"This is all I need" Mixed Media Canvas

A Bright, Deliciously Pink Mixed Media Canvas
for Cherish the Memory 

Hello all! Welcome to my blog!

Today I will be sharing with you this mixed media canvas I have created for Cherish the Memory using Studio Light ephemera available at the shop.

I will start out by saying that out of all the hobbies I have, I love love love making canvases the most! This canvas has taught me that you don't need a lot of paper to create a work of art, just some beautiful ephemera! I will be listing below links to this gorgeous ephemera at the end of the post.

Being Resourceful

A must in my canvases is texture, the more the better! Experimenting with the combination of textures, whether it is a lot of different textures combined together, balanced, one simple texture, I believe there is no right or wrong. For example, in the background of the canvas I used two different stencils with modeling paste, in addition to art stones, and microbeads!

If you notice, the shapes of textures doesn't stop there, I bring the texture over in layers by adding a layer of mesh and twine. I think it is important to tie the elements in the different layers to each other, so that they all sort of have this relationship and they marry into one another. I like to be cohesive. Speaking being resourceful, can you guess what that mesh is? It isn't store bought, it is mesh that I have repurposed from a laundry bag that was getting tossed out cut up into pieces.

Here you can see the various layers creating dimension. The first layer is texture using stencils and modeling paste. The second layer is paper flowers with recycled mesh and twine. Third layer presents the ephemera. 

To create depth, you can see that I strategically place rhinestones in areas that need interest, like crevices, dark spots that need some light to reflect back to the viewer. I do this last!

I hope you have something to take away from my post and thank you for visiting! Here are the links to the ephemera used in my canvas.

This and more from Studio Light's Memories of Summer available at Cherish the Memory

Shaker Bells and my Gorgeous Roses Canvas

Welcome to another post!

Thank you so much for visiting. If you have an Instagram account, please make sure you are following my account @patchworkfox for pictures of my work in progress and sneak peaks of what I will be posting!

This canvas, on the bottom left, was so hard to mail! I had become really attached to the canvas emotionally, but I'm sure that happens to most as I worked very hard on it. Does that happen with you? If you would like to see the tutorials for these two, leave a comment below!

I saw this quote earlier, shared by a dear friend and I wanted to share it with you, as it has been a quote that has been resonating with me recently :

"Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about the things that matter." - Martin Luther King, Jr.

My First Heartfelt Creations Sweet Peony Collection Project for May

Mixed Media "You are my Everything" Peony Canvas

Welcome to my blog!

Thank you for joining me in my first Heartfelt Creations project post for Inspiration Wednesday. I am sharing the details below with you on how I made this flower bordered canvas.

Heartfelt Creations Products Used:

HCDPI-288 Sweet Peony Paper Collection

HCPC-3819 Small Sweet Peony Cling Stamp Set

HCPC-3820 Large Sweet Peony Cling Stamp Set

HCPC-3821 Peony Blossom Stamp

HCD1- Small Sweet Peony Craft Die

HCD1- Large Sweet Peony Craft Die

HCD1- Peony Blossom Die

HCST1-401- Deluxe Flower Shaping Tool Kit

OTHER PRODUCTS

An 8x8 Canvas, White Heavy Gesso, Daubers, ZIG Wink of Stella Glitter Light Green Marker, ZIG Wink of Stella Glitter Green Marker, TCW Bricks Stencil, Memento Inks in colors; Bamboo Leaves, Cottage Ivy, Rose Bud, Lilac Posies, Angel Pink, Rhubarb Stalk; Finnabair Stone Effect Paste in Pumice, Faber-Castell Glass Bead Glitter Gel, Stamp Platform or Acrylic Stamp block, Yellow Seed Beads, Green Floral Wire, Hot Glue Gun or strong adhesive, Mounting Foam Tape, decorative white picket fence, Creative Embellishments decorative border chipboard, Two decorative small twig nests, Four flat backed rhinestone embellishments, Finnabair Acrylic Paint in Metallique Vintage Rose, Brushes for paint and gesso, Palette Knife for Stone effect Texture Paste, wire cutter, Heat tool (Optional)

Instructions:

Preparing the canvas - Prime the reverse side  of the canvas with two coats of White Heavy Gesso, making sure to also prime the inner sides of the wood frame. Once dry, apply Stone Effect Paste or Texture paste of your choice using the Bricks Stencil with a palette knife to create a wall effect. Allow to dry.

Place the 6x6 Heartfelt Creations Paper collection bird and fence scene centered into the canvas and glue into place. I recommend only tucking in one side and positioning before gluing down. Set Aside. Prime the chipboard frame with gesso and paint with Finnabair Acrylic Paint in Metallique Vintage Rose. Adhere the border chipboard to the frame to create a trellis look with strong adhesive or a glue gun and line the decorative white picket fence below it. When lining the decorative fence, place it beneath the fence in the image, so as to not block it and create the look of a second, much closer fence to create depth.

