Thursday, June 14, 2012

Challenge 12- Toddler Scribbles into a Work of Art

So this is the project I started a week ago and just got finished today. The original pin is from http://squashblossombabies.com/2012/01/19/toddler-scribble-art/ and gives step by step instructions on how to take kids scribble pictures and turn them into a wall mountable work of art.

This particular blogger used a stencil pattern and an Exacto knife to cut out the individual pieces. I loved the pattern she used, however I couldn't find a stencil pattern I liked at the craft store and I am inherently lazy. I thought I could take a different take on this idea. I bought a die cut kit and decided on a star die cut and had the inspiration to create a star shape on the canvas with stars. I gave my toddler an assignment to doodle her little heart out and gave her the white printer paper as her canvas. However, in true toddler fashion she refused for a week to color on the "white" paper and only wanted to color in her countless coloring books. I wanted to keep continuity and not use the different paper, so I waited. I painted the canvas with an acrylic paint in a teal color that I love and waited until I had enough scribbles to work with. One of the things I loved about this project was going through her scribbles and finding spots where she had crossed colors so the piece would be more diverse. Like Picasso before her, she decided she was having a blue phase which made it even more challenging to get a good mix of colors and lines.

I printed a star shaped template from PowerPoint and lightly traced in in pencil. I tried the star in a few places but ultimately liked it the best over in the corner and not completely on the canvas.
I used the die cut and chose spots on the paper that I thought had the best color combinations. I had to cut up a lot of the doodle sheets to get to those spots, which I felt a slight tinge of guilt cutting up my potential future artists work (I think she'll forgive me).
The most painstaking part was lining up the stars as perfect as possible. My desire for symmetry was fighting my desire to get this done so I eyeballed the distances between the stars and ended up happy with how everything lined up.
I then glued down all the stars. I had to wash the glue off my fingers a few times but other than being a slow process it was fairly easy one.  After seeing the stars on the canvas I decided it still seemed kind on bland to me. Then I got the idea to add a quote I loved. I wrote the quote out in pencil, using a ruler to line of the words as evenly as possible, and then went over the words with a Sharpie. Once the stars were and quote were done I got out the Modge Podge. I have to sheepishly admit, for someone who fancies herself as a crafty person I had never used Modge Podge before today. To me it seemed like an extra thick Elmer's glue, I proceeded to pour it on a paper plate and fill my miniature paint roller with the sticky stuff.
While applying Modge Podge I did have two stars go rogue. One was easily put back in its assigned spot the other ended up as a casualty and had to be quickly replaced. The Modge Podge was easy to put on, however I did fear it may not dry clear since it still had a milky white appearance even a few minutes after applying. I left the room and gave it the instructed 15 minutes to dry and came back. I was very happy to see it did dry clear and here are the final results.
I love how it turned out and I did enjoy putting it together. That being said construction today took about an hour and a half (which includes lining up stars and perfecting my font work) and that doesn't include the time in took to double coat the canvas. I think its an awesome way to use a child's artwork instead of just throwing it in a folder or putting it in the trash. If I were to do it again I would probably buy scrapbooking letter stickers instead of doing the font myself. I might take just as long to do the words applying the stickers, but I think it might look a little more professional.

Next up, making gift bags out of maps or other types of paper. Stay tuned.

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