Owl and Owlets Canvas Tutorial

Hello everyone! I have a cute and textured Sizzix tutorial to share with you today, featuring an owl mom and her two babies.

I love owls and started a small owl collection when I was a teenager, making a whole bunch of them myself in polymer clay. So I knew I wanted Lori Whitlock's Owl #5 die when I saw it and I was happy to also find an owlet, in the Fox & Owl Sentiment set. For this canvas, I went for natural colours, but lots of textures and used various interesting materials, so that the viewer would want to reach out and touch the canvas. 

Start by die cutting the owl from white mat board, and repeat cut various parts of its body from different surfaces. The head and the top pair of wings were die cut from a piece of mat board to which I had glued Tim Holtz Eclectic Elements fabric. The body was die cut from one of the Textile Surfaces and the second pair of wings from burlap from Textured Surfaces. The larger eyes were die cut from white Paper Leather and the smaller eyes from mat board. The beak was die cut from cork. Mix and match surfaces you have at hand and it is a great way to use up scraps. 

Adhere the Textile Surface to the body and glue lace trim on top with a glue stick.

Ink all the pieces and paint the eyes with black paint. 

I dyed a piece of cheesecloth with Antique Linen and Ground Espresso Distress Spray Stains (forgot to take a photo of that step) and used a little bit at the top of the owls head. Piece the owl together. For the eyes, I also used Tim Holtz Sprocket Gears. The irises was given a highlight with a white pen and were then coated with Glossy Accents. I also gave her Game Spinner eyebrows. 

Die cut the owlet from the Fox & Owl Sentiments set from white Paper Leather, Textile Surfaces (you might need to use scissors to snap some off some of the threads after die cutting) and brown Paper Leather. Die cut the heart from the same set. 

You need these pieces for the owlet, in this order. The irises were painted black, but it might be easier to die cut them from black paper. The first white owl is mainly there to give stability to the owl, you don't actually see it. 

Layer the owlets, starting with the white piece and then the Textile Surface. Tease out small pieces of dyed cheese cloth and place under the eyes and on the tummy. Add highlights to the eyes, as before, and coat with Glossy Accents.

Coat a 6 x 8 in canvas board with gesso using a palette knife. 

When the gesso is dry, add texture with the Latticework stencil and white Texture Paste. You need to wait until the paste is dry before you can continue with the next application, until the whole canvas is covered. 

When the paste is dry, paint the canvas with slightly watered-down Distress Paint. I also added Ground Espresso, you don't see that one on the photo.

When the paint is dry, add texture by randomly stamping the background with the Tim Holtz Newsprint stamp. 

Next, die cut two branches with the Garden Greens die, from grungeboard. 

Paint them with Antique Linen. 

Sand to remove some of the paint and then ink with Ground Espresso. This gives the branches and leaves a cool texture. 

Die cut doilies and lace strips with the Hello Doily set from French Industrial, or another, patterned paper. Lori's die sets always contain a great mix of wonderful shapes.

Die cut flowers using the Mix & Match Flowers, from patterned paper and old book paper. It is a good idea to use the Sizzix Precision Base Plate together with these dies.

Give the flowers some shape and then layer them together with a brad in the center,

The white highlight and Glossy Accents makes a big difference to the eyes. You could also use something like buttons.

I layered everything on the canvas and also added a real branch. The owlets were placed under the mom's protecting wings.

I picked a Small Talk sentiment that fit well with the canvas and theme.

Joy was die cut with one of the dies from the Hello Doily set. I like the textured stencilled paste background.

I don't have many Tim Holtz Alpha Dices left, since I've used most of the ones in the pack. There were four left and I was very happy to be able to spell the word 'owl' with them.

I hope you liked this tutorial and thank you so much for stopping by today!!

Happy crafting!!

Anna-Karin

Supplies:

Sizzix Bigz Die - Owl #5	Sizzix OWL #5 Bigz	Sizzix Framelits Die Set 7PK w/Stamps - Fox & Owl Sentiments	Sizzix Thinlits Die Set 7PK - Hello Doily	Sizzix Thinlits Die Set 10PK - Mix & Match Flowers
Tim Holtz Sizzix GARDEN GREENS Bigz	Tim Holtz NEWSPRINT AND TYPE	Sizzix Little Sizzles - 6" x 13" Mat Board Pack, 6 White Sheets	Sizzix PAPER LEATHER SHEETS WHITE 8.5x11	Sizzix Paper Leather Sheets - 8 1/2" x 11" White, 10 Pack
Sizzix Paper Leather Sheets - 8 1/2" x 11" Assorted Basics	Sizzix PAPER LEATHER SHEETS ASSORTED BASICS 8.5x11	Tim Holtz Fabric Eclectic Elements	Tim Holtz Fabric Eclectic Elements 16759 FAT EIGHTH 13PC	Tim Holtz TEXTURED SURFACES
Tim Holtz Idea-ology TEXTILE SURFACES Paperie	Tim Holtz GRUNGEBOARD BASICS PLAIN	Tim Holtz FRENCH INDUSTRIAL	Tim Holtz LACE Trimmings	Tim Holtz Core'dinations KRAFT CORE NOSTALGIC
Tim Holtz SPROCKET GEARS	Tim Holtz Stencil LATTICEWORK	Tim Holtz Idea-ology GAME SPINNERS	Tim Holtz Idea-ology SMALL TALK Stickers	Tim Holtz Idea-ology LONG FASTENERS
Tim Holtz Distress Paint ANTIQUE LINEN	Tim Holtz Distress Paint BLACK SOOT	Tim Holtz Distress Paint GROUND ESPRESSO	Tim Holtz Distress Paint FRAYED BURLAP	Tim Holtz DISTRESS INK PAD ANTIQUE LINEN
Tim Holtz DISTRESS INK PAD FRAYED BURLAP	Tim Holtz Distress Ink GROUND ESPRESSO	Tim Holtz Distress Spray Stain ANTIQUE LINEN	Tim Holtz Distress Spray Stain GROUND ESPRESSO	Ranger TEXTURE PASTE
Dina Wakley Ranger WHITE GESSO	Ranger 4 Oz. MULTI MEDIUM MATTE	Ranger Inkssentials TRIANGULAR COLLAGE GLUE STICK	Uni-Ball Pen Signo Gel WHITE	Ranger Inkssentials GLOSSY ACCENTS
Big Shot Machine	Sizzix BIG SHOT MACHINE Gray And White	Sizzix MINT Standard Cutting Pads	Cutting Pads, Standard, 1 Pair (Grape)	Sizzix MAGNETIC PLATFORM
Standard Magnetic Platform for Wafer-Thin Dies	Sizzix PRECISION BASE PLATE	Sizzix Accessory - Precision Base Plate for Intricate Thinlits Dies	Tim Holtz DISTRESS SPRAYER Ranger	Dina Wakley Ranger PALETTE KNIFE
Ranger Inkssentials INK BLENDING TOOL

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