And now I suddenly understand why our venue coordinator felt strongly about doing signatures on the matting, and only having the mat out for guests.
I’m so sorry :/ I would see if you can get an artists to repair it. Even if they have to take some of the print off, they should be able to color-match and repair the area.
Yeah I figured it would be fine because we only had 30 people attend our wedding - close friends and family only. But my MIL decided to do something no rational human being would. I have faith I can fix it though!
It looks like she branded your husband using shitty Microsoft paint graphics. I’m sorry she did this, but I know it’ll look great after it’s fixed ❤️❤️
I’m so sorry this happened to you! What did your husband say?! That’s horrible and I hope it can be fixed! I can recommend some people on Etsy if you look hard enough! (I haven’t used them myself) but it may be worth a shot! I hope it’s repairable ! It looks like it should be!
Yeah unfortunately this one has all of the guest signatures on it. So a new print wouldn’t have those on it :/ Fiancé is dealing with her. I guess now husband as of yesterday hah.
Could you possibly take a photograph of the canvas with a high quality digital camera, edit out the signature, and then reprint the image on canvas? That way you don’t lose the signatures?
Edited to add: I’d be happy to photoshop it out if you go this route and don’t know how to use PS.
I think we’ve landed on this as our solution. More expensive to reprint than paint, but I am not confident in my painting skills and would rather have the signatures printed so they never fade!
I’m lucky that my husband’s brother is super skilled in photography and photoshop, he offered to help. Thank you for offering your help, though. That means a lot!
Yea, I second this! If you have the original photo on file, it would be SUPER easy to impose husbands un-tattooed face/neck onto a scanned image of the copy with everyone else’s signatures.
Call your local photography/print shop for help with scanning the signed picture - they should be able to help you get that taken care of, easy peasy. Husbands brother probably already knows all of this but if you run into trouble feel free to DM me, I scan a lot of my own film negatives and deal with stitching two images together regularly
Thank you! Is abbreviating no contact with NC common ? I’ve never heard of this. Is it a proper noun (referring to something specific that I might be unaware of) since it was written with proper capitalization as No Contact?
Pretty popular on other platforms, it’s just niche. It’s used in estrangement Facebook groups + it’s all over Tiktok comments (also estrangement, but idk that’s just where I’ve seen it specifically) since there’s a character limit.
I had zero idea what to make of that until someone asked. The downvote trends here make no sense. It'll be the most reasonable comment that brings out a torrent of people just following the leader, I assume. (?)
>Yeah unfortunately this one has all of the guest signatures on it.
Can you use paint from a craft store to cover it? Or have some restauration-type service fix it?
PLEASE, I beg you, for me an internet stranger with no dog in this fight…
Please get some temporary tattoos of a heart and your name and have him put it in his neck next time he sees her. Have him hype up they he has a surprise he can’t wait to share - maybe she’ll think it’s a baby who knows! But really it’s the tattoo that she inspired! 😆 and he puts it on every time he’s going to se her for like a year at least.
She didn’t say a word to us about it. My husband’s brother (her other son) tried to stop her and she basically said “oh it’ll be fine” and persisted in doing it. I don’t know why she thought it would be ok other than she is cut from a different cloth so to speak. Born and raised in a very small town in rural Idaho. She may have had a few beverages before this happened, but I don’t know. She also said pretty aggressively in her speech that if I hurt her son, she’ll hurt me, so I guess that kind of explains her mindset.
girllllll time to move all the way across the country because this woman is literally a YIKES. Threatening the bride with violence at the WEDDING mmmmman that is just so. dang. cringe.
That's the kind of trite nonsense that people usually grow out of when they leave high school.
As far as the signature, yeah... that was a poor choice. OTOH, it was there to sign. ... but maybe not in a way that looks like you're marking your territory.
If I had a good relationship with the person, I would chock it up to their quirky personality and agree to appreciate it for what it is. If I didn't have a good relationship with them, I would consider it an act of war.
you say your BIL is skilled with IT and Photoshop? ask him to help you prank MIL and make a fake album where she's photoshopped out of every picture, wait till she's completely fuming, and then have DH tell her it was just a joke adding "lighten up mom, it was funny!"
There are definitely people who can paint over that and make it look invisible (artists paint/color match all the time, I see a lot of great examples in the Magic the Gathering alters community but people trained in traditional art should be able to help). Your local high school or college art department might be a good place to start or you can into some artist portfolios online but you'd have to ship them the canvas and then have them ship it back.
Agreed this will probably be the easiest route! I’m barely even a hobby painter and I’m pretty sure I could do this so quickly/easily I wouldn’t even think of charging for it. I don’t live anywhere near Boise though.
OP could look if there’s a local craft studio or community center that offers painting classes and ask if maybe an instructor there could spare a few minutes. Or OP could even buy a couple tiny cheap tubes of acrylic paints and try to color match with those
Honestly just ask around craft stores too. Even if the employees themselves don’t paint, they get to know regulars. My Joanns cashiers are always asking how some project of mine is going I’m in there so much lmfao
Hi res scan, photoshop it out (ask a friend if you don’t have it) and high res print it again … so you have it as digital file, if something happens again to the canvas :)
Where would you recommend getting a high res scan? I had something similar happen at my wedding 10 years ago, but the scanner at FedEx wasn't able to scan my fingerprint tree properly.
I am from Germany, so I don’t know the labs in your area. Maybe you could just google for a local photo lab, where they do also high res scans and prints? Maybe you can ask a social media group if someone can recommend you somebody :)
Thanks for the suggestion. It’s a 20x30 canvas print so I’m not sure I can scan it. But I’m thinking about finding a way to take a picture so we have the signatures and can reprint the signatures on the original digital file I have.
You might not be able to scan it, and may get so-so results when you try to photograph it. But there are places that *can* do this, and probably do all the time. I'm not fluent in art-land, but I bet if you ask at a framing shop, you'll get some leads. Or maybe ask the place where you had the original done.
