Wednesday, November 18, 2009

Bathroom by Kate

Here's a fun idea--kids' drawings turned into vinyl!

Kate drew this shark back in July (from the Ed Emberly animal book, though his version is rather more elongated). I thought it was just wonderful and got the idea of having it made into a vinyl wall sticker for the bathroom.

I converted it to vectors using Adobe Illustrator's live trace feature (which does not require any actual knowledge of vectors and really only minimal knowledge of Illustrator). I emailed the file to Scribble It, along with my flourish, and got it cut in navy blue vinyl.

I did have a little trouble with bits not wanting to un-stick from the backing and stay on the wall, but I found it helped to pull the paper back at a really sharp angle.

I was really pleased with how it turned out, so I thought the shark should have some company.

When Kate drew the shark, she also drew this whale. At first I wasn't sure if I could use it, since she also drew a snake playing in the spray. (Kate's snakes often have legs. I'm not sure why.)

I was successful in removing the snake.

Later I got her to draw these other fish for me. This took some patience, as she's not always in a mood to take requests. (I ended up not using the one on the side.)

I converted them to vectors and flipped the one fish so it was facing the other direction.

Scribble It is quick! I emailed the files and had them on the wall within a week.

The whale is over the towel rack on the opposite wall. (These were the best pictures I could get, with cramped quarters and bathroom lighting.)

It's so fun to go into the bathroom and see Kate's fish on the wall. They're so cute and expressive. (It's the eyebrows--don't you think?)

Update: we've been featured on One Pretty Thing. How cool is that?

23 comments:

Heather T. said...

Oh my gosh, this is *adorable*!!! She puts so many great details in her artwork. How thrilling for her it must be to come into a bathroom decorated by herself!

Lorri said...

I LOVE it! So cute and she's such the little artist! It's so fun to see what she draws!

skgberry said...

and we can say we knew her when...

Awesome drawings and great decorating ideas.

Janelle said...

That is fantastic! I love her drawings!

Jeff and Carol said...

What an awesome idea!!! :D

Expatriate Buckeyes said...

What a totally cool idea! Kate's artwork reminds me a little bit of Shel Silversten.

Lara Neves said...

Such a smart idea! Are there any other programs that could be used to do this, since I don't have illustrator?

Cindy said...

Oh. Mine. Heck. Helena, those are the cutest thing ever.

scrapper al said...

What a great idea!!! Kate must be so proud to see her artwork on the wall.

Barbie Mills said...

That is so cute!

Somewhere deep down I'm a little worried that Andy will someday try to draw his own pictures on the wall in the bathroom...

Anonymous said...

What a great way to capture her drawings and have them as decor. She must have been so excited!!

MichelleMyBelle

Creative Junkie said...

That is probably one of the smartest decorating ideas I've seen!

Tori Bennett said...

Brilliant and adorable! I would put Kate's pictures on my wall. What a great idea.

golonghorns said...

Whee, squeal!!!! I Love this! So far we are still only getting little circular stick people from Mitch but he drew a whole picture of the Family, Mommy, Daddy , Mandy, Himself and the Baby...how cute is that. Now I want to do this. And yes, the photoshop pic for my friend is very bright!

golonghorns said...

A blogging friend just posted about how fabulous vinyl art is especially for apartment dwellers. I had to share your project with her it's too adorable!

linda said...

kate's pictures are really cute. What a great idea to have them turned into vinyl.

Dandy said...

OMG that is sooooo fantastic! i love it. And I must say, I really do lover her drawings!

I have to get some vinyl stickers made now. I had never considered having my own made!!

Anonymous said...

What a great idea! It looks amazing. And if I had to try to come up with an Art Therapy reason for why the snakes have legs, maybe it's because Katie would give actual snakes legs if she could because legs are just so useful. Reasons for doing things are often a lot less complicated than we might guess.

Elizabeth

Anonymous said...

How cute is that!!! Just an fyi for a few of your commenters like Laura. If you don't have illustrator yourself. I offer this service as well. However all you have to do is scan their picture and email it to me and I turn them into illustrator files and cut them! Just email me or check out my site...www.stakersensations.blogspot.com or www.stakersensations.etsy.com! Your fish are darling though...some of the cutest I've seen!

rubyred said...

These drawings are fantastic , i would love to have them on my wall

Kathey said...

I'm so glad we discovered Ed Emberly those many years ago. Kate is sure making good use of ideas from his books, and I LOVE the way you are using them. Her stuff is really fantastic and so very, very fun.

Love, Mom

Sara E said...

so so stinkin' cute! and I bet she just loves to show off her bathroom to everyone now

Freer Family said...

What a genius idea! I love it! Kate is a great little artist!