Decorative artist Sheila McGraw demonstrates her technique for embellishing furniture with handwritten quotations and ornamental photocopied images. Materials:
Piece of furniture to decorate
Waterproof pen (bullet end or chisel point)
Paper
Scissors
Photocopies of copyright-free images to transfer to furniture
Painter's tape
Marking pen called a colorless blender
Acrylic polyurethane and brush for application
- Choose quotations from a quotation book. Sheila chose quotations related to sleep and dreams for a bedside table. Practice writing out the quotations in a loose hand to get an idea how big they'll be.
- Cut around the handwritten quotations, and arrange them on the drawer or tabletop to determine their placement.
- Use the waterproof pen to hand-write your quotations on the furniture (figure A). Relax so the words will flow naturally.
- Fill in the areas around the lettering with ornamental designs copied from a copyright-free book. Small icons and Greek architectural elements pair nicely with handwriting. Place a photocopied image face down on a drawer, and hold it in place with painter's tape. Rub over the entire image with a marking pen called a colorless blender (figure B), which will dissolve the photocopy's ink, transferring the image to the surface below. Burnish the image with your fingertips, let dry a bit, then pull up the paper to reveal the transferred design.
- When the surface is dry, protect it with clear acrylic polyurethane.
Note: - If the photocopied image doesn't transfer successfully with the blending marker, use turpentine and a brush to transfer it.
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