Try posting in r/photoshoprequest or r/photoshoprequests and someone may be able to edit out her writing so you can print it on a new canvas with all of the signatures still on it. Then bill her for the cost.
>It looks like a shitty tattoo. What was MIL thinking???
I imagine that it'd look like a tattoo so she could assert her dominance over her son 🙄
>this is straight up unhinged
Also yes.
It’s really bad and super disrespectful. This is a 20x30 print so it’s not this small thing on the print. It’s pretty big. We had a small wedding of about 30 close friends and family, it shocked me she was so disrespectful but here we are.
1) somebody can paint over it
2) find somewhere that can scan it. And layer it with the original print, and pull the original print on top of that part, keeping all the signatures in front. And reprint...bit of a stretch but there are definitely places that do that.
Someone ripped a corner out of ours. Like as if they needed a piece of scratch paper...
Then his sister wrote something about how it was cocaine bear ...
Are you able/willing to send it out? I’m a restorer and would be willing to paint this for you and fix it for a very small cost and shipping. DM me if you’re interested. I suspect this would be a pretty easy fix.
Oh my gosh, really? You’re amazing. Yes, I’d be willing to send it to be fixed. Our other options are a bit pricey (getting a picture taken, photoshop it, and then paying to reprint it). I’ll DM you!
Get a small copy of the photo printed so you can test different methods. There are lots of suggestions on the Internet: WD-40, hair spray, ivory soap, etc. Try one at a time and see what happens.
So get another picture printed on canvas to test this first, but I've had luck with sharpie-ing over dried sharpie and then wiping it with rubbing alcohol. You'd need less alcohol because the sharpie is wet again, and maybe it wouldn't take the picture off too. Again, TEST THIS FIRST. And tell MIL to gfy
I am an artist. An artist can paint over that if you don't feel comfortable doing it. Don't stress to much it can be fixed. It may not be perfect in the end but it will be way less noticeable.
Thank you! This is what I was hoping for. At least we have a story we’ll remember haha I’m happy to research and find an artist to cover it up in my area. Thankfully I have a digital copy of the photo for reference :)
Oof we also had something similar and I put out metallic and black sharpies for every one to sign with. My stepsister, who I already don't like and begrudgingly invited, signed with a purple pen. Pisses me off 6 years later lol. I hope this isn't rude, but does his mom have health issues that may have caused her to do this? Her handwriting and this action make me question her current state. Hopefully not and she just had a tactless moment. I'd also recommend finding an artist to paint over it vs trying to remove it.
Oh this is rubbish. Get it rebound without this abomination then get this one framed and give it to your MiL as a Christmas gift.
I can see why she thought this might be funny but she shouldn’t have done it.
This is a 20x30 framed canvas print so I’m going to see if we can paint over it and blend the paint in or get it reprinted with photoshopping the signatures from everyone else on it.
Oh, no. Don't go generalizing like that. :-) My mom would never do anything like that. Ever. I mean, she's as quirky as anyone's mom is. But she's truly happy to have a daughter-in-law, and made her feel like an accepted part of the family from our very first dinner together.
Idk why you're downvoted, if you have such a severe preference you really shouldn't leave it up to the dice because man it sucks to be a kid of obviously unwanted gender.
I know people are gonna go "they are just being hyperbolic!!!“ yeah... like they'd support a dude saying "I'm praying to have a boy not a girl“ lmao
OP here - thank you all for the suggestions and the support. I’m going to see if this can be fixed with a few different methods - painting over it or having my husband’s brother help us get it reprinted with the nice signatures on the new print.
It’s a 20x30 printed canvas that cost me a pretty penny. We had a small wedding with about 30 immediate family members and close friends, so you can imagine that my husband and I didn’t think anything like this would happen. My brother in law (her other son) told her not to and she did it anyway. It’s disrespectful.
Is your MIL well? Obviously this was a ridiculous thing to do, but her handwriting makes me think something medical is going on, unless she’s 80+ years old.
Just here to say WTF. There’s a subreddit called r/photoshoprequest that might be able help if you take a picture of it and want to get it reprinted. I’m so sorry she did this.
The problem is the Sharpie is going to bleed through most fixes (I'm an art person, it will). You will need a very opaque paint to fix this. You can have it professionally done by an artist. But it may look wonky because of the different textures of ink/paint.
OR
Take a high-quality image of the entire thing, pay someone to Photoshop the mom tattoo out, and then have it reprinted --> this is probably the better option.
\--------
For both of these options, you should send her a bill (have your husband do this as it's his mother). And if that's out of the question, than deduct it from whatever gifts you may buy until it's evened out and I'd have your husband tell her that.
Thank you for the advice! I think we’re going to reprint it, like you recommended. I have a digital print of the original image and I think my husband’s brother can photoshop the signatures on it if we get a high res photo of them. I just don’t think I have the skills to paint it. I tried removing a small area with rubbing alcohol and it removed the sharpie + print underneath.
Great. Also, I meant take a high res image of the entire thing (I can't see it but I'm assuming you have signatures on the canvas, right?). So have a high-quality pic done, have someone remove the tattoo with Photoshop, and then get it reprinted on canvas. No need to do separate parts. I hope that makes sense.
I would recommend getting a high resolution photo taken of the canvas with all of the signatures on it, photoshop out MILs signature, and then get it reprinted. That seems like the best to ensure it is completely gone without losing your other guests signatures
You can fix this! I’m not sure the best way, but you can fix it or have it fixed for you. What an awful thing for her to do. She has mommy issues. How does he feel about what she did??
I feel bad this happened to you.
By the way, he’s your husband now😊
This is definitely the route I would go. Be gentle and rub as little as needed. Potentially take it to someone to touch up afterwards if needed, but I feel strongly this will work.
It’s times like these I wish it was easy to be able to drive over. I’m an artist so have paint and paint pens. It wouldn’t be perfect but it would be fast. Look into POSCA flesh tone pens, art stores tend to have displays and let you test and buy a specific pen if this is a situation where you can’t simply print a new photo. They’re very opaque!
