Christmas Canvas

A few weeks ago whilst visiting Blog Land I came across a Christmas Canvas which inspired me to try one of my own, unfortunately I cant find the original post, so if you are the original creator I thank you for your Inspiration.

UPDATE ~ Many thanks to Dawn & Sheryl who pointed me back to the original blog that inspired me & an even bigger thank you to Fiona for the original inspiration I do love 3D canvases.
The original idea came from a demo at convention 2009 Jenni pauli

The canvas is 10" square & is pre primed. Then using the En Francais I attempted to stamp the background in Crumb cake ink. This was a lot harder than I had anticipated. But if you try this project don't panic as you can easily re-prime your canvas with white or cream acrylic paints or gesso. Eventually I had a few background images I was fairly happy with, So I set the canvas aside to dry whilst I started to make the buttons.
 I found that it is best to make the buttons in batches. yes I did say make the buttons, they are all made from Stampin' Up Cardstock, Circle punches, Tombow glue & Crystal effects with a sprinkling of Dazzling Diamonds.

1. Punch out 3 circles for each button that you want to make. for this project you will need an assortment of sizes.

2. Punch out ( With space around the punched shape ) a size smaller circle.

3. Holding the original size punch up side down over the smaller hole, centralise the larger punch & punch a hoop.

4. Glue all four Layers together putting the hoop layer on top & leave to dry completely.

5.When dry use the crop o dile to punch the two button holes in the middle of the button. Repeat these steps until you have sufficient buttons for the project, I made more than I needed so I could use the spares on some Christmas cards.

6. On a non stick surface cover the buttons with Crystal effects, making sure not to shake the crystal effects as you don't want any bubbles, If you do get bubbles then use a pin to pop them before the Crystal effects dries.

7. A very light sprinkle of Dazzling diamonds enhances the buttons & then leave to dry completely, I left mine overnight.

8. Lay out the buttons on the canvas in a Christmas tree shape.

9. Thread ribbon or cord through some of the buttons to add texture before finally sticking the buttons in place. Again I used Crystal effects as the adhesive.

My Colours


Cardstock
Real Red
Chocolate Chip
Old Olive
Daffodil Delight

All of the above products with the exception of the canvas are available from the Stampin' Up range & are available to purchase through me as an Independent creative coach.

Lovely weather for a Bank holiday

Well as per usual on a Bank holiday it is crafting weather, which has given me sometime to finish some projects that I've been working on & some techniques I have wanted to try, so we've also had the melt pot out to try some embellishment making with some stamped images that are just soaking as we speak.

I have had a project in my mind for a few weeks using large chipboard letters & a rectangular canvas. The canvas is 6" x 12 " so you can see how big the letters are. I bought the whole
A ~ Z last year & use them as templates for my scrapbooking & home decor projecets. The canvas is painted in a matt vintage cream acrylic. When I was chatting with my fellow Su creative coach's earlier in the week we were talking about a new technique to make up glimmer mists using Su products................. & I can now tell you that it works really well.All you need are some re-inkers from Su in your chosen colours, Stampin' Up shimmer paints & some rubbing alchol or Isopropyl alcohol & a small mister bottle & finally a pipette. Getting the Isopropyl Alcohol was a tad trickier than I had reckoned on & eventually managed to track it down to an independant hardware store in the painting section.

• Using the pipette half fill the mister with the Isopropyl alcohol
• Add a couple of drops from the re~inker ( the more re~inker the deeper the colour )
• Then add the shimmer paint to make the small mister bottle 3/4 full
  
• Shake well before each use as the different products will separate
  

I used this mister to spritz the canvas
{ be careful as the mini sprays are only mini in size & they have the ability to spray a huge area, especially if you dont want them too }

I covered each of the letters with pages from an old book & when they were dry I inked the edges using the sponge daubers & close to Cocoa ink.
Once mounted I used some 3d paint in copper to accentuate the corners.

The other project that was started a couple of weeks ago is covering my latest American crafts scrapbook, I usually use material but its not that easy to cover them tidily with material & not having any glue show through, so I decided that I would now try using scrapbooking papers.
This is my "scrapbooking me" album so it had to reflect my style & personality a little.

• I used the vintage vailla matt acrylic to cover the raw edges of the chipboard & a little way in as it would then be a little more forgiving if I mis cut the papers as i'm prone to do.
• I used tombow glue to stick the scrapbook paper to the covers & one of the papers had fabric tape measures that I cut into strips to edge the album.
• When all of the covers inside & out were dry I coated them with diluted tombow PVA to seal them & protect them from ripping or staining.

The melt pot project was one that I found on a blog or you tube, but typically I cant find the link to add it to this post,

• You stamp your image onto plain or patterned paper & cut it too size
• Place the piece of paper into the melt pot & sprinkle with UTEE
• heat up the melting pot
• When all of the UTEE is melted carefully remove & place on the non stick craft sheet.
• Wait until it's completely cold & then soak in lukewarm water until all of the backing paper has disolved & you are left with a flexible semi translucent embellishment to use on your layout.

The original embellishment was too thick so I reheated in the melt pot & the ink smudged slightly, a learning curve I think, but I'm impressed & will use it in a project I have in mind during the week.

Limited edition 1/2 & 2/2 ~ Always a part of me

Always a part of me.

A few weeks ago I experimented for the first time making a layout on canvas, I loved them so much & had so many lovely comments about them I decided to make a pair to send to my Mum for her Birthday on Friday.
They are slightly bigger than the original pair, these are 12" x 12"



Paper is Makin Memories

2nd of the pair of Black & white canvases.

I have finished the 2nd of the two canvases for my Children, the blank canvas was originally a challenge I made on Jane.
They are proudly displayed on Mini easels in the lounge.

Blank canvas challenge

A few weeks back we had a crop & craft evening at my house, when Jane came in I handed her an 8 x 8 blank canvas. Jane as usual rose to the challenge & created this beautiful layout of her beautiful little girl.

As ever I am inspired by janes creativity & had a go at making canvases using her layout for inspiration.



Off to get some black & white buttons tomorrow to finish thsi off, but I was so pleased with it so far I just had to share it with you.



Black & white paper is by makin memories

My Challenge

My Challenge should I choose to accept it! ! !

My upline Michelle sent all of her crafty Inklings 3 pieces of Stampin up product, they all arrived in a little envelope, their providence was initially a mystery untill we next met. Michelle was challenging us to make a project with the 3 pieces.

So here is what I came up with

In better light this really shimmers as all of the flowers are hi-lighted with dazzling diamonds

Cardstock ; Close to cocoa, Bashful Blue & so Safron
Stamp set ; Playful petals ~ available until 30th September in the mini catalogue
Sentiment stamp from 113624 One of a kind
Designer paper ; Washington Apple ~ available until 30th September in the mini catalogue
Accessories ;
110194 Dazzling diamonds
110022 earth elements Pumpkin Pie brad
104199 Linen thread
113378 1" Bashful blue grosgrain ribbon
105515 swirl is from the hodgepodge hardware set


All supplies except the canvas are Stampin' Up & are available to purchase from me.