DIY design | state artwork

My husband is a Navy pilot, so we move every couple of years. Since we met in San Diego back in 2004, we've done three major moves, lived in six different homes and next year we'll be moving yet again!

I've always wanted some artwork that commemorates our "home towns," and after gleaning inspiration on Etsy, I created this framed artwork using an Ikea Ribba frame, some free fonts and white card stock. 

The frame had spaces a little less than 5 inches by 7 inches, so I created custom-sized documents in Adobe Illustrator using three free fonts: Oswald, Otama and StateFace.

StateFace is a wingding font that includes "images" of each state. I added a little heart over the cities of residence in each state.

Once finished, I printed the designs, conserving a little paper by printing two on one sheet.

Next up, I trimmed the designs to sizes a bit larger than the frames. It's easy to fudge the edges when there's so much white space!

To place the artwork in the frame, I attached a small piece of tape to the printout then lined it up in the frame so the spacing was just right. Make sure the adhesive side of the tape is facing the frame so it'll stick to it.

I hung it on the wall and voila! New artwork on a neglected, narrow little wall in our great room. I kept the colors super neutral, which will go with the new furniture that's coming into this room. It's in a spot I see everyday and I love it!

Have you created any artwork recently? Feel free to leave a comment or email me if any questions come up as you create your own home-sweet-home art.