Make a Map

Today I'm going to share something off-the-page.  When I first saw the Studio Calico Abroad state die-cuts, I knew they would make a perfect map for my sons' school room (we homeschool, and have a room off the kitchen dedicated to their books and assorted school supplies).

So, I went to Michael's, bought an 18x24 canvas (for half-price, of course!) and went to work.  I started by inking all the edges of the die-cut states:

Note #1: I took the in-progress pics on my phone, so the color is most definitely off.  ;)
Note #2: If you do a lot of inking, you need one of the Ranger blending tools.  Seriously, it's worth every penny of its $5 price tag (though I'd suggest using a 40% off coupon and grabbing one at a chain craft store).

After inking all the states, I placed them on the canvas in a rough approximation of where I wanted to glue them down:

I'll be honest, New England and the Mid-Atlantic region were not so fun to place; Delaware and Rhode Island make for teeny, tiny die-cut pieces.  (I used micro-tip tweezers.)

And if Geography is not your forte, there is a picture of the completed map on the back of the packaging.  :)

I don't have a picture of the next step, but I pulled out my E-6000 and started glueing down the states.  I probably could have used my ATG, but I wanted to make sure inquisitive little fingers couldn't pull off the pieces, so I went for the stronger adhesive.

As I glued down the states, I brought them together:

After adding some Thickers, I was left with the finished product (please forgive the lack of white-balance):

It's huge and I love it!  I spent just under $3 for the pack of die-cut states, and the canvas was on sale for $8.  I already owned the Thickers and the E-6000, so this made for a very inexpensive piece of wall art.

As we enter the Memorial Day holiday weekend, are you taking time out between picnics and parades to create something?  I'd love to hear about it!