This project is near and dear to my heart because I personalized it with some meaningful song lyrics from "Beyond the Sea" by Frank Sinatra. A few years ago, I was finishing my degree up in San Francisco and my boyfriend was working in Los Angeles. It was tough for us having so much distance between us, but it was nothing compared to what other couples have had to endure. My parents, for example, were living in different countries during the first few years of their marriage. This song, with its upbeat trumpets and uplifting sentiment, always fill me with hope and it never failed to cheer me up when I was feeling blue.

This project is also special because it's my first attempt at creating a home décor piece, and experimenting with string art — which has been popping up on my Pinterest feed for months now. I always imagined that string art would be a difficult, but it actually turned out being pretty simple and loads of fun. Plus, with so many creative possibilities, this little piece opens up the doors for many other potential projects.

Somewhere Beyond the Sea Rustic Pallet Project Directions

Start by painting a wooden pallet with some white gesso using a foam brush. Once dry, apply a second coat. When the gesso is thoroughly dry, apply two coats of Sea Breeze chalkboard paint using a foam brush.

I found a template online, printed it out, and altered it slightly to better fit my wooden pallet. It was marginally harder because the wooden pallet has gaps between the planks that weren't accounted for in the template I found, so I had to essentially re-draw it on a sheet of paper.

Once it's ready, lay the template over the wooden pallet and secure it with a little washi or masking tape, and then start hammering! I used inch-long box nails, and hammered them in about a quarter inch. Be mindful of your fingers!

After the nails are hammered in place, start weaving indigo-colored jute trim around the hull of the ship. I outlined the shape in trim, and then went back and forth between the nails starting from the top left and ending on the bottom right. Wrap the trim a few more times around the outside of the nails, and then secure with a knot and a few drops of super glue.

This design has two sails so, to add a little dimension, I outlined my sails with different colors. For the first sail — the one on the right — I used some wheat-colored jute trim. For the second, I used natural-colored twine. You can experiment with how you want to display the string. I wanted to showcase different geometric patterns so I tried a little of everything, from zigzags to straight lines. My favorite has to be the curve stitch, which is a form of string art where a curve is created by using straight lines.

Finally, using white acrylic paint, an acrylic mount, and the Scratch Alphabet Clearly Impressed Stamp Set by Julie van Oosten, I stamped the words "Somewhere Beyond the Sea" along the top and bottom plank. When you're done stamping, make sure you wash your stamps thoroughly.

About the Artist:

Gabriela Perdomo is a writer currently residing in Irvine, California, where she is a marketing assistant for Stampington & Company. She graduated from San Francisco State University with a Bachelor of Arts in English Literature. She enjoys writing fiction, poetry, and for Stampington’s blog, Somerset Place, but every now and then, she’ll trade her pen in for a paintbrush to dabble in art. To see more of her writing and artwork, visit thelonelysynesthete.blogspot.com.

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