What's your sign? Here's your sign? Do you know the signs? Follow the sign. Signs are definitely (and have been) all the rage in home decor. With a sign you can express yourself, your values, your humor. Words inspire us and we love to see those and share them with others.
I am guessing the sign craze will start to die down soon. Many crafters and creators make them and their tool of choice is a silhouette or other type of vinyl cutting machine. These produce beautiful, perfect, factory made looking signs.
And while I love them, for whatever reason (too cheap, want to do it differently, quicker?) I prefer to "hand letter" my signs like this one I recently made of one of my favorite verses.
I start by working with the lettering on Word--enlarging the letters and playing with the fonts. I usually print these off in outline style or in greyscale to save ink. After printing, I tape pieces together that need to be and cut off excess blank paper.
If I am transferring the lettering onto dark wood or paint, I rub chalk all over the back.
If transferring onto a white or light background I rub pencil all over the back.
Next tape your transfer onto your board and then trace around the letters with a ball point pen.
If you push hard and your wood is soft, it will leave marks. Sometimes these are desireable because they help keep the paint in the lines, but most often I try not to leave the marks.
Grab paint and paintbrushes of choice and paint! It may not be perfect, but I love that. Any big mistakes can be sanded off. Finish with a quick coar of a clear spray to seal your lettering. This lovely chunk of rustic, reclaimed barnwood makes this sign shine. Boy howdy, did it ever smell like cow when I did some light sanding on it, but you can't beat the wonderful, aged wood.
Are you a sign maker? What is your method of choice?
Beautiful sign, love the rustic look and the fonts you used! I've made and sold hundreds of signs without any machine, I do it the same way you do except I use carbon paper instead of pencil on the back.
Usually I do the Mod Podge transfer method with a laser printer and vintage graphcs on reclaimed wood, but I've used both methods at https://www.facebook.com/TheHouseattheEndoftheRoad
I pretty much do it the same way you do on rough wood. Sometimes I'll do a Modpodge transfer on smooth wood or use a stencil. It's never perfect but that's not what I'm going for anyway. Love your sign!
Hi Becky,
ReplyDeleteYour sign turned out wonderful and I love your chosen words.
Thanks for sharing,
Suzanne
Pieced Pastimes
I didnt know that with the chalk...thanks!!!
ReplyDeleteYour sign looks great!!xxx
After all the fancy stuff... that is how I do mine most of the time too :)
ReplyDeleteThis is genius. Thanks so much for sharing it. And I love the way your sign turned out!
ReplyDeleteBeautiful sign, love the rustic look and the fonts you used! I've made and sold hundreds of signs without any machine, I do it the same way you do except I use carbon paper instead of pencil on the back.
ReplyDeleteUsually I do the Mod Podge transfer method with a laser printer and vintage graphcs on reclaimed wood, but I've used both methods at https://www.facebook.com/TheHouseattheEndoftheRoad
ReplyDeleteI pretty much do it the same way you do on rough wood. Sometimes I'll do a Modpodge transfer on smooth wood or use a stencil. It's never perfect but that's not what I'm going for anyway. Love your sign!
ReplyDeleteDo you use regular paper? or do you use transfer paper?
ReplyDeleteLove it and love the verse! It pretty much sums it all up, right?
ReplyDeletePhyllis@grandparentsplus.com
My method of choice is using a projector.
ReplyDeleteLove this! Could you share the font you used? Looking forward to trying out this method, I love the non-perfect look to it.
ReplyDelete