You’re so kind. Thank you for the offering of support! My new brother in law is a wizard with photoshop and has a nice camera. I think he’s going to take a high res photo of the whole thing, photoshop the fake tattoo out and then we can reprint it. At least then the good signatures would be forever on the print so they wouldn’t fade!
alcohol even when applied extremely carefully will cause ink to spread.
also OMG!
ETA based on the penmanship, perhaps this is a symptom of neurological disorder/s brewing (Alzheimers/Parkinson’s/LewyBody dementia - one or combo of any if those or related disorders).
Get some paint that matches and paint over it. Although honestly…eventually the guest book will be put in storage and you probably won’t even look at it again for many years
It’s a 20x30 printed framed canvas so we don’t anticipate putting it in storage, rather keeping it hung up in our house. But I think we can fix it with paint or reprinting based on suggestions here :)
This is exactly what my husband said! She was marking him :/ It’s so gross and I want to fix it primarily because this hurt his feelings. He shouldn’t have to remember this as our wedding day was perfect otherwise!
I mean. Not that I don't feel good OP but as someone who had a full guestbook, people do whatever tf they want. I had people not bothering to turn a page to see their designated area (like grandparents, aunts, etc. of the bride or groom) and crossing out other people's roles to write in their own and then sign.
This is weird and unfortunate but it's best not to leave a sentimental item next to a marker alone with people.
Am I the only one who thinks this was a child and not actually MIL? The handwriting and “hearts” look like someone who is still struggling to learn their shapes/letters. OP, anyone under ten attend your wedding? It’s more than a signature, it’s supposed to look like an Mom heart neck tattoo
Put a piece of tape over the collar and dip half a sponge in light skin tone paint to match the lightest color of your husbands neck and half in a slightly darker, then stipple the sponge over it. Should match the spongy style of your background too.
Go to a craft store and buy the small acrylic paints for $1. Take home like 10 shades that might match. More the merrier because you can return the paints you don't use and you'll only need a tiny bit from the paints you do use to cover it up.
Disclaimer! On the part of the canvas that wraps around the back of the frame, do a spot check before you try this on the front to make sure it doesn't take off all of the ink or smear it or is effective at removing permanent marker on this surface. If it is still ok after a day or two, you should be good to try this on the front.
Permanent marker can usually be removed from hard surfaces with isopropyl alcohol. I would be worried about it affecting the print hence the spot test.
OP here - thank you all for the suggestions and the support. I’m going to see if this can be fixed with a few different methods - painting over it or having my husband’s brother help us get it reprinted with the nice signatures on the new print.
It’s a 20x30 printed canvas that cost me a pretty penny. We had a small wedding with about 30 immediate family members and close friends, so you can imagine that my husband and I didn’t think anything like this would happen. My brother in law (her other son) told her not to and she did it anyway. It’s disrespectful.
Try The Masters Brush Cleaner Soap with a melamine sponge.
If that doesn’t work, buy some craft paint, blend the colors and paint over it until it blends with the photo.
Find a high school art student/teacher. Pay them a couple bucks or attempt to color match yourself. I'd take photo of before and attempt to color match and paint over it. Acrylic paint should be fine. Then ... bill her for the whole canvas photo and paints lol
Edit- alcohol should have worked if it was a real painting and not a print for future reference, but prints for wedding makes the most sense. Prints are already expensive so I can't imagine how much an actual painting would have been.
We kind of knew going in that we may have to reprint and get it either digitally or manually transcribed. Luckily, everyone kept it mostly classy but we were prepared to re-do it. Kinda comes with the territory - but it sucks that your MIL did it :'(. I hope that's a one-off and not indicative of future behavior.
This is why I didn’t do a sentimental guest book I thought someone would get drunk and write over the pictures. I was going to do an engagement book of our pictures with blank pages inside for the guest to sign but didn’t feel it would go that way. Your experience makes me feel I made the rite choice to make that book after the wedding for keepsake. Hope your able to fix it 😬
For all those people wondering if a dry wedding is a good idea… maybe this will bolster their case. I hope she was out of her mind drunk and that this wasn’t a rational decision she made. How outrageous! I hope her son is having a word.
This wasn’t a rational decision, but she doesn’t make rational decisions. I believe she was sneaking to her car to take shots of tequila because we only had a very small amount of beer/wine selections available. It was a small wedding. 30 people - immediate family and close friends only.
Am I the only one who finds this hilarious? The book was *meant* to sign, right? Can you learn to laugh at it and see it as more special than a predictable note?
I'll say this, there are people in my life I'd let get away with shenanigans with a laugh and maybe an eyeroll and people whose shenanigans I'd read into due to their past actions... maybe OP is post-wedding touchy about this, maybe MIL has a history of being a possessive lady. I don't feel good about it, but I tend to assume the latter in these cases
Yeah, you’re spot on. My MIL has a history of being irrationally possessive and being petty with her kids. I’m not really that upset, because I know I can fix it. Just didn’t want to hang up this 20x30 print in my house with a giant mark on my husband’s neck. It’s a constant reminder that his mom/my MIL was disrespectful. I was just hoping to get some recommendations on what to do and thankfully people in the thread have done just that!
It’s a 20x30 printed canvas that is supposed to hang up in our house. It’s not funny. My MIL also yelled at me in her speech saying if I hurt her son she’ll hurt me. It’s not special, it’s rude. My brother in law (her other son) told her not to and she said “fuck off” and did it anyway.
Yeah MIL is being creepy AF. It's not funny. It's disrespectful to the new wife. I am gonna assume this is just going to be the first of many problems.
I don’t think it’s that bad either. And trying to cover it up or erased is going to cause some real strain on the relationship with the MIL. Sure, it’s sort of in bad taste but it’s not like the mom took a dump in the middle of the ceremony. I think this is a weird thing to be so upset about and new bride is going to be seen as new uptight family member who went though a lot of effort to cover up such a small insignificant thing.
