I love the motivational and sweet sayings that friends post on Facebook and Pinterest. I’ve bought a couple of them at specialty stores, but they can be expensive, and they’re not always sayings that are special to me.

First, I’ll tell you what I did wrong when I created this word art. Looking at the picture after I peeled off the vinyl, you’ll see that the paint bled through, and I didn’t get crisp and clear letters. I ended up purchasing two more packs of 1″ vinyl letters in white, and carefully laid them over the damaged letters. I think there may have been two reasons for the bleeding: 1) I used the canvas without priming it. It didn’t occur to me that the canvas is essentially fabric, and it would need a little help. 2) I think that if I had used spray paint instead of acrylic paint, the paint wouldn’t have bled. Although, putting down a primer first and using acrylic paint may work. I tested my theories out, and you can see the results in tomorrow’s blog post.

Supplies:

• 12″ x 12″ canvas (Tip: Use a 40% or 50% coupon from Michael’s to buy a pack of them instead of buying them singly)
• 1″ Acrylic letters (I used Helvetica font and bought them at Staples. I needed two packs since I used some letters many times.)
• Pencil
• Ruler
• Paint: I used acrylic in this first canvas
• A favorite saying, word, or quote

Work from the bottom up

After finishing a line, draw a light pencil line above it and start with the last letter, working right to left

Carefully erase the pencil lines and smooth down the letters

Paint over the whole canvas

Use an Exacto knife to carefully pick off the letters once the paint is dry

I used white vinyl letters and laid them over the letters where they bled through to create this clean, sharp look