Canvas Art Journal Page Tutorial

Hi friends! I hope you had a nice weekend. We had lovely spring weather and soon the trees are going to start turning green.

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This week we have a Rainbow theme at the Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge Blog. I hope you will join us and don't miss the beautiful card by our April guest designer Ann Chuang.

I was in the mood of using a photo for this project and picked one of my older double rainbow photos taken in South Africa. It was printed on canvas so that the photo is a part of the background. This started out as an art journal page, but might go into one of my scrapbooking albums instead, since it is a bit of both and since I wanted to stitch all around the page.

After printing the photo on canvas paper I coated the rest of the paper with gesso, letting some of the gesso overlap the photo. Next, I applied texture paste through Simon Says Stamp Mix and Match Circles stencil and added strips of old book paper.

Paint the background with Distress Paint, misting with water to blend.

Sponge Lost Shadow paint through Tim's Bubble stencil.

The title was die cut with Tim Holtz Aphanumeric Emporium die set, using a piece of watercolor paper which had been colored with Distress Inks.

Stamp sentiments on the background. Most of my sentiments come from Tim Holtz Tiny Text, but I also used his Nature's Wonder and Simon Says Stamp Forest Scenery and Anna's Flowers. The circles come from Simon Says Stamp Mix and Match Circles stamp set and the birds are from Tim's Mini Ornates.

Add more texture with Simon Says Stamp Crackle Background and Tim Holtz School Desk alphabet stamp.

The old book paper that I used come from a South African botanical book. I let some of the words show through and in some cases stamped circles around them to make them stand out more. 

Here you can see 'Mother Earth' peek through from the background paper. 

I frayed the edges of the canvas paper and adhered to a piece of watercolor paper. I stitched around the canvas with my sewing machine.

By painting with gesso and paint over the edge of the printed photo, the photo blends into the background. I also stamped on the photo here and there.

I really like these Emporium letters and used them on last week's Lucky Canvas project too.

These birds are one of my all time favorite stamps. The blue ink is Archival Ink Cornflower Blue.

The paste circles add texture and interest without overpowering the photo.

I hope you will join us this week in our Rainbow challenge. You have a chance to win a $25 gift voucher to do some fun shopping at Simon Says Stamp. You have until Monday 8am Ohio time. 1pm UK time, 2 pm CET to join in.

Are you going to the Simon Says Stamp CREATE event? Even if you haven't got a ticket, there will be lots of create and takes, being hosted by lots of fabulous companies AND there will be a Simon Says Stamp pop up shop!! CLICK HERE for more details!

Do you use Instagram? If so please add #sssmchallenge so we can see your entries there too.

Thank you so much for stopping by here today! 

Happy crafting!

Anna-Karin

Supplies:

* Please note: the links are affiliate links, for which I receive a small percentage of sales generated by the link, at no extra cost to you.

Christmas Flower Mixed Media Canvas

Merry Christmas to everyone! I am sharing my last Christmas project of the year, a mixed media canvas with dimensional flowers.

Please note: this post has affiliate links, for which I receive a small percentage of sales generated by the link, at no extra cost to you.

My canvas board is 6x6 in, but you can also do the project in other sizes or do the techniques on a card or in an art journal page. The background was done with Distress Paint, stencils, texture paste, grit paste and Rock Candy glitter and has a fun festive shimmer. It doesn't have to be a Christmas project, just change the sentiments. 

Coat the canvas with gesso and when dry add Texture Paste through the Simon Says Stamp Mix and Match Circles stencil with a palette knife.

When dry, paint with watered down Distress Paint and mist with more water to blend even more.

When dry, sponge paint through the Simon Says Stamp Medium Dots stencil. I mixed Abandoned Coral with a little white paint.

Stamp with Simon Says Stamp Old Letter.

Dry brush brown paint around the edges.

Place the stencil back on the design and apply Snowfall Grit Paste with a palette knife. Sprinkle Rock Candy Glitter into the paste.

Die cut the Tim Holtz Holiday Brushstrokes 3 from heavystock paper and Simon Says Stamp red glitter paper. I die cut more than one of all the pieces.

Smear Distress Ink on a non-stick craft sheet and mist with water. Press the papers into the ink. Let dry and repeat until you are happy with the look.

Repeat the process with Distress Oxide ink, using only a little ink.

Glue the flowers and leaves together and then shape with Tim Holtz Shaping Tools.