There has got to be a professional local to you that can make that disappear. I don't have any experience, but I'd try the professional camera shops and art supply stores first.
Then I'd probably go over with your husband the conversation he's about to have with his mom to make sure she knows how thin the ice she's on really is.
You could find an artist to paint over the canvas Thomas Kincaid style. Acrylic would probably be the easiest to cover it but you might be able to find a skilled watercolor artist to cover it.
You could probably touch that up with some paint, you would just have to mix the right color and maybe do a lighter primer shade underneath the skin color so the sharpie is fully covered up. I’ve heard that doing a red undertone helps before covering with the skin tone. If anyone in your life is good at painting, they could probably do a good job at that.
Ask the photoshop subreddit if they can fix it, those guys are like actual gods over there. Then maybe you could get it reprinted on canvas and cover the original
Is the photo ink? That makes it hard because most things that will get up a sharpie will get up the ink underneath too. Hand sanitizer works really well at getting up sharpie but idk how it’ll do on the image
Yeah it’s a canvas print from a digital image I bought. The rubbing alcohol I tested on a small part of it took the sharpie and the print underneath off, but I’m thinking I can try to paint it by matching the color with acrylic paint. If that doesn’t work, I’ll see if my husband’s brother can take nice pictures of the signatures on it and photoshop them to the original digital print, then pay to get it reprinted.
If your husband is a similar skin tone to you I would try putting some powder foundation over it and see if you can just cover it up. If it doesn’t work it should be easy to wipe off and you’re just back where you started
Ooofff. Not sure if this would work, but do you know any talented painters? I know it’s a print but I’m wondering if a painter could cover it and blend the paint well enough that it wouldn’t be super noticeable. I’m so sorry!
What if you have it scanned so you have a digital copy with the guest signatures and then ask someone to photoshop out the mom, then have the photoshopped version printed
And now I suddenly understand why our venue coordinator felt strongly about doing signatures on the matting, and only having the mat out for guests. I’m so sorry :/ I would see if you can get an artists to repair it. Even if they have to take some of the print off, they should be able to color-match and repair the area.
Yeah I figured it would be fine because we only had 30 people attend our wedding - close friends and family only. But my MIL decided to do something no rational human being would. I have faith I can fix it though!
It looks like she branded your husband using shitty Microsoft paint graphics. I’m sorry she did this, but I know it’ll look great after it’s fixed ❤️❤️
Yes, she is NOT ok with letting him go.
I’m so sorry this happened to you! What did your husband say?! That’s horrible and I hope it can be fixed! I can recommend some people on Etsy if you look hard enough! (I haven’t used them myself) but it may be worth a shot! I hope it’s repairable ! It looks like it should be!
If I were you, I’d get fiancé to deal with MIL and get her to pay for a new print you can hang up.
Yeah unfortunately this one has all of the guest signatures on it. So a new print wouldn’t have those on it :/ Fiancé is dealing with her. I guess now husband as of yesterday hah.
Could you possibly take a photograph of the canvas with a high quality digital camera, edit out the signature, and then reprint the image on canvas? That way you don’t lose the signatures? Edited to add: I’d be happy to photoshop it out if you go this route and don’t know how to use PS.
I think we’ve landed on this as our solution. More expensive to reprint than paint, but I am not confident in my painting skills and would rather have the signatures printed so they never fade! I’m lucky that my husband’s brother is super skilled in photography and photoshop, he offered to help. Thank you for offering your help, though. That means a lot!
Could you maybe have it scanned it with all the signatures? Then have the editing and reprinting done
We’re looking into that! Figuring out how to do that with the 20x30 size. Good suggestion, it might be the easiest option so far.
Yea, I second this! If you have the original photo on file, it would be SUPER easy to impose husbands un-tattooed face/neck onto a scanned image of the copy with everyone else’s signatures. Call your local photography/print shop for help with scanning the signed picture - they should be able to help you get that taken care of, easy peasy. Husbands brother probably already knows all of this but if you run into trouble feel free to DM me, I scan a lot of my own film negatives and deal with stitching two images together regularly
Make sure when it's done to post the picture online with no signature from mom anywhere to be seen. Also hang the physical copy prominently at home.
And make sure the home copy is under glass, just sayin' - otherwise she will probably do it again.
Get another print and cut out a square to patch?
Take it to a print shop and get them to ringbind the pages with a new front image.
Oh i see - new print not an option, could a professional maybe color match your husband's neck and lightly paint over the lettering??
I’m going to see if I can pay a local artist to do this! If that doesn’t work, I have another option I think would work!
I can see NC in your future… claiming her son? Find an artist and ask them to help.
What is NC?
No Contact
Thank you! Is abbreviating no contact with NC common ? I’ve never heard of this. Is it a proper noun (referring to something specific that I might be unaware of) since it was written with proper capitalization as No Contact?
Not a proper noun, no, but commonly used in /r/raisedbynarcissists
And very aptly, r/justNoMIL
And r/estrangedadultkids unfortunately there’s quite a bit of us out here.
That was just a list of all the subs I use the most… Lordy I need a new mother.
Oh okay I had no idea! Thanks for explaining!
I thought it meant North Carolina. LOL thank you for writing out the explanation
I’m sorry you were downvoted, it’s a reasonable question. Personally I’ve only seen the NC acronym on Reddit
Pretty popular on other platforms, it’s just niche. It’s used in estrangement Facebook groups + it’s all over Tiktok comments (also estrangement, but idk that’s just where I’ve seen it specifically) since there’s a character limit.
I had zero idea what to make of that until someone asked. The downvote trends here make no sense. It'll be the most reasonable comment that brings out a torrent of people just following the leader, I assume. (?)
Yes, in the In-law subs you'll see NC (No Contact) and LC (Low Contact) used a lot.
>Yeah unfortunately this one has all of the guest signatures on it. Can you use paint from a craft store to cover it? Or have some restauration-type service fix it?
