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It’s the new must-have…the replacement for the little black dress, or maybe the accessory to…I don’t recommend trying to wear it.

But, I actually finally decided what she’s going to wear.
You might remember her back story? This entire project only cost the $2 I spent for the canvas at Goodwill. Heck yeah!

She did manage to find her way onto the gallery wall, even though she wasn’t done.

Now…she’s done.

I am quite infatuated with all of the word and letter art out there. I recently turn a pallet into word art. But, as I mentioned here, I don’t have any of those fancy machines that can create what I tell it to.

And I can’t always create what I want to. :/

Luckily, this one worked out.

I first made a paper template the same size as the canvas.
I just scribbled with pencil, used different stencils I had to see what size lettering might fit, played around with ideas.

I had received some GREAT suggestions on what to do.

Maybe some string art like Zoe.

Love the idea, but think this little black canvas is too small for it.

Then I got the awesome suggestion to put my word of the year on it in a dictionary type font. Who put that comment? And on which post? I’ve looked all over and can’t find you…I want you to get credit for the awesome idea. Let me know if it’s you!

Update: It was Leena! Thanks for the great suggestion!!

I had a moment where I thought I might put something kitchy, maybe a funny saying taken from a little DIY group therapy.

But the moment was fleeting.

In the end, I went with dates that are important to us.

I picked 5 different fonts I liked. I figured it would give it a more eclectic feel. AND, I would have a better chance of pulling it off if I wasn’t trying to make all of the numbers look the same. Can you say…intentional imperfection. 🙂

I increased the number size so the width of each date fit the whole canvas. Then I laid them out in order of date…and was not bothered when I discovered I was going to need to overlap them a bit. (Read: not interested in re-sizing and reprinting the numbers.)
My plan was to trace over the outline of each number hard enough that I could see it on the canvas.

Again, I say, luckily the plan worked.

I just used some paint I had on hand mixed to different shades. And for a couple dates I added some water for a more paint wash look.

I wouldn’t go so far as to say this project was easy peasy. Very good light is necessary to see the vague outline imprint. A very steady hand is necessary to create good looking numbers essentially free hand. And patience is just always a necessity. 🙂

A little before and after just for fun.
Once I knew what I was going to make and had picked out my fonts, this project took me a few hours…including the drying time between dates that wouldn’t be necessary if your numbers don’t overlap.

I have to say, I love her. She’s meaningful, a bit whimsical and not overly crafted…a nice addition to an already busy gallery wall.

What about you…what would you have done with the little black canvas? Have any number art of your own I should check out?

And, have you gotten all signed up on the new Linky Follower tool? If so, and want to follow me, please let me know you did in the comments so I can follow you back.

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I am sharing this project here and at:
BNOTP, Home Stories A to Z, Savvy Southern Style, Remodelaholic, Today’s Creative, and Sugar Bee Crafts.

Bow wow wow … yippie yo, yippie yay … Snoop Dog in the motha …

That’s probably enough of those lyrics. 😉

Any Snoop Dog fans out there?

I love ALL things music. I don’t know music, like people in the know know music. I just love it in all shapes and sizes. Fo shizzle. 🙂

And who doesn’t love a puppy? Or a silhouette art of a big dog?

I got so many great comments on these guys (thanks to you for that!) when I revealed the gallery wall and here’s how you, too, can make canvas silhouettes of really anything you have a photo of.

It’s easy as 1-2-3 (4-5-6-7). 😉

You may remember that my canvases were a couple of Goodwill finds that I flipped back to front?

They are the two on the right. The one on the left got painted black and turned into number art.

You could easily just buy new white canvases but I rarely take the ~~sensible~~ easy way. These are 12 x 12 inch squares and only cost me $2 a piece. That ended up being the only money spent on this project. Booyah!

Since these canvases didn’t have any backing I just had to flip them over and, using a mini pry bar and hammer, remove all of the staples.

I do recommend not stabilizing the canvas with your knee unless you’re ok with this happening.

I’m happy to report I will survive. 🙂

TIP!!! After you remove all of the staples I recommend ironing the creases in the canvas to bend the other way so you’re not fighting with the canvas when trying to restaple it inside out. Make sense?

Then you really just have to line up your seams and restaple the canvas back on the frame.

OK, so now you have your blank slate, er, canvas.

One of the funnest (Yes, I know it’s not a word, but I like the non word so choose to use it.) parts of this project was scouring all of our photos for good profile pics of the girls.

I mean, who doesn’t love to lay their head on a pillow?

Thank goodness this wasn’t a snapper. (We have very few picture of Mico even remotely looking in the direction of the camera.)

They just make me smile.

And look at this wicked cool pic my brother took of his border collie out in the field on the farm. RIP Capadoo. :*(

But, back to the silhouettes, I was looking for profile pictures, so I picked these.

*I ended up using a different picture of black dog because once I had the sitting picture cut out I didn’t like the way it looked.

After I had my pics selected I resized them so they would fill an 8 x 10 sheet of paper and printed them on regular paper on my at home printer. If you want a bigger canvas you could definitely resize the pic bigger and have it printed at a printer.

Or, have you heard of Block Poster? I haven’t used it but from the looks of it you can upload an image, enlarge it and then print it in blocks so you could maybe tape it together and follow the rest of the steps here.

If you have tried this, or try it now, please let me in on the deets, I’d love to know!

TIP!!! I rotated my photos to the direction I wanted during editing, but realized after printing that I didn’t need to because you could just trace your silhouette with your printed pic upside down. Duh! 😉 Also, flipping your cut out image upside down to the plain white side of your paper gives a good idea of what the silhouette will look like without any of the other details in the photo.

the little black canvas {number art}

DIY canvas silhouette art

*I ended up using a different picture of black dog because once I had the sitting picture cut out I didn’t like the way it looked.