Week 1 Summer Craft: Sometimes life is a beach...#summercrafts

In this project, I painted the canvas with 3 different colors of spray paint. First was the purple, next the gold, then the Black. You will want to put a thick layer of each and let dry in between each layer completely. I used a fan to help mine dry quicker but if you don't mind the wait, you can just set it out. The bottom color is going to be your accent color. You could really do this with any color. I like purple so I chose purple. The middle color is going to be your main color. I chose gold because when using gold pain as  a layer I found it has a sandy color which is what I wanted for this project. I used black as the top color to give it a really high contrast. You can use any colors you want, Just make sure you test the power settings on a scrap one before running the real one as different colors can engrave differently.

I am a big fan of the crosshair on the laser and feel that if it is calibrated correctly, it makes your life so much easier. I have it set up for Current position in lightburn and have it start in the top left corner for alignment.

I know the size of my canvas is 200mm x 255mm so I create a tool path to help align the design. I centered the phrase and the design in order to put it in the middle of the canvas. I chose this font because it looked very summer time to me. I put it on two different layers because I wanted to do the font first then the design. If you do not know what setting you want to use, it is important you do a test pattern in order to make everything the way you want it.

Now you are going to burn it. I did a line at first  on the beach graphic because I wanted to see if it would give me the desired effect. It did not so I changed it to a fill and burned it after the first run. The important part is to not move your project until you are satisfied with it. If you do not move it then you can make any adjustments and reburn as needed. Framing is also super important. I don't know how many times I left my roller turned on in lightburn and framing I noticed something was off.

I love how this turned out and how the fact that the canvas isn't a super flat surface you get the different textures and design. It almost has a vintage look to it. You can take this to a beach somewhere or just hang it on the wall. Enjoy!