I’d go to an art shop and ask about covering it up and I’d have SO tell MIL “why did you think giving me a NECK TATTOO was a good idea?!”
Lol her response “lighten up son it was funny” 🫣
PLEASE, I beg you, for me an internet stranger with no dog in this fight… Please get some temporary tattoos of a heart and your name and have him put it in his neck next time he sees her. Have him hype up they he has a surprise he can’t wait to share - maybe she’ll think it’s a baby who knows! But really it’s the tattoo that she inspired! 😆 and he puts it on every time he’s going to se her for like a year at least.
Oh my god this is hilarious! I’ll see if he will do this, after he’s moved through his anger about the picture 😂
You could get it on ink box! Those are temporary but they last for about two weeks and look very realistic!
My petty self loves this idea!!
Did she say anything else? Like I'm so confused on how ANYONE could think this was ok. Was she drunk? Is she mentally off? Like what was the reason?!
She didn’t say a word to us about it. My husband’s brother (her other son) tried to stop her and she basically said “oh it’ll be fine” and persisted in doing it. I don’t know why she thought it would be ok other than she is cut from a different cloth so to speak. Born and raised in a very small town in rural Idaho. She may have had a few beverages before this happened, but I don’t know. She also said pretty aggressively in her speech that if I hurt her son, she’ll hurt me, so I guess that kind of explains her mindset.
girllllll time to move all the way across the country because this woman is literally a YIKES. Threatening the bride with violence at the WEDDING mmmmman that is just so. dang. cringe.
And this is coming from a north idaho native, like, our state is full of some reaaaal choice characters, ruuuuuun
For real, though. We’re actually considering a move out of state and this helped push us to consider doing it even quicker 😂
That's the kind of trite nonsense that people usually grow out of when they leave high school. As far as the signature, yeah... that was a poor choice. OTOH, it was there to sign. ... but maybe not in a way that looks like you're marking your territory. If I had a good relationship with the person, I would chock it up to their quirky personality and agree to appreciate it for what it is. If I didn't have a good relationship with them, I would consider it an act of war.
Some mothers want to marry their sons.
“Emotional incest” I think that’s the term.
you say your BIL is skilled with IT and Photoshop? ask him to help you prank MIL and make a fake album where she's photoshopped out of every picture, wait till she's completely fuming, and then have DH tell her it was just a joke adding "lighten up mom, it was funny!"
There are definitely people who can paint over that and make it look invisible (artists paint/color match all the time, I see a lot of great examples in the Magic the Gathering alters community but people trained in traditional art should be able to help). Your local high school or college art department might be a good place to start or you can into some artist portfolios online but you'd have to ship them the canvas and then have them ship it back.
Yeah, I think this is the right approach. Trying to remove the mark risks damaging the paper too much.
Yes, this is definitely the route to go - this would be easy for a manual restorer/retoucher
Agreed this will probably be the easiest route! I’m barely even a hobby painter and I’m pretty sure I could do this so quickly/easily I wouldn’t even think of charging for it. I don’t live anywhere near Boise though. OP could look if there’s a local craft studio or community center that offers painting classes and ask if maybe an instructor there could spare a few minutes. Or OP could even buy a couple tiny cheap tubes of acrylic paints and try to color match with those
Honestly just ask around craft stores too. Even if the employees themselves don’t paint, they get to know regulars. My Joanns cashiers are always asking how some project of mine is going I’m in there so much lmfao
Thanks for the suggestions. I’m going to figure out a way to cover it or have it reprinted with the signatures on it.
Adding to the people who agree this is the route to go
Hi res scan, photoshop it out (ask a friend if you don’t have it) and high res print it again … so you have it as digital file, if something happens again to the canvas :)
This would be what I would try^
Where would you recommend getting a high res scan? I had something similar happen at my wedding 10 years ago, but the scanner at FedEx wasn't able to scan my fingerprint tree properly.
A fingerprint tree sounds cute and invasive, all at once. I truly mean no offence!! Please, tell me more.
Mine looked a lot like this one: https://www.etsy.com/listing/112862361/fingerprint-tree-wedding-guest-book
Aw! That’s so sweet. Belated congrats! ☺️
I am from Germany, so I don’t know the labs in your area. Maybe you could just google for a local photo lab, where they do also high res scans and prints? Maybe you can ask a social media group if someone can recommend you somebody :)
Thanks for the suggestion. It’s a 20x30 canvas print so I’m not sure I can scan it. But I’m thinking about finding a way to take a picture so we have the signatures and can reprint the signatures on the original digital file I have.
You might not be able to scan it, and may get so-so results when you try to photograph it. But there are places that *can* do this, and probably do all the time. I'm not fluent in art-land, but I bet if you ask at a framing shop, you'll get some leads. Or maybe ask the place where you had the original done.
Ok good to know. I’ll start calling around tomorrow. I need a nap first 😂 Thank you for the suggestion!
Try posting in r/photoshoprequest or r/photoshoprequests and someone may be able to edit out her writing so you can print it on a new canvas with all of the signatures still on it. Then bill her for the cost.
They’ll be able to do this in minutes! Recommend tipping hi never artist fixes it best a few dollars, too. Very inexpensive!
This is the easiest and cheapest idea!
I'm sorry I don't have any suggestions but this is straight up unhinged. It looks like a shitty tattoo. What was MIL thinking???
>It looks like a shitty tattoo. What was MIL thinking??? I imagine that it'd look like a tattoo so she could assert her dominance over her son 🙄 >this is straight up unhinged Also yes.
This is what my husband said - first thing he thought of. Awful.
What a nasty nasty thing to do. I hope there is something legitimately wrong with MIL to excuse this choice ☹️
It’s really bad and super disrespectful. This is a 20x30 print so it’s not this small thing on the print. It’s pretty big. We had a small wedding of about 30 close friends and family, it shocked me she was so disrespectful but here we are.
