Seaside Canvas Mixed-Media Tutorial

Hi all! This week we have a super fun theme at Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge - make something from scratch. As you might know, I love to make things from scratch: flowers, embellishments, backgrounds, 3-D projects and more. So many possibilities.

 

I made a mixed-media canvas board with a tutorial.

 

One of my favourite things is to take a die and use it to make something it wasn't originally meant for and ever since I first saw Tim Holtz Matchbox die, I knew I wanted to use it to make little houses. These little red houses are a common sight on the Swedish coast, and are historically used to store fishermen's tools etc. There is a photo of one on this layout of mine. I worked on a 6 x 8 in canvas panel.

 

Start by covering the panel with a layer of gesso.

Next I smeared on a layer of Wendy Vecchi's fabulous Crackled Texture Paste, where I wanted the sky to be. Leave it to dry and cracks will appear, they will be larger where the paste is thicker. For the cliff, I used White Embossing Paste, in a pretty thick layer.

 

When the pastes are dry, paint the sky with Tumbled Glass, Broken China, Salty Ocean and Spun Sugar, making it darker towards the top. I mixed a little water into the paint first. Paint the cliff grey, with touches of green. Leave to dry.

 

Darken some of the colours and add some dry-brushing, especially on the stone textures. Water down a little Frayed Burlap and paint here and there, especially around the edges. Stamp the birds with Salty Ocean paint.

 

Stamp the main sentiment on tissue paper and glue it down with multi medium, the tissue paper disappears. The rest of the stamping was done straight on the canvas, but I didn't want to mess up with the main sentiment. There are some words here and there, another sentiment, and cracks on the cliff.

 

Die cut three outer box parts from chipboard - that is the lower part of the die, which you can see here.

 

Measure the mid point on both sides of the house, and cut with a craft knife as shown. I made one house shorter than the others.

 

Emboss in a woodgrain folder for texture.

I used the Matchbox die to make the roofs too. Die cut the central piece of the inner box and cut as shown. Cut in two, and you have two roofs. Score and fold in the middle and cut the little front part in the middle.

Paint the roofs with Rusty Hinge and white for the front part. Use the Burlap stencil and White Embossing paste, applying the paste with a palette knife. Leave to dry. You can also do all the painting after applying the paste.

 

Paint again with Rusty Hinge and dry-brush with Walnut Stain and Black Soot. 

To make the houses stronger, I die cut an inner box - which is the part you can pull out in a normal matchbox. Cut it smaller so that it fits into the houses. I die cut it from red cardstock. Assemble it and if you want to you can place something inside, so that if someone touches the houses, there is more stability. I used the foam that comes with Sizzix embossing folders.

 

Assemble the houses, and paint them red. When dry, sand the paint to reveal some of the chipboard and make the woodgrain more visible. Paint the corners white. Of course, you don't need to make the houses red.

I cut doors from a piece of white cardstock, also embossed in a woodgrain folder.

Glue the roofs to the houses. Dry-brush a little brown paint on the houses.

Glue the houses to the canvas board with multi medium, placing them on the cliff. I was happy with how close to the real thing these matchbox houses ended up looking.

 

I placed the smaller house some distance away from the others.

The crackle sky has a really cool texture, especially with the mix of smaller and larger cracks.

I glued a few Idea-ology pieces to the canvas. Love these arrows.  

Under the houses, I glued some shells, adding a bit more Glossy Accents than I needed. Antique Linen Distress Glitter was sprinkled over the Glossy Accents, giving the look of some sparkly sand.

More shells and glitter, and one of my favourite sentiments.

From the top, the canvas looks like this, with the dimension of the houses and embellishments.

I hope you will be inspired to make something from scratch this week and join us in our challenge. It might be you who wins a $50 gift voucher from Simon Says Stamp, drawn randomly.

 

Thank you so much for visiting today!

Happy Crafting!

Anna-Karin

Supplies:
Surfaces: canvas board; chipboard
Dies: Sizzix: Matchbox
Embossing folder: Sizzix: Drapery & Woodgrain
Stamps: Stampers Anonymous Tim Holtz: Stuff to Say, Odds & Ends, Cracks & Specks, Mini Ornates
Ink: Ranger Archival Ink Jet Black
Paint: Distress Paint: Rusty Hinge, Barn Door, Aged Mahogany, Walnut Stain, Black Soot, Tumbled Glass, Broken China, Salty Ocean, Spun Sugar, Iced Spruce, Pumice Stone, Peeled Paint, Picket Fence, Frayed Burlap
Medium: Wendy Vecchi Stampers Anonyous: Crackled Embossing Paste, White Embossing Paste; Dina Wakley Ranger White Gesso
Glitter: Distress Glitter: Antique Linen
Stencil: Tim Holtz Stampers Anonymous: Burlap
Embellishments: Tim Holtz Idea-ology: Locket Keys, Arrows Adornments