To make the leaves, stamp the leaves from both the Large and Small Sweet Peony die sets in Memento Cottage Ivy and color with Memento Bamboo Leaves with a dauber.. Make a total of 23 leaves, an assortment of both sizes for three large peony flowers and ten small peony flowers. For the small peony flowers, stamp and color green flowers to act as the green stem for each. Once finished, use a dauber to edge the leaves with Memento Cottage Ivy to create contrast. Use both Zig Wink of Stella Glitter markers to accent the veins in each leaf. Set aside.

Using the Deluxe Flower Shaping tool kit, stamp and die cut two Large Sweet Peony flowers from the Large Sweet Peony Cling Stamp Set by stamping them with Memento Rhubarb Stalk. With the dauber, color the flowers with Memento Lilac Posies and color the edges with Memento Rhubarb Stalk. Then, stamp and die cut one Large Sweet Peony using Memento Rose Bud Ink for the stamp and Memento Angel Pink for the dauber to color and edge the flower. Make sure to remember to color the backs of the flowers. Stamp and die cut ten Small Peony flowers in an assortment using the same ink color combinations as the large Peony flowers. Once you have the small Peony flowers assembled and shaped, use the piercing tool to slip the green wire through the centers of the flowers and hot glue, snipping whatever is leftover inside the bud with wire cutters. Make sure to leave a tail of about 5 inches, so that they may be curled later during arrangement. Once all flowers have been assembled, drop a dime sized portion of hot glue into the center of each of the flower buds and quickly sprinkle with yellow seed beads to create the pollen.

Arrange and affix the flowers around the left side of the canvas, aligning them with them along the chipboard frame to create the illusion of the flowers growing up along a trellis. Adhere the leaves to buds and tuck them in and around flowers to create the foliage. To create the curled sprigs, take the bottom of a brush and wrap the tails of wire around the handle and curl as desired and snip with wire cutter. With a brush, add dashes of Faber Castell Glitter Bead Gel to the edges of flower petals and leaves. Add any rhinestone embellishments and twig nests in empty spaces to add detail. Adhere some small Peonys behind the decorative fence along the bottom of the wooden frame to create a connection between the background and the front of the canvas frame. You can have leaves and wire sprigs poking through the fence to add to the dimension.

Stamp and die cut the blossom in the Peony Bud and Blossom stamp set. Use Rhubarb Stalk for the stamp color with Memento Lilac Posies with a dauber and affix to the empty sky space with mounting foam tape. Cut out background graphic and sentiment from the Sweet Peony Paper Collection and do the same to create layers with foam tape. Add any extra leaves or sprigs to your taste. Enjoy!

VIDEO LINKS

For more tips on creating with the Sweet Peony collection, watch the tutorial at https://youtu.be/L9_MLkvpGPQ

Mixed Media Butterfly Canvas for Cherish the Memory

Lemoncraft Vintage Time Mixed Media Canvas

"Great things take Time"

 

Hello! I am excited to bring you my first post of the new year! It has been a short while since I have last felt like I really "created" anything, so you can say I was more than ready to make this mixed media canvas!

This is my first time working with Lemoncraft papers, which are beautiful Polish papers that you can get from Cherish the Memory Etsy store. The links to the products will be at the end of this post!

The overall layout of the canvas is a rather busy one, so I wanted to make sure that the background stayed light and subtle, so as to not be distracting and remain a background all the while containing just enough color to tie the background with elements of the face of the canvas. 

For the background I used : 

Tim Holtz Stencil

Finnabair Mini Art Stones

Finnabair  Patina Effect Mint-Green Paste

Finnabair Acrylic Paint in Opal Magic "Blue-Gold"

For the splatter effect : Tim Holtz Distress Spray Stain in "Black Soot"

My favorite part of the canvas is this elegant chipboard piece by Creative Embellishments. I used heavy black gesso to give it that beautiful black matte effect. These lovely butterflies were fussy cut from Lemoncraft fussy cut papers which are listed below.

I love Tim Holtz Idea-ology stickers! They are perfect for all mixed media projects, so I love using them in mine. I especially love that they come in black and white, so this black sentiment was perfect for creating the contrast I needed for the black accents in the layout.

I mainly drew inspiration from this lovely flair button for my canvas! I love contrast, and I wanted to marry the black and white beauty of the wings along with the soft warmer browns and creams into the color palette for that vintage look that these papers are styled after.

                                 

I used organic fibers to help give dimension to the center frame/piece of the canvas. The chipboard frame received the same treatment as the elegant scroll chipboard, to make the center piece pop and to play along with the black in the pansies. I loved the garden effect the paper flowers and paper leaves had! It made the canvas seem as though it was "sprouting" which is always a good thing, considering I am as far from having a green thumb as possible! :) 

                            

I took a chance on using white crackle paste and white acrylic paint to give this chipboard piece an aged shabby look. I wanted it to look as though time had passed and the "wildlife" had essentially taken over, and luckily I ended up loving it! You MUST take chances.

Love dimension! The more the better! What I love even more are rhinestone embellishments. I love all things sparkly, and they are excellent at creating depth by reflecting light amongst the back layers.

I hope you have enjoyed my post! We are into February now, but I hope you have had a great start to the year already. 

Eugenia Redmond

Cherish the Memory Etsy Store