DIY Chalk inspired art

There was a big empty spot on our bedroom wall that I wanted to make a piece of art for. And I thought it would be fun to have a craft day with my sister. Put that together and this is what resulted: 

I love, love, love how it came out, better than I had envisioned it. The words " draw near" were inspired by a song that was on my labor playlist from Bethel's Loft Sessions cd. My favorite part of the song goes "draw near to me for I have drawn near to you. Pull on the strings of my heart for I long to respond to you. And all my love is for you all my love is yours." 

It's such a beautiful song, if you want to listen to it (highly recommend it!) click here. 

I thought it was an appropriate reminder for our master bedroom... draw near to the Lord, and draw near to each other. 

So here's how I made it in case you want to make something similar. 

You'll need a canvas, paintbrush, chalkboard paint, chalk, a sharpie paint pen and a drawing sealer (or hairspray) 

First: paint your canvas with chalk board paint and let dry over night. Then use a piece of chalk and rub it all over your canvas to give it a true chalkboard feel. Then use either a paper towel or soft cloth to smudge and rub in the chalk. 

Next use chalk to sketch your design onto your canvas. This is great because if you mess up just smudge out your design nd start over. 

Once you've got it looking how you want use your sharpie paint pen to trace over it and shade it in or give your letters a "calligraphy" look. I used to thicknesses of white paint pens and one silver paint pen.  Once you've got your art finished in paint pen let it dry and the using your paper towel again go back over and erase any remaining chalk lines for a nice clean finish. Then use your drawing sealer (or hairspray) to spray the whole canvas and seal it all in place. (this is mainly to keep the chalk dust you seasoned the canvas with in place.) 

I used this same technique to make two smaller monogrammed canvases for gifts for a wedding and bridal shower I had this past weekend. I just signed the backs of these canvases and used them in place of cards with my gifts. I attached twine to the back with hot glue so they could be hung up. 

My inspiration to try this came from a pillow cover I saw in a pottery barn magazine that looked "chalk board-ish." I have not looked on pinterest to see if this has been done before because that will only make me feel un-original if it has... lol. Anyway, it was a fun and fast way to make personalized and unique art for our home, and I hope you have fun with it if you decide to try it. I'd love to see pictures of what you do so leave a comment with a link to your photo if you do make one :)