Being unique is better than being perfect - Box canvas using Woodware stamps & Wow! Embossing powders.

Welcome back to my crafty little blog.

Today I'd like to share with you another decorated canvas design.

This was a project we made at my shop Out Of The Blue in Chipping Sodbury near Bristol.

We teach workshops twice a month & try to add some different projects other than just card making.

Like the last canvas project I posted recently, this is made by using the reverse of the canvas. 

As our workshops are only 2 hours long, to save time I prepped everyone's blank canvas using turquoise acrylic paint.

We then spread texture paste through a Creative Expressions mask & once removed sprinkled glittery Wow embossing powder over the wet paste & heated with a heat tool until the paste bubbles & adds more texture.

The effect is lovely & also means the paste dries pretty quickly. Another time saver!.

Clear Versamark ink was dabbed around the edges of the canvas & heat embossed with the same powder.

We stamped the Woodware Whimsical Flower onto watercolour paper & coloured/painted the flowers with Koi brush marker pens.

The flowers were cut out & layered up leaving some areas unglued for shaping & to add dimension.

The flower was glued in place to the left side of the front of the canvas box.

Next, we created the sentiment to place in the recess of the box frame using another clear stamp set from Woodware.

Mini flowers were added & distress ink was blended around the edges.

The choice was given to add ribbon to the back to hang on the wall, but I think this canvas looks better just stood on a shelf as it is.

Just a few touches of Stickles glitter glue were all that was needed to finish.

As it's Valentine's Day tomorrow I'll be posting again tomorrow with a love themed card so please come back to take a look.

As always, your comments are much appreciated.

Amy x

Imagination Crafts Inspirational Project - Altered notebook, birds on a branch

Hello all, it's the 15th of the month so that means it's time to share with you another inspirational project for the Imagination Crafts Challenge Blog.
Please pop over to the blog to see what the rest of the design team have created & to join in with the challenge.
The theme is always anything goes & there is a prize to be won too!.

This post may be a bit picture heavy so you have been warned!.

I had a couple of blank, plain brown notebooks that had been waiting for me to do something with.
I decided to alter one of them & here's how I did it:

I gave the notebook a coat of white gesso as a base.

Next I cut & embossed a piece of blue card to fit the front cover. It didn't have to be blue, it was just what I had to hand at the time.

I then used the Imagination Crafts Birds On A Branch stencil with some silver texture paste.

Once dry I then stuck the embossed layer & the bird design panel onto the front of the notebook & painted over the top with anotger coat of gesso & heated it with a heat tool which made the texture paste bubble slightly with the heat.

I then began to blend some blueberry ice & gooseberry fool inkadink inks from the brights set over the note book.
Then I added water & dried it off with my heat tool.
I loved this effect!.

The next step was to blend some distress inks to add an aged effect & then I replaced the stencil & added black soot distress ink to make the birds stand out a bit more followed by some treasure gold gilding wax.

I die cut some flowers with my tattered floral dies & added gilding wax & micro beads to the centres to tone in with my colour scheme.

I decorated the back cover & the inside covers to match attaching ribbon between the layers to tie the book together.

So, that's it!. Thanks for staying til the end!.

I'll be back again soon with the first project of 2015 for our Out Of The Blue Workshops that start this week.

Amy x 

Heart with Flowers

Another quick post today as I am off to work in the shop this afternoon & then it's straight out again to teach our next workshop featuring Zentangle & dreamweaver stencils (see previous posts).

Tonight is our second Zentangle workshop & I'm intrigued to see how tonight's group get on in comparison to our first which was on the 16th.

 Hopefully I'll remember to take some photos so I can show you.

 

 

I wanted to show you something heart related today as we are fast approaching Valentine's day, although my heart isn't red or pink.

 The shop deliveries of Valentine's cards & gifts have long been arriving & are on the shelves so I thought I'd make a few heart shaped crafty items, more of which I will post at a later date.

 

I've also been working a lot with flower stamps & dies lately so flowers had to feature in my project too.

 My daughter's name is Daisy so I always seem drawn to flowers!

 

 

I used an MDF heart from Indigoblu, primed & then painted with a pale yellow acrylic paint.

I then used a Creative Expressions mask & spread texture paste through it onto the heart.

When dry I then decided to paint over the top with the same pale yellow.

 Distress inks in mustard yellow & brushed corduroy & then bronze gilding wax were blended over the surface.

The flower stamp is from Woodware & I stamped all 3 sizes several times in sepia archival ink, cut them out, added the same distress inks & layered them up, shaping the petals to add dimension.

I then added the swirls with gold pearlised pva from Creative Expressions & flat backed pearls in the centres of the flowers. Don't look too closely, the glue is still wet!

 

 

 

The sentiment is also a stamp from Woodware which I stamped in sepia & tore around the edges & distress inked. The final touch was the gold organza ribbon to hang.

 

All these products are available to buy in my shop Out Of The Blue.

 I really enjoy creating these projects to show you & our customers what they can make using them.

 

I hope you like my project, any comments are much appreciated.

 

See you soon

 

Amy x