"I AM - LOVE IS - YOU ARE" ART Canvas

I created this "I AM - LOVE IS - YOU ARE" art canvas for a fundraiser happening in the next couple of weeks.  The word collage features a list of words which appropriately follow  "I am...".  "Love is..." and "You are..." and is a reminder of our commitment to the ones in our lives that we love!! 

I started this deep 8" x 10"canvas a while back by painting it with pink and purple acrylic paint in a very colourwashed way.  I used Modge Podge to layer on some single layer heart images from a paper napkin leaving them a bit wrinkly and textured.  It has been sitting for a few months and when this fundraiser came up I thought it would be perfect for doing an image transfer of this love collage!!  The word collage was created in Corel Draw using a wide variety fonts and a few heart images.  

From my past experience (see this canvas) the transfer works better with a smooth surface so I sanded the canvas to smooth out as many of the wrinkles as I could.  It worked quite well and I did not lose as much detail as I thought I might.  I laser printed the word collage mirrored onto white bond and used Modge Podge to adhere it the sanded canvas.  I applied the Modge Podge to the canvas with a foam brush and then carefully placed the trimmed down printed sheet over it making sure that the edges were even to ensure that the words would be straight across the canvas.  I gently rubbed the paper all over making sure its surface was in contact with the glue on the canvas everywhere.  I let it dry overnight to make sure the glue was completely dry.  To reveal the words I applied water to the paper and gently started rubbing it off once it was soaked through.  It is a bit of a process making sure that the paper is removed across the whole canvas and that the words are left behind. I did find some of the words had pieces missing because they were stuck to paper napkin that released from the canvas surface with the water.  I had not anticipated that situation but once the paper with the toner was gone there was not much that could be done. I let the canvas dry and used a fine tip Sharpie to fill in the missing parts of the letters.  It worked quite well though the ink was a bit more shiny than the toner.  That contrast disappeared after I applied the final coat of Modge Podge to seal the surface.  

I was not sure just what to do with the edges - they seemed too plain!  My sister suggested that I splatter them with black paint so I dug out my supplies  - black acrylic paint, a bit of water and my spattering tool.  I applied a little paint to the bristles, inserted the rod and turned the handle. It took a bit of practice for me to get the spatters where I wanted them but I did eventually coat all the sides and a bit of the front with spatters. Thankfully I had spread out papers to catch the off spray because there was paint everywhere!  I am very happy with how this art canvas worked out.  I added a hanger on the back so it is now ready to be dropped off!
Therese

Pressed botanicals for exchange cards

I needed two cards for my monthly card exchange so went looking for some cool paper to use as a background.   I found this botanical paper I used on these cards and thought that would do very well for spring cards!!  I created the background paper by sandwiching pressed botanicals between two pieces of white tissue paper using Matte Modge Podge.  I love it!!
I cut the background paper to fit a white layer I had trimmed to fit on my purple card fronts.  I used a glue stick to adhere them just in the middle and then used my sewing machine with white thread to stitch them together and incorporated a yellow strip of cardstock while I was at it.  I glued this decorative layer to my card front and added a punched colour printed greeting (SU) overlapping the strip!!
The botanical paper really needs to be backed with white to highlight the colour and detail of the paper.  Only a few more pieces of this paper left but I have scanned it so I can always print off a few sheets but it will not have the same translucency and texture!!

Therese

Birthday card with botanical collage

I created the collage for this card when I was working on this calendar.  I laid a dried flower over a page from a song book, covered it with a piece of white tissue paper coated with matt Modge Podge and added another layer over the the whole thing. Love how the flower petals have become translucent so you can see the music notes through them.  I also love the wonderful texture provided by the dimension of the flower's center and the stem.
To make my large card, I started by trimming my collage to fit my card front and glued it in place.  I added a wrap of lovely fiber to the left hand side finishing with a double knot.  I trimmed the vellum Happiness quote and included it when I stitched a couple times around the collage using wonky lines. I added a punchie greeting layered over a scallop punchie in coordinating colours.  The greeting is embellished with a bit of gel pen and sponged around the edge.
Going out to a girl who loves music and deserves every happiness!!

Therese

Cards featuring beautiful botanical paper

Cards for my stash!!  I created the decorative paper I used on these cards while I was working on this calendar.  I sandwiched pressed flowers and foliage between two layers of tissue paper with matt Modge Podge.  I love the way it turned out so I decided to make some cards with it!!  I trimmed the edges to be square and even then cut the large sheet down to 3.75" squares.  I created some ivory layers (4" x 5.25") with a variety of coloured printed greetings and stitched my

beautiful paper to the top portions of them using ivory thread.  To embellish these layers I used ribbon, bakers twine, seam binding, sequins and brads.  It was fun to make them different and yet very similar.  Once I was finished, I glued these layers to coordinating card fronts to finish off my cards.  I have a few pieces of this decorative paper left and a few long scraps as well.  They may show up in cards in the new year.

Here is how I made this decorative paper. I folded a large sheet of white tissue in half to give me a mark for the middle.  I opened it up, placed it over a silicone sheet and applied Modge Podge to the left half, a few areas at the time adding botanicals (blue hydrangeas, vetch, delphiniums and some yellow flower petals) as I went.  Once the whole half was covered with botanicals and glue I applied Modge Podge to the other half and folded it over to completely cover the left hand side.

