Subway Sign Knock Off
Over the past year I have been watching all of the Subway Art being
made by many bloggers, and wanted to do one myself.
Because, after all, creativity is sometimes just recognizing a good
idea and creating it yourself right?
Although I feel as if I am usually the last one doing the new “project”!
During the Christmas season I bought a copy of
Matthew Mead’s Holiday magazine – as it featured many bloggers I follow.
I immediately fell in love with the print in this photo-
This is a picture of a picture in the magazine,
so the quality is not good.
I really liked it though and thought it would go
well in my living room.
I went on Matthew Meads website and found that it is
a signed numbered print, and costs $120,
plus $10 shipping…
Sooo – that was out of my comfort zone financially.
I got myself a Silhouette SD (vinyl cutter)
for Christmas, (yay me!) and decided I would make my own!
I didn’t want just a print, however. I wanted something more stable -
So I started with a cabinet door (of course) from the Restore store (where else?)
I painted it with my new favorite shade of blue from my living room.
Then I began to work on the words to put on it.
I quickly found there is a learning curve with the Silhouette.
There are seriously just so many things it can do!
My biggest problem with vinyl has been getting the vinyl off of the backing without
ripping the image apart. So I decided to use block letters and a large font.
(can you say duh??!)
I also choose to use words that would last all year, instead of
just the Holiday season.
My first try I made the letters way too small.
I played around until I got what I was looking for, using
various fonts, sizes, and styles.
There are a few Bible passages that are especially important to me,
and I think of them almost every day.
I choose to use some of the words out of those passages .
Then I began laying the words out on the board
to figure out placement. See my little laptop up there?
As I was doing this I was also participating in the weekly
Crafterminds tweet chat. It happens every Monday at 4:00 pm EST.
Go into twitter and search for #crafterminds if you are interested in joining us.
The topic that day was Time Management!!
Once I had placement figured out the rest was easy and fast!
I did decide I needed something other than the words to fill in a couple of spaces.
So I printed off two accent pieces to go there.
I shabby-ed up the edges with some sandpaper to finish it.
And I am in love with the results!
Plus it was only around $3!!! Compared to $120!!
Love the way it looks on my mantle -
I may eventually add some more words to it, as there is room for more.
But for now I am just going to enjoy it for a while before I decide.
So – what do you think? I know it isn’t hand-signed by Matthew Mead,
but I think I can live with that!
Thanks so much for coming by – I would love to hear from you!
Shane Hawk
483 days ago
I love the fact that you used different fonts for the words… not all uniform and boring. I also love the roughed up edges. Great job!
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Teresa W
483 days ago
I think it looks great! And congrats on the Silhouette! I would love love love to have one of those machines!!! That’s awesome.
Looks just as good as the original, and it’s got a wonderful story behind it.
Oh, and btw…I, too, am always the last one on the crafting band wagon, so don’t worry, you’re not alone.
~Teresa
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Melissa
483 days ago
Love it! Can you make me a welcome sign for my front door? =)
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Sandy
483 days ago
I love it! And it’s special because the words are meaningful to you!
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Tammy McAninch
483 days ago
Nice! I just bought a cabinet from the habitat store. Not sure what I’m going to do with it…but I like what you’ve done! The silhouette sounds AWESOME! Now I want one.
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Jennie Pie
483 days ago
Hey! Love it, as with everything you do!! If the vinyl is sticking to the mat and ripping, it may be a problem with the settings you have. It should be able to cut pretty intricate details, but I am a Cricut user who has recently changed to the Silhouette! I just got mine yesterday, but the same principles apply. Sometimes it just takes posting a simple question to their fb page and other users will tell you exactly what the best setting is! That’s what I did for the cricut, I just looked at a few youtube videos. I also see that silhouette has a free online training course on their website, very detailed to walk you through everything! Here are the websites for everything I mentioned! Can’t wait to see what else you make with it!
