Spooky Mixed Media Canvas Tutorial

Hello all! I have a fun mixed media tutorial to share with you today, for the Tim Holtz Media Team. It involves die cutting, stamping, Distress Paints and various media. 

 

I made a Halloween canvas board (6 x8) for my son's room, but you can really use these techniques for any type of theme. I did a seaside canvas earlier this year, with some of the same techniques, for example, making little houses with the Matchbox die. I love using my dies in ways that they were not originally intended for.

 

Coat the canvas board with gesso, this gives a better surface for the other mediums to adhere to. 

 

I wanted a scary sky and thought Wendy Vecchi's Crackled Texture Paste would do the trick. Smear a layer where the sky will be with a palette knife, varying thicker and thinner applications. The thicker the paste, the larger the cracks will be. 

Leave the paste dry and cracks will appear. For the ground, apply a thick layer of Ranger's Texture Paste. Leave to dry.

Die cut a mask for the moon using the middle Sized Circles die. It works great if you use Tim Holtz Mask Sheets, but I had run out.

 

Paint the background with Distress Paint, adding a bit of water to the paint. Remember to always shake the bottles first. Start with Wild Honey, then continue with Iced Spruce, Chipped Sapphire and Black Soot. For the ground, I also used some Dusty Concord. Leave to dry.

 

Dry brush Black Soot here and there for a grungy effect. Water down some Brushed Pewter paint and apply over the crackled background, with thicker applications along the edges and in the corners. It is hard to see on the photo, but it adds a real great metallic effect. Paint the moon with very watery Wild Honey, to tone down the white.

Continuing with the little house, die cut one outer box part using the Matchbox die, from thin chipboard. I used the cover of one of my Tim Holtz paper stashes.

Die cut a second piece to make the roof. Cut it in half, and fold in the middle, as shown on the piece to the right.

 

Apply texture paste to the roof through the Burlap stencil, masking the front part of the roof with masking tape. 

Emboss the house in the woodgrain folder for texture.

Paint the house with Frayed Burlap and the roof with Rusty Hinge. If you use chipboard, you might want to paint them with white paint or gesso first.

 

Measure the midpoint on both sides of the house panels and cut with a craft knife. It is easier to do this step before painting, I just forgot.

 

Add some darker brown and black to the house and the roof. Cut a window with a craft knife.

 

To give the house a little bit more stability, die cut the inner part of the Matchbox from cardstock, and cut it off so that it fits the house. I placed two pieces of foam (from Sizzix Texture Fade packaging) inside the house).

When I was busy assembling the house, Anton came into the room and stated that he had to be inside the house. I moved the one foam square down and glued a cut out photo of him in the house. It is a little out of proportion, but since this is Halloween, that didn't matter much.

 

Add a small piece of die cut web to the house and a piece of acetate as a window. Apply Glossy Accents to the roof and sprinkle with Seedless Preserves Distress Glitter.

I wanted to use the new Hanging Lantern die, but it was too large for the canvas. The simple solution is to use shrink plastic. I also die cut an Apothecary Bottle from the plastic. 

Shrink according to the instructions on the packaging.

 

Paint on the back with Distress paint.

Coat with Glossy Accents and sprinkle with a little Rock Candy Distress Glitter. Love this little lantern.

 

Die cut a branch tree and the top of another one from grungeboard. Paint with Walnut Stain and when dry, dry-brush with Black Soot.

Stamp two images and a sentiment on tissue paper with Archival Ink. Plan the placement of everything.

Glue the tissue paper down by first applying a layer of multi medium gloss to the background. Place the tissue paper into the medium, and add another layer on top. The paper basically disappears and you have a perfect stamped impression on an uneven background. I also stamped the canvas here and there with a text and web stamp.

The silver makes for a nice effect. I stamped the branches with the spider web stamp.

I like the look of the imperfect stamping on the crackled background.

The moon looks nice with the bats and the tree branches in front of it.

Here you can see Anton peaking out from the haunted house.

The house is pretty dimensional on the canvas.

A spooky bottle.

Here you can see the stamping on the ground area a little better, with some small spiders too.

Thank you so much for looking at this long tutorial!!

Happy crafting!!