I continued to apply Modge Podge to the top surface until everything was well coated and left it to dry over night.  Voila!  Some beautiful botanical paper!!

Therese

Pressed botanicals and handmade paper calendar

 Another calendar for this season's gift giving!!  I created this one from handmade paper I made a while back and some pressed botanicals which I pressed many years ago.  I went through my stash of pressed botanicals yesterday.  Quite a few of the flowers have faded losing most of their colour so they will have to go into the compost bin.  The few who are still beautiful will be sorted and stored for another day.
I started by tearing sheets of white handmade paper into twelve 4.25" squares and choosing 12 different pressed botanicals to use - one for each month.  I used thinned Matt Modge Podge to adhere the botanicals to the handmade paper then coated a piece of white tissue paper and laid it "glue side down" over the botanicals applying yet more Modge Podge to the outer surface until everything was nicely sealed.  I left them to dry and then pressed them between parchment paper under weight over night.
 





I chose cardstock (8.5" x 5.5") that coordinated with my botanicals and stamped them on both sides with a coordinating ink using a flourish background stamp (IO).  I glued my printed calendar pages to the bottom section of each piece of cardstock and applied a strip of double sided tape just about in the center and adhered some small pieces of ribbon to it which creates a fun textured border between the main element and the calendar page.  Once the ribbon pieces were in place I used double sided tape to

hold my handmade paper elements in place and then sewed all the way around to attach them to my cardstock.  These are double sided pages - January to June are on one side and July to December are on the other.
Once they were all finished I wrote the names of the botanicals on the handmade paper elements by hand using a fine tipped Sharpie marker. Really happy with this calendar!  Subtle backgrounds, lots of texture from the handmade paper, flowers and ribbon and a cohesive look overall.  Here is a look at all the pages I created.

 I created a similar calendar last week which you can view here using little birdie collage photos.  I am really loving this format and appreciate that the pages can be held together with a bull clip for easy hanging.  This calendar is somewhat thicker than the last one

 because of the many layers of handmade paper.  I am glad to be using some of my handmade paper as I have quite a stash of it from the last few years.   A person can make many sheets of paper in a day so it doesn't take long that you have more than you can readily use.  I will be

making an effort to include it in more of my creations in the new year.

I hope you are all getting your Christmas cards ready to go and getting around to any Christmas gifts that you make for family and friends.  Thanks to my group swaps I have been exploring some gift giving options for this holiday season.

Therese

Subway canvas - Love is . . .

I have been wanting to make a subway art canvas for quite a while and in the last few days I have finally managed to get all the elements together and make it happen!

I bought an 

8 x 10 art canvas at a local discount store and painted it with red acrylic paint in several shades and added a few gold highlights.  I created the subway art in Corel Draw using a wide variety of fonts with the theme of Love is. . . .. 

I reversed it using the Reverse Function in the laser printing process which worked great.  I applied a generous coat of Modge Podge to the canvas and laid my printed art carefully over it (printed side down) and rubbed gently to make sure that the two surfaces were in contact everywhere.  I left it to dry overnight. On hindsight, there was a bit too much glue in some places which created a few ridges.  Those ridges dried and became permanent fortunately they do not detract from the look of the finished piece.  

I generally followed this subway art tutorial at Full of Great Ideas  but I think it is absolutely necessary for the glue to be completely dry before you begin to remove the paper.  As it was, I did lose some detail in some of the letters as I was removing the paper which I touched up with a black fine tip Sharpie.  I followed that with a coat of matte Modge Podge which blended the colours in the letters and covered up any little bits of paper that I had not removed.  I am a happy crafter!!  I will be adding a ribbon hanger and it will be good to go.  I will certainly be making more of these in the future.  

 This is loosely patterned after the bible verse but the verse has so many nots in it that I went looking for words that portrayed positive attitudes and attributes that would provide inspiration for everyone.  I added the I AM and the YOU ARE at the top as a reminder that we must set these goals for ourselves and it behooves us to appreciate these qualities in those close to us.  It is also a reminder that it takes two to create a good relationship and both have to work at it regardless if the relationship is with our spouse, partner, parents, siblings, extended family, friends, etc.  

Therese

Domino charms!

I am in a charm swap on AFTCM and this month we are using dominoes!! Unfortunately, the dominoes I have on hand are too large to make charms so I decided to use these little balsa wood rectangles (right hand photo) instead which are a much better size

- 5/8" x 1 1/4" or so. I chose papers to cover them then painted the ends to coordinate -white or black (middle). I used modge podge to attach my papers (right) which were all retrieved from my scrap box. After they were dry I embellished each one with a variety of items - dictionary text, confetti, hand drawing and copper foil. I did seal them with modge podge after adding the papers so they will stand up to the wear they will get when they are added to a bracelet. I have uploaded a photo of the front and the back of the charms.

I used a drill press with a small drill bit to make holes at the top for jump rings. The last photo is of them all finished and ready to go!!

These were fun to make and very different because the size is so small. Everyone is going to have a great bracelet by the end of the year!!!

The summer has arrived and I hope you will find some time to be creative, to relax and to spend time with your family and friends!!

Therese