I stamped a sentiment from Simple Sayings on Christmas Backdrops paper and also added a Quote Flair.

Glue the flowers to the canvas and layer the leaves around them. 

The background has many layers: paint, texture paste circles, smaller circles, stamping, grit paste and glitter. 

The Snowfall Grit Paste and Rock Candy glitter add a great shimmering look to the circles, while also letting the paint, pink dots and stamping show through. I used the same products to create snow on my Christmas Clock posted a couple of days ago.

I also added a few Clippings Stickers.

The flowers have quite a bit of dimension and life. 

 

Merry Christmas!! I hope you will have a wonderful time!

Thank you so much for stopping by here today!

Happy stamping!

Anna-Karin

Supplies:

* Please note: the links are affiliate links, for which I receive a small percentage of sales generated by the link, at no extra cost to you.

Spring Canvas Mixed Media Tutorial

Hello friends! I have a spring canvas to share with you today, with fun and easy mixed media and stamping techniques. You can use the techniques for cardmaking and art journaling too.

It is still a little chilly here, but spring is definitely on the way. One of my favorite things with spring is all the shades of green that you will find where ever you look and that is what inspired this 7 x 9.5 in canvas. I wanted to create green hills with a sprinkle of leafy trees. I used Simon Says Stamp All Seasons Tree and Forest Scenery stamp sets.

Start by coating the canvas with gesso. 

Apply texture paste where you plan the grassy hills to be. I applied it with a palette knife and made a hill-looking texture. Let dry.

When dry, paint with watered-down Distress Paints.

It is difficult to get a good stamped impression on such a textured surface, so I reached for my favorite solution to that, namely stamping on tissue paper. Stamp on the glossy side of the tissue paper, with Archival Ink, or another waterproof ink. I hadn't yet decided if I wanted black or brown trees, so I stamped both. The trees from from the All Seasons Tree and the deer from the Forest Scenery set.

I went with the brown trees this time since I wanted a softer look. Tear around the images as a cut edge will be more visible. Place them out to try out different compositions.

Use gloss medium to glue down the tissue papers. Apply medium on the background, place the paper into the medium and add another layer of medium on top. As you can see the tissue paper disappears almost completely. I turned one of the deer around so that they would face each other. At this stage, I often think the canvas looks terrible, but we will fix that.

Add more green to the grass to deepen the shades. I made it darker in the foreground, which adds a sense of distance.

Add more color to the sky too.

I wanted my trees to have a leafy texture. Mix a tiny bit of paint into texture paste. I did one lighter version with Twisted Citron and a darker version with Mowed Lawn. Apply to the trees with a palette knife, creating lots of texture. Don't apply it smoothly and let some of the branches show through, as they would on a real tree. I had a jar of Simon Says Stamp Unicorn Confetti on my desk and decided to toss some of it on top of the paste leaves. Add some of the texture to the background too.

I painted the sky with gloss medium and sprinkled just a little bit of Unicorn glitter on top. The sentiment was stamped on tissue paper and applied in the same way as the other stamps. Use darker brown and green to add shading to the tree trunks, deer, and under the trees and deer.

I also splattered some white and yellow paint on the background, to create the look of spring flowers growing in the grass. This sentiment comes from Anna's Flowers.

The glitter was added on a whim and I thought it gave a fun sparkle and added to the happy spring feel of the canvas. 

I also stamped some sentiments from the Forest Scenery right on the background, placing a closed ink pad underneath the spot for a firm surface to stamp on.

The trees have a cool texture that you want to reach out and touch.

With tissue paper stamping you can easily flip an image, to get a mirror effect. I added shading and some highlights to the deer, which adds dimension.

Here you can see that I painted a darker brown on one side of the deer. The 'shades of green' sentiment was originally inspired by spring-time trees.

The tissue paper is a little more visible on this sentiment stamp, if you look closely. The reason for that is that it was applied over darker paint. Tissue paper disappears better over light colored shades. I wanted that sentiment in a place with lots of texture, otherwise I would have stamped it directly on the background.

The small trees have shading on the trunks too. I used mainly the lighter green paste for these, so that they would look further away.

Here you might be able to see the tree texture a little better.

Thank you so much for taking the time to stop by here today! I will see you again tomorrow.

Happy crafting!

Anna-Karin

Supplies:

* Please note: the links are affiliate links, for which I receive a small percentage of sales generated by the link, at no extra cost to you.