Dimensional Name Art

Check out my latest name art project! It's hard to tell in the scan, but the letters are popped up off the page. It's really cool, if I do say so myself. And it was really fun to make. 

Here's a picture from the side that shows the dimension a little better:

Read on to make your own! Affiliate links below. 

Dimensional Name Art

Materials: 

• paper
• scissors
• removable adhesive
• acrylic paint
• stencils, stamps, sponges, plastic fork, etc. 
• black foam adhesive

Steps: 

Cut out the letters of your name... 

... and then use removable / repositionable adhesive to attach them to the background paper. 

Use a sponge to pounce paint onto the paper. Work up and down - avoid any sideways swiping that would disturb the letters or get paint underneath them. 

Continue adding paint on top using stencils, stamps, a plastic fork, or anything else you have on hand. For my project, I used a hexagon stencil (purple), a circle stamp (blue), a small piece of sponge (orange), and the fork (grey). While you don't need to cover every tiny space, you want each letter to have different patterns and colors. 

Let the paint dry, then carefully remove the letters. Fill in the spaces where the letters were with black paint. 

Add foam adhesive to the back of each of the letters. When the black paint is dry, adhere each letter just a millimeter lower and to the right of where it was. This will allow a little bit of the black paint to show, making the letters pop. 

I loved making this project and am excited to add it to my (large) collection of name art for kids!

Trio of Floral Cards

We had a cardmaking workshop after church last weekend. I made three cards using the same layered stamp set. It's fun to see how changing out the small details can significantly alter the card's appearance. The muted colors and subtle sentiment of this sympathy card...

... give a completely different look than the bright colors and bold sentiment of this thank-you card. 

The backgrounds on the first two cards are just ink. For this Hello card, I did a quick sweep of ink directly on the die-cut, then added details and shading with Prismacolors (affiliate link). 

I have very little experience with layered stencils and it was fun to experiment with different techniques.  Cards are great for trying out new skills and taking risks. I'm looking forward to playing with ink on cards again soon!

Hidden Journaling Mixed Media Project

Not all National Scrapbook Day challenges require participants to make a scrapbook layout. Some allow cards, traveler's notebooks, mini albums, journal pages, or even general crafts. The Hidden Journaling challenge at A Cherry on Top was open to any creation, as long as it featured hidden journaling. Most of us tend to create scrapbook layouts about happy subjects, so this is a chance to explore more difficult topics in our artwork. 

This is my finished piece: 

I started by writing my journaling on a piece of white cardstock, using a black Flair pen and messy cursive (affiliate link here and below). Then I used my fingers to cover most of the writing with acrylic paint in shades of blue and grey. I used black stencil butter and a drafting stencil (inherited from my dad) to further cover my writing. When that was dry, I added marks with purple and blue Stabilo Woody pencils. 

I tore the paper into pieces. I glued the base to purple cardstock, then added smaller bits on top to make an arrangement that felt right. Finally, I added word label stickers.  

• I'm fine, thank you. 
• I'll be okay. 
• This is real life.  

Making this project was cathartic and a surprisingly powerful tool for exploring my feelings. I love challenges that push me way outside my comfort zone. I'm glad to have made something so different and so unique for National Scrapbook Day. 

Monotype Name Art

I recently spent a really fun afternoon crafting with my friend, Ann. This is what I made, spread on the floor to dry. 

Those are monotype prints. Monotype is a technique where you add paint (or ink) to a plate, remove some of the paint (via stencils, stamps, etc), and then transfer the remaining paint to paper. Every image is one-of-a-kind (hence the "mono" in the name). You can create similar prints, but they'll never be exactly the same, which is what makes them so special. You can layer multiple images onto the same paper to create even more interesting designs. We used Gelli Plates, a large brayer, and acrylic paint (affiliate links). 

Making monotype prints is really fun, but what can you do with your finished prints besides just admire them? It should come as no surprise that my first thought was to turn them into name art! I started by picking five of my prints and trimming away the excess paper.

Then I cut patterns for the letters in my name using scrap paper. (No pattern needed for the letter I!) I cut them freehand; as you can see, I folded the C and the Y to help with symmetry. I decided against cutting out the center of the D in order to preserve more of the print. 

If you aren't confident freehanding letters, even on scratch paper, try drawing them first. You could also print out the letters or use stencils. 

Before I cut out my letters, I shifted the patterns so that the most interesting parts of my prints would remain. Then I cut. I'm holding the I in this photo, but the letter N is a better example of this. I'm glad I didn't lose that purple stenciled detail. 

Here is my finished name art, mounted on black posterboard. I love how the letters pop against the black. 

Curious what I did with the rest of my monotype prints? I'll show you tomorrow. 

BSA Personalized Patch Pouch

With the stay-at-home order in place, you might think that scouting is on pause. I'm happy to report that is not the case. Trevor's troop is meeting weekly via Zoom, holding games nights and other fun activities, and continuing to learn skills and work on merit badges. 

I'm counseling six Scouts working on the Citizenship in the Nation merit badge. Ordinarily, Scouts keep their own blue cards (the cards they use to record progress on merit badges, so named because they are literally blue), but since we are not meeting in person, I am holding onto all of the blue cards. I made myself this pouch to hold them:

Once life is back to normal and the Scouts keep their own in-progress blue cards, I'll be able to use the pouch to hold patches. A Scout could use a pouch like this to hold blue cards, temporary patches, or a bunch of other Scout-related stuff. Affiliate links below. 

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BSA Patch Pouch

Materials: 

• zippered canvas pouch
• See and Stamp transparent stamp set
• black ink pad
• fleur de lis stencil
• fingertip dauber
• patch of your choice (I love this awesome Beagle Scout patch)
• needle and thread
• Sharpie Extreme

Steps: 

Gather your materials. I used a Marvy Uchida zippered pouch that I had on hand, plus a commemorative patch from our BSA Council that fit perfectly over the logo I wanted to hide. (No offense to Marvy Uchida. I LOVE their products, particularly the Clever Lever punches and my all-time favorite pens.)

I positioned the patch over the logo, then arranged the stamps below it. I love this stamp set because everything lines up beautifully and you can see exactly where it will stamp. (Since there is only one of each letter and there are duplicate letters in DEROSIER, I just used another letter of the same size as a place holder for spacing.) When the spacing is correct, lift each letter, ink it, and stamp it onto the canvas. Don't worry about getting perfect ink coverage. You can fill in any empty or light spots with the Sharpie Extreme. 

Use the stencil and the fingertip dauber to create the line of fleurs de lis. Go over them with the Sharpie Extreme.

Now sew the patch in place. 

Voila! A perfect personalized patch pouch.