Matthew Mead Inspires Again

I received Matthew Mead's Holiday magazine this Friday in the mail. As I paged through it, this vintage subway sign inspired project caught my eye. One of those moments when you say, I want to make this NOW! I had a large canvas already painted with my wall color. My son Jon was tossing two canvases when I snatched them up for projects unknown. One turned into a large blackboard, with a coat of blackboard paint. The other primed with my wall color seemed to be waiting for just this project. I purchase packages of vinyl letters at a rummage sale in the spring, so I started... Without a ruler, I just put down the letters, making sure they were not too crooked. I had a new can of bone white paint that I rolled over the canvas and the letters. I learned this technique from Joan at Anything Goes Here. She made the coolest signs this spring, and shared with me how it was done.

The secret is to not let the paint completely dry before removing the letters. I used a kitchen knife with a sharp tip to get under the letters.

This is the finished piece. It's hard to see the blue color of the letters, but it looks good in person. Not perfect...some of the previous colors came up after removing the letters, but adds to it's charm. This quick attempt has inspired me to make one on plain canvas as in the magazine. Next time I'll line up the words differently, and maybe even try one in back and white with blue line stops, or Manhattan stops or Paris stops! The truth is I still haven't unpacked my stuff from last weeks auction, and that white paint was really for my window sills. Just 9 days till Thanksgiving! Enjoy this beautiful day.