xoxo
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Silhouette/175350378892?ref=ts
http://www.silhouetteamerica.com/training/default.aspx
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cyndi
483 days ago
Looks great!! I also got a silhouette for Christmas! I love it, but am having the same problem as you. I have so darn much trouble getting my design off, and then getting the backing off of the carrier sheet. I was hoping someone would do a tutorial and address all these little problem. Let me know if you find anything out! Thanks
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Jennifer patterson
483 days ago
Well all you need to do is sign yours and it will be worth alot to see you name in print and also your family will think it is worth alot. I have been wanting to start me a blog about my spiritual growth and what the Lord is doing in my life and also sharing a little of my crafts that I do but it is intimadating to see all the wonderful thing that all the bloggers make and I am so impressed with it all I don’t feel like I would equal up to the quality of work that yall do. I truly appreciate all the work that yall put in to the blogging and posting all of your work it is truly a blessing to me. Thanks Jenny
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admin Reply:
January 20th, 2011 at 1:01 pm
Oh girl – you should start a blog! You will have different things to offer than others do – and God can use your individual stories to reach people who can relate to them, and may be encouraged in a way they wouldn’t be anywhere else. And please don’t be overly impressed
I look at other blogs and feel inadequate so many times. We see ourselves with all of our flaws and think we aren’t good enough – but so do all of those bloggers who seem successful and have it made! There is room enough out there for everyone! 
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The Lumberjack's Wife
482 days ago
Love it!
Wordpress told me this was too short.
So now I am typing nonsense so you can still see that I, simply:
Love it!
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Kim @ Cheap Chic Home
482 days ago
Hi Sharyl, This turned out great and it looks like you have the perfect spot for it. I like that you used a blue background, it gives it a different spin. Have fun with that Cricut! Hugs, Kim
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Lisa
482 days ago
Great job on this sign!!!! Thanks for sharing over at Shabby Nest.
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Amanda
482 days ago
This looks fab, great work
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Courtney
481 days ago
Wow~ This is absolutely fantastic- I love how it turned out! Well done!
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Rose@Confessionsofacurbshopaholic
480 days ago
I like your sign a lot better than your inspiration piece! It looks lovely on your mantel. The blue with distressed edges is perfect!
I too have a new silhouette machine and need to figure out how to use it. Thanks for the inspiration and also to Jenny Pie for her comment to you with the links for silhouette. I’m going to try those.
I followed your link over from Gail’s Catch as catch can party.
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Grace
479 days ago
Your subway art looks great, and is especially meaningful because you chose the words.
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Angela Gifford
479 days ago
That’s beautiful! Good job!!
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Cindy's Crafty Creations
478 days ago
LOVE IT! Now that looks doable! Thanks for sharing
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Ruth
478 days ago
I love this sign. I also love Matthew Mead. So many great ideas.
I don’t have a silhouette machine and am thinking of giving this a try anyway. We’ll see.
Ruth
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jami
478 days ago
I love it! especially the colors. Ugh, I need one of those machines! lol
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gail
478 days ago
I love signs, in particular subway art. I have signs all over the house.
I think you did a fabulous job. I’m so wishing I had a silhouette… maybe someday soon?
great job!
Love the words you chose.
gail
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Staci
477 days ago
Love it! Looks awesome!
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Arlene
476 days ago
LOVE the sign. You did a great job! I know wooden signs are very popular right now but you might want to consider slate too. I got some free (LOVE that word), large pieces of slate from a roofer (some were a beautiful barn red color)and made tons of signs for my church craft sale. Thanks for the ideas!
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Miranda
467 days ago
I absolutely love it! Even better than the original.
I’m planning on tackling some subway art myself this month, but I don’t have a vinyl design machine. Yikes.
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erica | postcard printing
467 days ago
I will definitely try this one out and will keep my fingers crossed that I’ll be able to make something as beautiful as yours. Thanks for sharing this one! really helpful for me since I’m on a tight budget for my new room’s interior.
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Abbey
462 days ago
Love your project…I am a new silhouette owner as well, I just did one of the pottery barn numbers print knockoffs that’s been floating around. Just thought I’d pass along a tip to help with sizing your words etc. I changed the dimensions on my “page” in the design software to the dimensions of your canvas, cabinet door etc. So then you can layout your words just like you’d like them to be in real life. Then, I copy and pasted my words off to the side (gray area), changed the dimensions back to what will actually go through the machine and then pasted the words back on so they’d fit on the vinyl. I kept my original layout off to the side so I could recreate it on my canvas….does that make sense? anyhoo…have fun with the silhouette and hope the advice helps!
-Abbey
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Marina
444 days ago
You did a beautiful job. Great tutorial and blog.
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