DYI: Stencil Quotes

     In anticipation of the new "Hunger Games" movie coming out, I decided to do an art project inspired by the book...literally.  


What you will need:

~ This project took a little creativity, and I'm sure there are many other ways to do this, but this is what I came up with.  I wanted to stencil a quote onto a book cover. It sounds easy enough, but I wanted to spray around the letters, as apposed to paint the letters themselves.  The inverse of a normal stencil.  Michaels had nothing to offer in the way of peel off letters, so I got crafty ;).  I picked out two different sizes of adhesive letters from Michaels, and some rubber cement.  I figured I could leave the backs on the adhesive letters and tack them on with rubber cement.  That way once the paint was dry, I could remove the letters and rub off the remnant glue.  
     This was all in theory of course, having never done this project before.  
~ Then I picked up some painters tape, which is always good to have around, and a small can of spray paint in the color I desired.  For this Hunger Games project, the color of blood seemed appropriate.  


STEP ONE:

Lay out your letters on your canvas (or book), to make sure they all fit.  

I went back and forth on small and large letters until I came up with this...

STEP TWO:

     I used the rubber cement to glue them down. This was harder than I thought it was going to be.  You have to be very careful not to use too much glue or it will seep out from under the letters and effect your stencil.  Rubber cement is also a little unruly, and the more letters I glued the more rubber cement I had all over my hands, making placing the letters more and more difficult.  Once you place the letter, set it and forget it.  Even if it's not perfect.  If you move the letter around the glue gets all over the canvas/book and then the stencil gets muddy.  Remember, you are creating the negative of your stencil. 

STEP THREE:

     I used a Q-tip to clean up the excess glue and glitter. (Helpful hint: if you can find letters without glitter it will make the clean up process much easier.)  The Q-tip worked, but using your finger works just as well, if not better. 

STEP FOUR:

     I took painters tape and covered up the Mocking-Jay symbol.  I liked the symbol and wanted to keep it in the picture.  

STEP FIVE:

     Spray paint the canvas/book.  Make sure to spray at least a foot away from the canvas/book and use small steady strokes.  Don't keep a constant stream on it.  Do it in layers so you don't use too much.  I wanted the old book cover to show through a little so I called it quits just before it disappeared. 

STEP SIX:

     Wait!  This is the hardest part, but wait at least 3 hours.  I waited the whole night.  You want to make sure that the paint is all the way dry before you start pulling the letters and paint off.  If it is still wet at all it will smudge, or it will rub off when you try to remove the glue.

STEP SEVEN:

     SLOWLY remove the letters and tape.  The slower you pull, the better and cleaner they will come off.  Be careful not to scratch the paint off.  The book cover is much harder to use than a canvas, due to it's glossy finish, so I made things rather hard for myself for my first time out of the gate. 

Ok, a little dark for Linen, Lace, & Love, but it sure is fun!

LLLove,

Jen