would definitely not adhere to a glossy surface.
2. Tape out a grid pattern with painter's tape. If you want to make it perfectly spaced then complete the grid pattern but I was going for an animated look since it is a child's bedroom, so I decided to leave the grid pattern incomplete.
3. Paint the background with multiple colours using acrylic paints.  Let dry.
4. Remove painters tape. Free hand (thats what I did) or stencil  the alphabet.
5. Paint the letters in a colour trend of your choice.
6. A quick and light spray of clear spray paint allows for a glossy and durable finish.

Before

After

The great thing about the artwork is it can transition from nursery to toddler bedroom quite easily since its not too babyish. And it is gender neutral so it can carry on to the next nursery if we have a girl.