Making ART with patterned papers!!

Hey there, Natalie here.

If you’re anything like me, you can't get enough of BasicGrey papers. I love their style, I love their color combinations, and I love the ability to mix papers from different lines and still have combinations that look great.

One thing I like best about BG is they have a sophisticated style that I relate to. Even their Pheobe line, which is playful has a sophistication I love. I’ve been thinking for quite some time about how I’d like to have some BG style home décor. I slightly satisfied this urge by covering some light switch plates with paper. I Mod-Podged the paper on and gave it three top coats of Mod-Podge for good coverage. (sanding the plastic cover first gave it a key to adhere to).

Light switch projects aside, I’ve been wanting some more things to hang on the walls. I’m really into retro designs and graphic shapes, and I’ve been thinking of making something from BG paper for a nice piece of art. So….

I started with this picture and frame I bought at a yard sale for a dollar. I bought it thinking I could give the frame a nice make-over, and maybe do a painting over this old one. Which I think is actually a textured print. (old crap, whatever I call it) The photo was taken with a flash, hence the slight shine, but ya, it was already this strange color of washed-out yuk.

I started by removing the canvas from the frame and painting the canvas white.

I then got 5 coordinating BG papers (from different lines) and I cut out a bunch of circles and rings with kitchen bowls and the Coluzzle large nested circle template. As you probably already know, the Coluzzle large nested circles aren’t very big, so I had to use bowls too. I got out the small circle template, but didn’t end up using any small circles.

I used Color Box Fluid Chalk ink by Clearsnap, and inked around the edges of each circle. I used Creamy Brown, Chestnut Roan, and Amber Clay. I must add right here, that part of why I think this was so successful is the inking of the edges. It helps the eye see a finished edge on each paper, and it removes the white core of the paper, which isn’t attractive.

I sat and arranged and re-arranged my circles and rings until I had a design I liked. A big part in liking the design was making sure the gaps between the circles were even. I didn’t want a large gap in one area, and a tiny gap in another. With the arrangement of circles satisfactory and covering the perimeter of the canvas, I started in one corner and used my squeeze and roll glue pen to attach each circle together where they overlapped. Once every circle was connected to its overlapping neighbor, I turned the whole piece over.

On the back side, I attached scraps of black cardstock over each gap. Once all holes were covered, I turned it back over to the front, trimmed off any overhanging edges of circles so that my creation fit the edges of my canvas exactly.

I then glued down my paper creation to the canvas. I would not recommend using a liquid adhesive like Mod-Podge. It’s too wet, dries too fast, and there’s too much chance of it getting on the front with my talents of having a brush flip out of my fingers and land where I don’t want it to. So I used my squeeze and roll glue pen. I wasn’t expecting it to adhere, but I thought I’d try it before I used a spray adhesive. And it worked, so I didn’t have to use a stinky spray adhesive.

I didn’t want a sheen on my finish, and even matte Mod-Podge has a slight sheen, so I didn’t put a coating of anything on the finished side. I suppose, if I was concerned with people touching it (i.e. children) then I would use a matte spray finish to protect it. Those are invisible and are great!

Since the room I was hanging it in is used by my husband, I asked him if I should paint the frame black and make it look nice. He said he liked the old frame, gap in the corner and all, so I left it as it was and hung it up!

This project was so fun, I made another one to match my bedroom, about 4 times the size of the first one. Although I’m pleased with the finished result, my advice for a big one is: --Stick to large circles. I struggled to get spacing I liked with the small circles, but I’d already cut them out, so I had to use them.I attached this one over a piece of interior door that I had. (long story)
I covered it with green fabric and then attached my paper creation.

And just for the record, DH has been happy for me to put accents of pink and green in our brown, tan, and white bedroom. I was really unsure what he'd say with this much pink and green, but he liked it. So yea for me!!

One of a kind!! (for now)