Anna-Karin

Supplies:
Surfaces: Tim Holtz idea-ology: Grungeboard; Tim Holtz Core'dinations Kraft-Coer cardstock; Ranger: Shrink Plastic
Dies: Sizzix: Hanging Lantern, Matchbox, Branch Tree, Sized Circles, Apothecary Bottles, Cobwebs
Texture Fade: Sizzix: Drapery & Woodgrain
Stamps: Stamper's Anonymous Tim Holtz: Mini Halloween, Mini Halloween 3, Mini Halloween 4,
Ink: Ranger Archival Ink: Jet Black
Paint: Distress Paint: Black Soot, Iced Spruce, Wild Honey, Frayed Burlap, Walnut Stain, Mustard Seed, Picket Fence, Dusty Concord, Brushed Pewter, Rusty Hinge, Chipped Sapphire
Medium: Ranger: Texture Paste, Dina Wakley White Gesso, Multi Medium Gloss, Glossy Accents; Wendy Vecchi: Crackled Texture Paste
Glitter: Distress Glitter: Rock Candy, Seedless Preserves
Stencil: Stamper's Anonymous Tim Holtz: Burlap
Embellishments: Tim Holtz idea-ology: Seasonal Chit Chat stickers

 

Vintage Rust Tutorial

Hi and welcome! I am back with a second post for today, by coincidence also using alcohol ink. It is a Sizzix tutorial, for some cool rusty effects using Ranger's embossing powder and alcohol ink.

 

I made an art journal page in my large Dylusions journal, but the techniques work as well on any type of project. It is such fun playing around with rusty distress techniques and you can achieve really cool effects, without any bulk. I used Sizzix dies by Jen Long, Prima and Tim Holtz.   

Start by preparing a piece of Ranger's Foil sheet. You'll need a larger piece than shown here. Put some alcohol ink on a felt applicator and pounce on the foil until you are happy with the result.

Immediately sprinkle some Ranger Rust embossing powder into the alcohol ink. The ink dries fast and the powder won't stick well. To prevent it from flying off, melt with a heat tool from underneath. Be careful since the metal gets hot.

Drip some more alcohol ink on the background, creating cool splotchy effects where the embossing powder is.

Using the Vintage Car & Radio set, die cut the car from glossy cardstock, the wheels from kraft-core cardstock and the rest of the pieces from the prepared metal. Placing a piece of wax paper between the die and the surface to be die cut makes it easier to get a good cut and to get the paper out of the die.

Repeat with the Route 66 sign.

Apply Stonewashed and a tiny bit of Ginger to the felt and swipe over the car.

 

Apply embossing ink here and there on the car with a Ranger Emboss It Dabber. Sprinkle Rust powder on top. If it is too much, you can brush off some of the powder. Melt with a heat gun.

 

Pounce and drip more alcohol ink on the car for an old worn look.

Again apply alcohol inks to the felt applicator and pounce on the glossy sign.

Adhere the metallic and cardstock pieces. If you want to, you can add some more Pitch Black ink.

Prepare a piece of glossy cardstock by swiping alcohol ink over it, using the same colours as for the car. Pounce and drag the Emboss It dabber here and there and sprinkle Rust powder on top. Don't worry too much about how it looks.

Die cut butterflies from this piece. Add some more alcohol ink to the butterflies here and there.

Die cut the fun Rondeaux gears from the prepared foil. You'll also get a bunch of small hearts, keep these too.

For the title, I used Tim's new Alphanumeric set, which are very simple to use together with the Magnetic Platform. Use a cutting pad above and below the paper and dies.

I used a page from an old map book and covered it partly with gesso, using a palette knife.

When the gesso is dry, paint with Antique Linen and Walnut Stain.

When dry, add a watery mix of Tumbled Glass and Stormy Sky.

Use the Emboss It dabber around the edges and here and there. Sprinkle rust powder and emboss.

Stamp the background with various sentiment and background stamps. Add some Black Soot around the edges and splatter some more here and there.

 

The rusty old car has a great textured look to it. I am not so sure I would want to drive around in it though. I layered it on an inked piece of dictionary paper, about the word 'car'.

These butterflies are real pretty. Add one of the hearts to the body of each butterfly.

The very worn Route 66 sign was maybe my favourite part of the project. Love the combination of the rusty metal and brown splotchy background.

For the larger letters, I used the Lowercase Block Talk die. 

Aren't these gear dies great? There are nine in the pack, so plenty of different ones.

 

I also added a layer of cheese cloth, dyed with Walnut Stain Distress Ink.

 

Thank you so much for looking! I hope you enjoyed this rusty old tutorial.

 

Happy crafting!

 

Anna-Karin

 

Supplies:

Surfaces: Ranger: Dylusions Journal, Metal Foil Tape Sheets, Glossy Cardstock; Tim Holtz Core'dinations Kraft-Core cardstock

Dies: Sizzix: Alphanumeric, Lowercase Block Talk, Rondeaux, Winged Beauties, Vintage Car & Radio   

Stamps: Stamper's Anonymous Tim Holtz: Going Somewhere, World Traveler, Here & There

Ink: Ranger Archival Ink: Jet Black; Emboss it Dabber; Distress Ink: Antique Linen, Frayed Burlap, Walnut Stain

Alcohol ink: Adirondack: Stonewashed, Ginger, Espresso, Juniper, Lettuce, Pitch Black, Caramel

Paint: Distress Paint: Antique Linen, Black Soot, Walnut Stain, Stormy Sky, Tumbled Glass

Embossing powder: Ranger: Antiquities Rust