Textured Words

I found my way out of my gloomy creative-less state this week, and I think I'm really onto to something cool here. It all surrounds . . . Words. OUR words. Our Words for 2012.

I've spoken before about how important this whole "Word of the Year" idea is to me. It has kept me focused on things that I need to be focused on for many years now, and this year is certainly no different. I knew that I wanted to celebrate my word with a special piece of art, and I knew that I wanted to do the same for some very dear people in my life.

So, if you remember . . . it started with a trip to the local home improvement store for some letters. You may remember I shared this picture with you last week:

And here are the steps I took to make my are:

• Glue torn strips of scrapbook paper, die-cuts, music paper, anything that you'd like to a plain unpainted canvas.
• Mod-Podge the layer for papers and let dry.
• Stick letters spelling out your word on canvas.
• Completely cover canvas in white paint and let dry.
• Peel letter stickers off of canvas and see exposed scrapbook materials underneath.
• Randomly sand white paint in various places on canvas to expose small hints of papers underneath.
• Adhere small scrap pieces of same papers on top of white paint.
• Outline letters with black paint pen
• Add word "remember"
• Add thick layer of Mod-Podge over complete piece to set and protect work
• Enjoy!

Here is another larger photo of my word . . . COURAGE:

My dear friend Peggy's word, TRUTH:

My sister's word, BALANCE:

And my friend Cindi's word, IMPROVE:

I added a key to each piece, to symbolize "unlocking the word in our year". I like that. I'm all about the symbols, you know.

And I'm all about the texture.  There were NO MISTAKES in this project . . . everything goes, and I am so pleased with the outcomes. Here is another close-up shot where you can really see the layers on each piece.

And another one . . . don't you just want to reach out and touch the screen? Go ahead . . .

And a picture of the key . . . I love keys. Mysterious, don't you think? Where does the key lead you . . . if you follow your word in life?

Thanks for allowing me to share this project with you.

I am proud to say that I will be offering MANY of these in my Etsy shop in the coming days. If there is a particular word you would like to see in my shop, please leave me a comment and let me know. I'll update you on when you can add one to your home.

Until then . . . may you unlock much joy and courage in your day!

Peace, my friend.