A Map of Us

February is the month that we celebrate love. Everything in the store is hearts, red and pink. When my husband and I were married, we decided that we weren't going to get pulled into the commercialism of Valentine's Day. What kind of a relationship does one have if they only show each other love on February 14th, once a year? Not to mention the overpriced candy and flowers. But when it comes down to it, I am a female and I want to be romanced. I love it when my husband comes home with flowers or a special gift. I love it when he does the unexpected to surprise me. Over the last few years, we have done a little something for the other not because we mutually agreed to start celebrating Valentine's Day, but because we have found it to be just one more opportunity to tell the other what we love about them.

This year, I decided to map out "Our Story," We have gone through some hard things in the past year and it seemed like the perfect time to commemorate all the battles fought and won in our marriage.

To start this project, I created a sketch.

Using stencils and other reference material, I came up with a final sketch.

One of my favorite reference materials was How To Make Hand-Drawn Maps by Helen Cann.

My sketch was transferred to watercolor paper using a pencil and graphite transfer paper.

I found a color palette that went with my theme and mixed up the colors before beginning.

I applied my first layer of color. 

I kept building up layers and here is the result. As you can see there are some wrinkles in the paper, so I pressed it for several days under heavy books.

Once flat, I used fine liner pens to add the text.

The last detail was adding the title in the bottom corner. I used this stencil to help me create a box.

S274

L978

L332

Thank you for joining me. I hope that you have found inspiration for creating a unique and personal way to show your love to someone.

Kate