Textured Window Canvas Tutorial

Hello everyone!! This week we have another fabulous challenge at Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge Blog, Paste Mediums (embossing paste, gel medium, gesso and more). I am very fond of adding texture to my pages and different kinds of paste is one of my favourite supplies.

 

This week, I used a lot of paste, and made a canvas that consists mainly of Wendy Vecchi's White Embossing Paste. Love this stuff, it has the greatest texture and is light-weight and non-sticky, perfect for papercrafts, and for any kind of mixed-media work. I use it often together with stencils and for backgrounds, but this week I wanted to try something different, namely to cover a canvas with a thick layer and carve a pattern into the paste. I took some step photos.

I used a deep edge 4 x 4 in canvas and coated the front with a thick layer of paste using a palette knife, maybe about 8 mm thick. You need to work one side at a time. It is a good idea to start on one of the sides first, to figure out how long you have to wait for the paste to start drying before making impressions into it. I wished I had started with a side, because the bricks on the sides of my canvas are neater than the ones on the front, since I timed it better.

You need to wait until the paste starts to dry a little bit, and particularly until the surface starts to dry. The time will differ depending on the climate where you live. I think I waited about 30 minutes. The paste still needs to be soft, but not completely soft. I used a plastic palette knife to make impressions. I made the impressions a bit early on the front, if I had started with a side, I would have known to wait longer. Complete all the sides of the canvas, one at a time. If you are careful, they don't have to dry fully before you do the next side. Leave to dry completely.

I painted the windows with Antique Linen and the rest of the canvas with Pumice Stone, also adding Pumice Stone between the windows. Leave to dry. (The orange shouldn't have been here, I just forgot to take this photo until I had started with the orange).

I wanted a terracotta window and painted the bricks with Rusty Hinge, leaving the area in between them, the grout, Pumice Stone. Leave to dry. 

 

Dry-brush Walnut Stain on the window to distress it and to add more texture and character.

 

I wanted to add a sentiment too and love this stamp by Wendy Vecchi, but it was too large to fit a single window pane. Instead, I stamped it on tissue paper and tore into strips. I glued the strips down with gel medium, which makes the tissue paper disappear. Check out this tutorial of mine for more inspiration on tissue paper stamping.  



I wanted a branch in front of the window and reached for my trusted Branch Tree die. It was die cut from grungeboard and coated with Embossing Paste. I love using paste to add textures to die cut embellishments. Leave to dry.

 

When the paste is dry, paint the branch with Walnut Stain and Forest Moss Distress Paint, using a paint brush.

The flowers were die cut from Bazzill Antique papers with the Tattered Flower Garland die, inked and layered.

I used a resin embellishment to add a bit of life to my scene. (Sorry, I just saw that it got out of stock right after I got it). You could also make a clay bird using a Martha Stewart mold. 

 

Love the texture of this piece. You just want to reach out and touch it.

Since the canvas has a thick edge, it looks great to extend the brick texture to the edges.

 

I hope you will join us this week! We love looking at all the submissions every week. As always, one random participant wins a $50 gift voucher from Simon Says Stamp.

Thank you for looking!!

Happy Crafting!!

Anna-Karin

Supplies:
Surfaces: Tim Holtz Idea-ology Grungeboard; Bazzill Antique 6 x 6 pad; 4 x 4 deep edged canvas
Dies: Sizzix: Branch Tree, Tattered Flower Garland
Stamps: Stampers Anonymous Wendy Vecchi: Art Comforts
Ink: Archival Ink: Jet Black; Distress Ink: Gathered Twigs
Paint: Distress Paint: Antique Linen, Pumice Stone, Frayed Burlap, Gathered Twigs, Rusty Hinge, Walnut Stain, Forest Moss
Medium: Wendy Vecchi Stampers Anonymous: White Embossing Paste
Embellishments: Webster's Pages: Resin Nesting Birds; Kaisercraft Pearls