Painter's Tape

Have you used painter's tape before? I have, but it's been a long time, and it was on a canvas that I stretched and gessoed myself. Years ago, when I used painter's tape, it worked exactly as I hoped it would. Straight lines, fast and easy.

Two weekends ago, I had a canvas and a verse that I wanted to paint, and I was in a chevron mood, as so many people are these days. So I picked up some painter's tape thinking it would make my lines cleaner.

Side note - clean lines are over rated. I don't hate them, but they have a time and a place. I like things to look a little messy. Homemade. Whimsical, if you will. Maybe it's the gypsy in me? Perfection gets a little dull.

Okay, back to the canvas. So I cut out a template that made it really easy to draw on the lines. But then I spent 2.5 hours - or however long it took me to watch The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel (love this movie!) - taping off the lines. My thinking was it would be quick to draw, take a while to tape, but then be quick to paint, and it would be nice and clean.

Boy was I wrong!

I don't know if it's because it is a store bought canvas or what, but the tape didn't stick close enough. Paint seeped in all over the place! So I had to go back and paint it without the tape, and the whole thing took a lot longer than it should have. I wasn't too frustrated. I always know when I am trying something new, that it may not go like I expect it to. But still... this canvas just wasn't that big of deal!

And then came the lettering. I don't hand letter well. I'm great with fonts, I love stickers on paper, but painting letters? I knew it was a bad idea. I gave it a try anyway, just in case I had developed a skill without realizing it, but sadly, that was not the case. So in the end, I used paper and stickers to display the verse and then attached that to the canvas. And because I like a little texture, I added little pom poms around the paper. I love pom poms! They make fun ornaments!

Here is how the canvas turned out. It is about 12" x 16". I will have it for sale at the Funky Finds Holiday Shopping Experience. Nothing fancy but it's cute =-) The verse is a portion of a long time favorite of mine, Psalm 51:10 - "Create in me a clean heart, oh God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me".

Thanks for stopping by! I'm looking forward to getting some good crafting time in next week, so soon I will have more pics than I know what to do with! At least, that's my hope =-)