Hi everyone, I’m very excited to show you today’s project: not only because I love how this mixed media canvas turned out (I don’t create canvasses very often, not because I don’t like to create them but just because I don’t know what to do with them when they are ready, there is only so much room in my house, this particular canvas I created for my new bathroom), but also because this project is a guest design project I created for CraftAddiction for their June Mood Board Challenge. CraftAddiction is an awesome Dutch craft supply store!
I totally love this mood board, it screams summer to me: I was inspired by the mixed shades of green, the use of robe, the use of text and of course the starfish and sea shells!
Before starting with the step by step tutorial I would like to mention that you can use any supplies you have, you don’t have to use the exact canvas, chipboards, metal embellishments or colours that I use on my projects. Use whatever you have! Find your own style and just have fun!
Step 1:
I choose to work with a hexagon shaped canvas size 15 cm (Gerstaecker). I prepared my canvas by applying one coat of The Crafter’s Workshop “White Gesso“ with a brush and let that dry. When the gesso had dried I stamped in several places using a Darkroom Door stamp called “French Script“ and Archival Ink in the colour “Jet Black“ (it’s important to use a waterproof ink for this step). Then I applied some Finnabair “White Crackle Texture Paste“ over a The Crafter’s Workshop stencil design called “Scalloped Mandala“ (large and small size TCW775) using a palette knife and I let that dry over night. This particular crackle paste dries best when you don’t speed up the drying process with a heat tool (using a heat tool causes almost no crackles). Each step that I take is also repeated on the sides of the canvas!
Step 2:
You can ad colour to your project in more then one way. You can first ad all the elements and then put colour on the completed project in one or two steps (like I did here: http://www.makeyourlifecolourful.com/single-post/2017/05/20/Mixed-Media-Art-Canvas-for-our-Living-Room ) or, you can first colour the background, then colour each of the elements on the side and ad them to your project after colouring them. It’s all about whatever you prefer!
For today’s project I choose to colour each element on the side and ad them later on and I also coloured the background separately!
To colour the canvas background I choose two colours of Lindy’s Stamp Gang Magicals: first I applied some LSG Magical in the colour “Rusty Lantern Lime“ and then on top I added some LSG Magical in the colour “Greased Lightnin‘ Green“. I used a dry fan brush to ad the magicals to my project and then sprayed with water, this makes the colour run, I dried with my heat tool when I liked what I had and the repeated these steps. To finish this step I also splattered with some of the Rusty Lantern Lime colour.
When this had all dried I wrapped some jute cord several times around the canvas and tied on the back with a knot.
Step 3:
Now I’m going to work on some of the embellishments that I used on my project: here you can see different ways to colour your chip boards: you can ad colour directly to them using the LSG Sprays or Magicals and put LSG Embossinng Powder on top. You can paint your chip boards with gesso first and then apply the colour. You can only put embossing powder (in one or more layers) on your embellishments. You can also paint your chip boards with acrylic paints or any other medium you like (I didn’t do that for today’s project though), the possibilities are endless! You can choose any technique you like or that fits your project!
On today’s project I used the following colours to colour the chip boards:
- for the butterflies (that you will see later on) I used LSG Magical “Greased Lightnin‘ Green“ with LSG Embossing Powder in the colour “King Midas Gold“ on top;
- on the Be Happy chip board I used one layer of LSG “Aurora Amethyst“ Embossing Powder and two layers of LSG “King Midas Gold“ Embossing Powder;
- on the 2Crafty chip board (“Circle Lace Panel“) I used white gesso, then coloured with LSG Magical Shaker in the colour “Magnolia Magenta Gold“ and LSG Spray “Open Arms Amethyst“;
- on the flower chip board I used LSG Magical Shaker “Magnolia Magenta Gold“ and LSG Embossing Powder “Aurora Amethyst“;
- on the flip flop chip boards I used LSG Spray in the colour “Open Arms Amethyst“ and LSG Embossing Powder in the colour “Aurora Amethyst“;
- on the Wycinanka flower chip boards I used one layer of LSG Embossing Powder in the colour “King Midas Gold“.
Step 4:
Here I’m going to design the main lay out for my project: I started with the biggest elements and then, in the next steps, slowly work towards the smaller ones (adding elements in places where I feel something is missing, this is the hardest and most time consuming part of my canvas projects I feel). I adhered all the elements using The Crafter’s Workshop “Matte Gel Medium“.
Step 5:
Now I can ad smaller elements that I coloured in the same way as the larger elements that I already adhered. I added smaller sea shells, metal embellishments and also some Stampendous Fran-Tage “Gilded Mica Fragments“. Work on your project until you’re happy.
Some tips: if you don’t know what the “rule of thirds“ is then look that up (it can be very helpful for your projects: mainly it means that putting things in the middle is boring for your eyes to look at), safe some “white“ space (this doesn’t have to be white white, but some places on your projects should be more busy then others, again, this will please the eye), work in layers ( it makes your project more interesting: this I feel is the hardest part: I don’t want to cover up nice backgrounds and beautiful chip boards, but I do work in layers: stamping, texture paste, colour, chip boards, other elements; you can build as many layers as you like!).
Step 6:
Now it’s time for the finishing details: for this I love to use pearl beads, faceted glass beads, sequins, all in different sizes and colours (but matching my project) and some gilding wax (I used “Treasure Pewter“ and Pebeo “King Gold“ on the edges of the canvas and the sea shells). These tiny elements I’m adhering to my canvas using Ranger “Glossy Accents“ (because I can work very precise with it).
I really love how this project turned out!
And if you were wondering about this: because this project is placed in my bathroom I sprayed three thing layers of Amsterdam "Acrylic Varnish" (Satin) to preserve the canvas against the damp air in the bathroom. It works great in combination with the LSG products (meaning that they don't react with each other)!
Some detail pictures:
The following supplies that I used you can also buy at the fabulous CraftAddiction store:
- Archival Ink in the colour “Jet Black“
- LSG Magical in the colour “Rusty Lantern Lime“
- LSG Magical Shaker in the colour “Magnolia Magenta Gold“
- Wycinanka chip board “Fullness of Summer“
- Wycinanka chip board “Be Happy, Smile en Love“
- Metal Embellishment “Sleutel met Zeepaardje - Brons“
Also check out the rest of the store: things like canvasses, gesso, texture paste, stencils and such come in many shapes and brands, you don’t need the exact brands that I used, I just used what I had!
And that’s it for today’s project! Thank you Nicole for having me as a guest designer, I had a blast creating this project!
I wish you all a creative day!
#TCWWhiteGesso #DarkroomDoorFrenchScript #FinnabairWhiteCrackleTexturePaste #TCWstencilScallopedMandala #LSGMagicals #LSGEmbossingPowder #2CraftyCircleLacePanel #LSGStarburstSpray #TCWMatteGelMedium #StampendousFranTageGildedMicaFragments