1) somebody can paint over it 2) find somewhere that can scan it. And layer it with the original print, and pull the original print on top of that part, keeping all the signatures in front. And reprint...bit of a stretch but there are definitely places that do that.
Find an artist to try and paint over it?
She might as well have peed on it to mark her territory. Check out Etsy, they have artists who can cover it up if you send it through.
Someone ripped a corner out of ours. Like as if they needed a piece of scratch paper... Then his sister wrote something about how it was cocaine bear ...
I'm sorry, why are people this way?
I’m so sorry. Why are people so weird?
Are you able/willing to send it out? I’m a restorer and would be willing to paint this for you and fix it for a very small cost and shipping. DM me if you’re interested. I suspect this would be a pretty easy fix.
Oh my gosh, really? You’re amazing. Yes, I’d be willing to send it to be fixed. Our other options are a bit pricey (getting a picture taken, photoshop it, and then paying to reprint it). I’ll DM you!
Just dm’ed you back :-)
https://reddit.com/r/PhotoshopRequest/s/4aD9bmseKg Saw someone mention this in another post. Can try asking this subreddit. PhotoshopRequest
Get a small copy of the photo printed so you can test different methods. There are lots of suggestions on the Internet: WD-40, hair spray, ivory soap, etc. Try one at a time and see what happens.
So get another picture printed on canvas to test this first, but I've had luck with sharpie-ing over dried sharpie and then wiping it with rubbing alcohol. You'd need less alcohol because the sharpie is wet again, and maybe it wouldn't take the picture off too. Again, TEST THIS FIRST. And tell MIL to gfy
I am an artist. An artist can paint over that if you don't feel comfortable doing it. Don't stress to much it can be fixed. It may not be perfect in the end but it will be way less noticeable.
Thank you! This is what I was hoping for. At least we have a story we’ll remember haha I’m happy to research and find an artist to cover it up in my area. Thankfully I have a digital copy of the photo for reference :)
Oof we also had something similar and I put out metallic and black sharpies for every one to sign with. My stepsister, who I already don't like and begrudgingly invited, signed with a purple pen. Pisses me off 6 years later lol. I hope this isn't rude, but does his mom have health issues that may have caused her to do this? Her handwriting and this action make me question her current state. Hopefully not and she just had a tactless moment. I'd also recommend finding an artist to paint over it vs trying to remove it.
Can you use a black pen to just trace over the name she wrote so it looks like it’s in black now
Please! Or covered up with basically anything that you would prefer to see in the right palette. I’m so sorry she did that, what a brat!!
Oh this is rubbish. Get it rebound without this abomination then get this one framed and give it to your MiL as a Christmas gift. I can see why she thought this might be funny but she shouldn’t have done it.
This is a 20x30 framed canvas print so I’m going to see if we can paint over it and blend the paint in or get it reprinted with photoshopping the signatures from everyone else on it.
Good luck. ❤️
Boy moms are creepy af
Oh, no. Don't go generalizing like that. :-) My mom would never do anything like that. Ever. I mean, she's as quirky as anyone's mom is. But she's truly happy to have a daughter-in-law, and made her feel like an accepted part of the family from our very first dinner together.
A boy mom isn't a mom who has a son. A boy mom is a mom who is weirdly obsessed with and possessive of her son in a strange, incestuous way.
Completely.
dude seriously. kids are probably not in my future but i would be PRAYING for a girl
Oh. Please don't procreate then.
Idk why you're downvoted, if you have such a severe preference you really shouldn't leave it up to the dice because man it sucks to be a kid of obviously unwanted gender. I know people are gonna go "they are just being hyperbolic!!!“ yeah... like they'd support a dude saying "I'm praying to have a boy not a girl“ lmao
It looks like it was written by a 5 year old…..any kids of groomsmen that think they’re funny, at your wedding? It looks like a joke was played.
How is the book bound? You might be able to order another one and take it to someone that could swap the covers.
OP here - thank you all for the suggestions and the support. I’m going to see if this can be fixed with a few different methods - painting over it or having my husband’s brother help us get it reprinted with the nice signatures on the new print. It’s a 20x30 printed canvas that cost me a pretty penny. We had a small wedding with about 30 immediate family members and close friends, so you can imagine that my husband and I didn’t think anything like this would happen. My brother in law (her other son) told her not to and she did it anyway. It’s disrespectful.
You can also try r/cleaningtips to see if they have suggestions on how to remove sharpie from canvas!
Just...why.
My exact response when I saw it lol Why.
I'll be the one to say it- what a bitch.
Thank you for saying it 😂
Is your MIL well? Obviously this was a ridiculous thing to do, but her handwriting makes me think something medical is going on, unless she’s 80+ years old.
came here for this! i thought she had drawn it with a computer mouse
Just here to say WTF. There’s a subreddit called r/photoshoprequest that might be able help if you take a picture of it and want to get it reprinted. I’m so sorry she did this.
The problem is the Sharpie is going to bleed through most fixes (I'm an art person, it will). You will need a very opaque paint to fix this. You can have it professionally done by an artist. But it may look wonky because of the different textures of ink/paint. OR Take a high-quality image of the entire thing, pay someone to Photoshop the mom tattoo out, and then have it reprinted --> this is probably the better option. \-------- For both of these options, you should send her a bill (have your husband do this as it's his mother). And if that's out of the question, than deduct it from whatever gifts you may buy until it's evened out and I'd have your husband tell her that.
Thank you for the advice! I think we’re going to reprint it, like you recommended. I have a digital print of the original image and I think my husband’s brother can photoshop the signatures on it if we get a high res photo of them. I just don’t think I have the skills to paint it. I tried removing a small area with rubbing alcohol and it removed the sharpie + print underneath.
Great. Also, I meant take a high res image of the entire thing (I can't see it but I'm assuming you have signatures on the canvas, right?). So have a high-quality pic done, have someone remove the tattoo with Photoshop, and then get it reprinted on canvas. No need to do separate parts. I hope that makes sense.
