Saturday, May 9, 2015

A Bible Verse Reminder and an Easy Tracing Technique

I love a project that is simple and satisfying. This Bible verse canvas that now hangs in my kitchen was both. From start to finish, the entire thing was completed in less that 24 hours (And I have two kids under 3).


I could say I have been training for this project my entire life. I am not an artist...but I can trace! I used to love those coloring books that had the thin pages in between each picture for tracing. And I had one of those little light boards (I think it was Little Mermaid themed...wasn't everything in those days?) to trace pictures.


I have held on to these large canvases for a while. I used the first one for this Pottery Barn knockoff here. It originally hung in my Financial Aid Office, and we are enjoying it in our living room these days.

The process for this verse was super simple. I found a font that I liked and made my Bible verse into a poster in Microsoft Publisher. When you create a new project, you can select the size of your page. I made my page the same size as the canvas (30"x40"). I printed the verse on our regular home printer. After trimming the edges, I taped all the pages together.


After turning my "poster" over, I then scribbled with a pencil on the backside of the letters. I realize that you can purchase tracing paper that will give you the same effect. I just like to use things that I have on hand...and I had plenty of pencils.



I taped the poster onto the canvas and traced the top side of each letter with a ball point pen. Any pen will do - you just want to use something that is going to press down pretty firmly. When the pen presses down, it transfers the pencil from the back of your paper to the canvas. This will also work on wood too.


Using a paint pen (this is the one I used), I traced the outline of each letter to cover up the pencil marks. This gave a nice clean edge for each letter. If you have a super steady hand, you could probably just use a tiny paint brush. I, however, did not trust myself.



I also used the paint pen to fill in some of the skinny portions of my script. I used acrylic paint for the rest.



I hung this canvas in my kitchen. Because of its basic color scheme, it could really hang anywhere in my home, but I wanted it to be in a place that I would see often.


As I cook meals, eat breakfast or wash dishes, I can be reminded of the fact that Jeremiah and I have decided that our household is going to serve the Lord. It's a choice we have made and one I must commit to daily.


I love to surround myself with Scripture. The Holy Spirit seems to use it to encourage or challenge me at just the right moment.


My mom has already requested one of these for her home and my sister is deciding what she wants hers to say. This technique is super easy and super satisfying. I am loving my latest spur-of-the-moment project, and I am planning out the next time I am going to use this tracing technique.

Have any of you used this pencil transfer method?

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