Personalizing Paperweights with Text: Woodgrain Background with Handwritten Font

This is the second blog post in my series on designing and laying out text for your paperweights.

Today I've used a woodgrain image for my background and added some text in one of my favorite fonts, Brannboll Smal.  I also incorporated some red hearts to add some much needed balance and color.  The hearts also manage to bring the message to life.

Here's how the design came together.

As I've mentioned in the past, you don't need expensive, complex software to work on your designs.  I used Microsoft Publisher to make this point.

I started by drawing a circle 3 1/4" in diameter.  This is the size of the display area for the Large Dome Paperweight Kit.

Once the circle was on the page, I begin to add the elements of the design.  I imported a whitewashed, wood background and added the text and hearts.

I don't have authorization to distribute the woodgrain background.  However, you can find many woodgrain images through Google in a variety of colors and textures.  

 
The font I used is Brannboll Smal which may be downloaded from FontSpace.com.  (This is a third- party site that is not affiliated with PhotoWeights.)


LAYING OUT YOUR TEXT

If you don't have much experience laying out text, and you need a little help, do a Google search for Faith Hope Love and click on 'Images' at the top of the page.  You'll see a number of artwork examples in different fonts, colors, and styles.

Once you've worked on a few examples of your own, you'll become more and more comfortable working with different fonts, backgrounds, and colors.

DIY Retro Telephone Dial Dome Paperweight

The idea for a rotary dial paperweight came to mind last week when I was going through a box of old, forgotten things and found a rotary dial phone I purchased years ago.  I thought it would be the perfect throwback design for the modern desk.

If you'd like to use the .jpg image I worked with, you can download it here from our website.  The artwork may be sized to fit the paperweight style of your choice.

I used the Large Dome Paperweight Kit for this project because I thought the magnification qualities would bring a lot of interest to the design.  In the photo above, you can see how the Large Dome magnifies our instruction card.

The Large Dome has a mounting board that measures 3 1/4" in diameter.  Because of the shape of the paperweight, there is an area toward the edge that will not be visible.  I sized the dial smaller than the mounting board and added a black background in the "void" area.

My artwork was laid out in MS Publisher and printed onto quality photo paper using my inkjet printer.  If you don't have a publishing program, a word processing program with drawing capabilities and an image editing feature should work nicely.

The adhesive mounting board (included with each paperweight kit) was placed on the reverse side of the printed artwork.

Tip:  Holding the artwork up to a bright window is an easy way to see the image from the back, allowing you to place the mounting board in the perfect location.

Any areas of the paper that extended beyond the edge of the round mounting board were trimmed with scissors.

The mounting board (with artwork attached) was placed face down onto the bottom of the paperweight.

To finish, I covered the base of the paperweight with the adhesive bottom pad (also included with each paperweight kit).

Tip:  To keep a dome paperweight level while applying the bottom pad, place the paperweight on a bag of dried beans or popcorn kernels.


I hope this project will inspire you to create your own designs, turning ordinary photos into extraordinary accessories for your desk.