About a month ago my mother handed me a $20 bill and a tiny frame with a little post-it note attached. It said, “Stop It.” ”Blue and green.” “Small.”
It was her way of telling me that she wanted the words from Dieter Uchtdorf’s latest talk designed in some lovely way for her home and was willing to pay for it. For Mother’s Day, I made this project for her and wrapped it up in a polka-dot bag with her $20 tucked inside. To be honest, I love being able to give something that a person really wants so it was my pleasure to create this little treasure for her…minus the frame, minus the payment, and minus the blue and green color combo that she requested. After all, I had thought of something so much more beautiful. And cool. Yes, I had to make my Mom’s gift cool. She may be in her 70s but she doesn’t act like it so why should her home decor?
This phrase was just a part of a bigger message that has been put together nicely here by Nick Sorensen, but I like these two simple words – I think they can stand on their own. I believe that everyone has something in their life that they want to change or improve and these six letters are a gentle but clear reminder to stop whatever it is we are doing in favor of making a change. Chewing your nails, eating a bucket of fried chicken every day, choosing negative comments or thoughts…we have to just stop it, right? Motivation doesn’t come simpler than that.
My Silhouette files this week were inspired by this project. You get a variety of Lace Background Patterns (Chevron included) and Stencil Phrases in current themes to pair them with (Father’s Day, Graduation/Congrats, Thank You, Love Life). I also threw in some borders and blank frames because I know how much we all need those as well. They match the Artisan Chain design. Hooray!
LACE PATTERN BACKGROUNDS
STENCIL PHRASES
ARTISAN FRAMES AND BORDERS
How did I make Mom’s “Stop It” wall art?
1. Scaled Chevron Lace pattern to be 4″ wide and cut it out. Cut out a background square as well. White-on-white again – could anything be more beautiful? And subtle. She knows what it means and why she is inspired by it. It doesn’t have to scream at her to get the point across. Soft, lovely, approachable.
2. Cut a piece of chipboard 4″ square and mount solid square and chevron pattern to it. Cut out “Stop It” phrase from “Love Life” shape file. Remove words from phrase (ungroup and highlight words then delete them) and cut out an extra solid oval. Mount it behind the phrase so you can see what the words say. I used a very, very light blue color. Just a tiny bit of contrast to be able to read the words. Again – subtle.
3. Punch two small holes at top of 4″ square and tie a ribbon through to create a hanger. The ribbon is the pale shade of blue I used behind the words.
Tiny. Lovely. Sweet. Subtle. Perfect.
She loved it so much more than how it would have looked in her fancy frame. Dieter Uchtdorf’s wife is her friend so she asked for one more to give to her. High praise, if I do say so myself. Use any of the Lace Background Patterns and Stencil Phrases that I have uploaded this week in my Silhouette store to create a project just like this, a card for Father’s Day or Graduation, or just to say that you are grateful. You’ll want all of the files this week – lots of uses and lots of choices so add them to your library and start creating. Click here to go to my Silhouette store.
As you can see, I’m in love with white-on-white right now. It’s so clean and fresh. Check out this great technique while using color here at Inspiration Ave.
Happy cutting!