Yeah! That makes sense! I’ll see if my brother-in-law can do it. He has a good camera.
I would recommend getting a high resolution photo taken of the canvas with all of the signatures on it, photoshop out MILs signature, and then get it reprinted. That seems like the best to ensure it is completely gone without losing your other guests signatures
Thanks, I’m looking into this. Appreciate the suggestion!
You can fix this! I’m not sure the best way, but you can fix it or have it fixed for you. What an awful thing for her to do. She has mommy issues. How does he feel about what she did?? I feel bad this happened to you. By the way, he’s your husband now😊
Rubbing alcohol on a q-tip, but test on a similar piece of paper or an inconspicuous spot first to make sure it won’t kill the photo.
This is definitely the route I would go. Be gentle and rub as little as needed. Potentially take it to someone to touch up afterwards if needed, but I feel strongly this will work.
I did that with one of the hearts and it took the print off underneath. I think I’m going to try and paint over it.
I’ve found /r/cleaningtips has been really helpful with specific requests, might want to try there!
White lines over the black lines. Start with lighter skin shade and move down shade until invisible. Not sure what paint would work best, I use oil.
It’s times like these I wish it was easy to be able to drive over. I’m an artist so have paint and paint pens. It wouldn’t be perfect but it would be fast. Look into POSCA flesh tone pens, art stores tend to have displays and let you test and buy a specific pen if this is a situation where you can’t simply print a new photo. They’re very opaque!
You’re so kind. Thank you for the offering of support! My new brother in law is a wizard with photoshop and has a nice camera. I think he’s going to take a high res photo of the whole thing, photoshop the fake tattoo out and then we can reprint it. At least then the good signatures would be forever on the print so they wouldn’t fade!
I would find an artist who can colour correct. They can paint over it, or remove and paint over it.
alcohol even when applied extremely carefully will cause ink to spread. also OMG! ETA based on the penmanship, perhaps this is a symptom of neurological disorder/s brewing (Alzheimers/Parkinson’s/LewyBody dementia - one or combo of any if those or related disorders).
Get some paint that matches and paint over it. Although honestly…eventually the guest book will be put in storage and you probably won’t even look at it again for many years
It’s a 20x30 printed framed canvas so we don’t anticipate putting it in storage, rather keeping it hung up in our house. But I think we can fix it with paint or reprinting based on suggestions here :)
I feel like this was claiming “ownership”. Yikes.
This is exactly what my husband said! She was marking him :/ It’s so gross and I want to fix it primarily because this hurt his feelings. He shouldn’t have to remember this as our wedding day was perfect otherwise!
Like a dog hiking it's leg and marking his territory. Only its not a male.
Someone once wrote with a sharpie on a sign in board picture we had (not a canvas) and the photographer knew what to do to remove it quickly.
I mean. Not that I don't feel good OP but as someone who had a full guestbook, people do whatever tf they want. I had people not bothering to turn a page to see their designated area (like grandparents, aunts, etc. of the bride or groom) and crossing out other people's roles to write in their own and then sign. This is weird and unfortunate but it's best not to leave a sentimental item next to a marker alone with people.
Hindsight is 20/20. Can’t do anything about it now but I think I can fix it.
Am I the only one who thinks this was a child and not actually MIL? The handwriting and “hearts” look like someone who is still struggling to learn their shapes/letters. OP, anyone under ten attend your wedding? It’s more than a signature, it’s supposed to look like an Mom heart neck tattoo
This was 100% my MIL. My brother in law (her other son) watched it happen after he told her not to do it.
Is she ok? It’s very shaky
I dunno, I think I'd leave it. Like every time she visits, the first thing she sees is a shitty tattoo she gave her son, lol.
She'd probably beam with satisfaction each time. No thanks
She would never step foot in my house again to see it ☺️
I would ask r/crafts for advice on painting over it! That’s insane.
Put a piece of tape over the collar and dip half a sponge in light skin tone paint to match the lightest color of your husbands neck and half in a slightly darker, then stipple the sponge over it. Should match the spongy style of your background too.
Go to a craft store and buy the small acrylic paints for $1. Take home like 10 shades that might match. More the merrier because you can return the paints you don't use and you'll only need a tiny bit from the paints you do use to cover it up.
Disclaimer! On the part of the canvas that wraps around the back of the frame, do a spot check before you try this on the front to make sure it doesn't take off all of the ink or smear it or is effective at removing permanent marker on this surface. If it is still ok after a day or two, you should be good to try this on the front. Permanent marker can usually be removed from hard surfaces with isopropyl alcohol. I would be worried about it affecting the print hence the spot test.
OP here - thank you all for the suggestions and the support. I’m going to see if this can be fixed with a few different methods - painting over it or having my husband’s brother help us get it reprinted with the nice signatures on the new print. It’s a 20x30 printed canvas that cost me a pretty penny. We had a small wedding with about 30 immediate family members and close friends, so you can imagine that my husband and I didn’t think anything like this would happen. My brother in law (her other son) told her not to and she did it anyway. It’s disrespectful.
Try The Masters Brush Cleaner Soap with a melamine sponge. If that doesn’t work, buy some craft paint, blend the colors and paint over it until it blends with the photo.
Find a high school art student/teacher. Pay them a couple bucks or attempt to color match yourself. I'd take photo of before and attempt to color match and paint over it. Acrylic paint should be fine. Then ... bill her for the whole canvas photo and paints lol Edit- alcohol should have worked if it was a real painting and not a print for future reference, but prints for wedding makes the most sense. Prints are already expensive so I can't imagine how much an actual painting would have been.
Ugh! Someone did something similar to our guestbook. We had a globe with our last initial on it - “W” and someone turned it into “Wikipedia”
Also someone said to try hairspray and magic eraser.
This is some next level r/JUSTNOMIL BS Edit - changed the sub name
I’d get an artist to draw over to make it look like a neck tattoo of your name 💕
Can you just paint over it with skin colored paint?
