Transform an old book into something new by cutting, folding, gluing, and so on. |
Finally I found a book that was a good mix of words and photos. In the end - I didn't use any of the photos at all. Still, I've saved them, I'm sure they'll come in handy for something. One day.
I found a poster on Pinterest that I really liked.
I wanted to make my own version; something uniquely ours rather than a copy. Knowing I planned on working with cut outs, I designed it in Excel using bold fonts, no thin line fonts. I used Excel because it allows for limitless page size.
I had already bought a canvas. I didn't buy a square canvas, because it wouldn't work in the space I was planning to use. My canvas is twice as long as it high, so although I was using the above layout as a guide, I had to think about my own design elements. Once I decided on what words were going on what lines, I used Word Art to allow me to drag the words bigger, higher, wider (or smaller, shorter, narrower) in the space I wanted.
The fonts I used are:
- Rockwell Extra Bold (twice)
- Cooper Black
- Berlin Sans FB Demi
- Franklin Gothic Heavy
- Arial Black
When I finally had a design that met the Teen's approval (my art critic) I printed out the lettering. I rough cut each letter, laid it over the section of the book's page I wanted to use and then cut through both layers with a craft knife. Much easier than cutting out the letters, drawing the letters onto the page, then cutting out the page.
My letters all cut out and ready to go. I considered cutting out the pictures from the book somehow to make a collage background for the canvas. I decided that it would be too busy and not the look I was hoping for. In the end I squirted rows of green and white paint on to my canvas and just sort of smoshed them about with a brush.
The end result was quite evenly coloured, but it has a hint of variation. Because the paint ended up quite thick, I used it to 'glue' the letters down. Sadly, that means not guide lines and my letters are little wonkier in placement than I would like. If I did it again, I lay out my lettering before I painted the canvas and draw faint guide lines to get a more even layout. Everything should be moved down just slightly; the 'most' is supposed to tuck into the 'h' of 'house' - not sit over the top of it; and the 'share' line has a slight slope, but these things are hard to remember when you're working on the fly.
Apologies for the poor quality picture. I think I must have taken it in the afternoon, when the sun comes through the window behind this opening.
1 comment:
looks really good.
I got the book but it somehow does not gell for me.......I might sell it one day.
Worth a try.
I have been creative clearing out papers which I have been told breed overnight.
Keep up the good work.
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