I Love Word Clouds

This past weekend was the Canadian Thanksgiving.  Among the usual things I was thankful for, one in particular was having one of my nightstand makeovers featured on the Graphics Fairy's site.  This couldn't come as any greater encouragement for a newbie like myself who has only been blogging for a couple of weeks.  Ecstatic is definitely an understatement to describe how excited and thrilled I am.

OK.  Back to this blog.  I love word clouds.  There is something to be said for images composed simply by words or meaningful words turned into arts.  It's simplistic and yet so complex.  Ever since I discovered how to create my own word clouds, I've been obsessed with incorporating it into things from greeting cards, wall arts to furniture.  My favorite go to word cloud generators are Wordle and Tagxedo.

Today I am going to share two things I've made with word clouds.

#1 - Wall Art

As far as design style goes, I am a little bit of cottage, shabby chic, farm house, vintage, contemporary, modern... with the exception of Gothic.  As for color scheme, I like every color there is on the rainbow plus glitters and sparkles (seriously I already have glitters and sparkles inspired wall art projects lined up).  No doubt I am an interior designer's worst nightmare.  What can I say?  I love being creative and sticking to a single theme or style would be contrary to my creativity.  To be able to design and create my own wall arts is a godsend.  

This wall art is created using Wordle.  The program is so simple to use, it literally takes 3 steps to create your very own word cloud: 1) click "Create", 2) type, and then 3) click "Go".  I printed the word cloud image at Costco on a 24" x 36" print for $15.99.  Glue the print onto a canvas and voilà, you have yourself a custom made art piece.

For me the books of the bible strike a chord, so this wall art really appeals to me personally.  Armed with this tool, anyone can create and personalize an art piece that really speaks to them.  Sky is the limit!

#2 - Console Table
Here is another word cloud project I did.  Only this time I've incorporated it into a piece of furniture.  I used Tagxedo to create the word cloud.  This tool is slightly more complicated to use than Wordle but there are plenty of tutorials such as eduTecherTV to help get you started in no time.  My all time favorite feature of Tagxedo is the ability to custom shaped your word clouds.  Tagxedo provides a list of shapes you can choose from.  For my project, I decided to upload my own image which is a bicycle to go with a quote that has something to do with bicycles.

I chalk painted this console table in off white.  Then used Mod Podge to transfer the image onto the table.  To finish if off, I added several coats of Mod Podge to seal the image.  What a great way to add your personal touch to any ordinary piece of furniture. 


PS.  Sharing at Inspire Me Please, Miss Mustard Seed, Imparting Grace and Do Tell Tuesday link parties.