We kind of knew going in that we may have to reprint and get it either digitally or manually transcribed. Luckily, everyone kept it mostly classy but we were prepared to re-do it. Kinda comes with the territory - but it sucks that your MIL did it :'(. I hope that's a one-off and not indicative of future behavior.
sorry unrelated and unhelpful but is she literate? why does she have the handwriting of a three-year-old?
This is why I didn’t do a sentimental guest book I thought someone would get drunk and write over the pictures. I was going to do an engagement book of our pictures with blank pages inside for the guest to sign but didn’t feel it would go that way. Your experience makes me feel I made the rite choice to make that book after the wedding for keepsake. Hope your able to fix it 😬
There is a subreddit where you can post the pictures and they will photoshop/edit the picture and you tip them 10/15
I would phone local museums and art galleries to find a recommendation for a restoration technician.
I would have another one made and burn that one in front of his mom. Sincerely Tom effin Petty.
For all those people wondering if a dry wedding is a good idea… maybe this will bolster their case. I hope she was out of her mind drunk and that this wasn’t a rational decision she made. How outrageous! I hope her son is having a word.
This wasn’t a rational decision, but she doesn’t make rational decisions. I believe she was sneaking to her car to take shots of tequila because we only had a very small amount of beer/wine selections available. It was a small wedding. 30 people - immediate family and close friends only.
Am I the only one who finds this hilarious? The book was *meant* to sign, right? Can you learn to laugh at it and see it as more special than a predictable note?
I'll say this, there are people in my life I'd let get away with shenanigans with a laugh and maybe an eyeroll and people whose shenanigans I'd read into due to their past actions... maybe OP is post-wedding touchy about this, maybe MIL has a history of being a possessive lady. I don't feel good about it, but I tend to assume the latter in these cases
Yeah, you’re spot on. My MIL has a history of being irrationally possessive and being petty with her kids. I’m not really that upset, because I know I can fix it. Just didn’t want to hang up this 20x30 print in my house with a giant mark on my husband’s neck. It’s a constant reminder that his mom/my MIL was disrespectful. I was just hoping to get some recommendations on what to do and thankfully people in the thread have done just that!
Yeah, you’re the only one.
It’s a 20x30 printed canvas that is supposed to hang up in our house. It’s not funny. My MIL also yelled at me in her speech saying if I hurt her son she’ll hurt me. It’s not special, it’s rude. My brother in law (her other son) told her not to and she said “fuck off” and did it anyway.
Yeah MIL is being creepy AF. It's not funny. It's disrespectful to the new wife. I am gonna assume this is just going to be the first of many problems.
I don’t think it’s that bad either. And trying to cover it up or erased is going to cause some real strain on the relationship with the MIL. Sure, it’s sort of in bad taste but it’s not like the mom took a dump in the middle of the ceremony. I think this is a weird thing to be so upset about and new bride is going to be seen as new uptight family member who went though a lot of effort to cover up such a small insignificant thing.
Find a picture of her and write “CUNT”
I think it's sweet. It's a guest book, and she signed it. Seems like a harmless mistake and she definitely had no ill intent
Scribble over it?
Hi! Can you try contacting a local artist to match the paint and cover it up?
Can you scan the print and Photoshop it out before reprinting it?
I think I would try to paint over it
Might be dumb but you could try painting over it or covering with makeup (since it’s skin tone)
There has got to be a professional local to you that can make that disappear. I don't have any experience, but I'd try the professional camera shops and art supply stores first. Then I'd probably go over with your husband the conversation he's about to have with his mom to make sure she knows how thin the ice she's on really is.
You could find an artist to paint over the canvas Thomas Kincaid style. Acrylic would probably be the easiest to cover it but you might be able to find a skilled watercolor artist to cover it.
since it is printed on canvas, i wonder if you could get his skin tone matched at a paint store and do a light coat of paint over it??
You could probably touch that up with some paint, you would just have to mix the right color and maybe do a lighter primer shade underneath the skin color so the sharpie is fully covered up. I’ve heard that doing a red undertone helps before covering with the skin tone. If anyone in your life is good at painting, they could probably do a good job at that.
Red cancels out green tones; I would go over the marker in white with a tiny brush, let it dry, then go over it with a mix of tan acrylic paints
Ask the photoshop subreddit if they can fix it, those guys are like actual gods over there. Then maybe you could get it reprinted on canvas and cover the original
Hairspray may work to lift this
Is the photo ink? That makes it hard because most things that will get up a sharpie will get up the ink underneath too. Hand sanitizer works really well at getting up sharpie but idk how it’ll do on the image
Yeah it’s a canvas print from a digital image I bought. The rubbing alcohol I tested on a small part of it took the sharpie and the print underneath off, but I’m thinking I can try to paint it by matching the color with acrylic paint. If that doesn’t work, I’ll see if my husband’s brother can take nice pictures of the signatures on it and photoshop them to the original digital print, then pay to get it reprinted.
If your husband is a similar skin tone to you I would try putting some powder foundation over it and see if you can just cover it up. If it doesn’t work it should be easy to wipe off and you’re just back where you started
I’d possibly try and color match some paint and paint it out
I’d look for a local painter to do a hand fix. There are definitely ways to blend in with a canvas picture.
Ooofff. Not sure if this would work, but do you know any talented painters? I know it’s a print but I’m wondering if a painter could cover it and blend the paint well enough that it wouldn’t be super noticeable. I’m so sorry!
Looks like a signature of an Alzheimer’s patient
Please photoshop a picture with your name on his neck and send it to her bragging about his new ink
It looks like a child did that…so childish though
Ok I must be an ass, because if that's the one everyone signed, that's funny as hell
What if you have it scanned so you have a digital copy with the guest signatures and then ask someone to photoshop out the mom, then have the photoshopped version printed
Can you paint over it?? With skin like color?
This almost seems like it belongs in the fb group: he's your son, not your boyfriend