Wednesday, July 6, 2011

Did I say I was gonna get crafty?

Yup, I think I did say that on Sunday and I kept to my word and immersed myself in mixed media on canvas ALL DAY...like the ENTIRE DAY! I made two canvases, the first which I have had in my head ever since doing the Stamping Bella make and take at the Kitchener Scrapfest back in April. That was the kicker that sucked me in, I was soooooo happy that day!

This little gem was done on a 4x6 canvas using Stamping Bella's julie's SPRING BUTTERFLIES, a little bit of imagination and a tip from da Bella herself.


How'd I do it? Well I started with a blank canvas and applied a coat of gesso. Then I knew I wanted a green and yellow background so just applied some golden paint randomly (any type of folk art paint would work, come on, I know you have some stashed away!). To add some interest to the background I pulled out my crafters workshop stencils and added some subtle shades of colour, again, with the golden paints and a sponge. I thought I might add some texture so stenciled some flowers with a lightweight modelling paste (like liquitex, or Dreamweavers). But then I didn't like them so sponged on some colour to cover them up. The beauty of mixed media...don't like it....just cover it up...and the texture still remained. You can barely see it in the lower right corner.

Then came the butterflies, I stamped them with stazon black ink on tissue paper, cut them out and glued them on with mod podge...THAT IS THE BELLA TIP that I learned at Scrapfest. Once dry, I painted them up with Claudine Hellmuth paint and added some detail with a black pen and white paint. I've got to say, LOVE that paint...it is soooo yummy and creamy! Finally (well i thought it was final) I added some rub on's here and there, stamped the 'take flight' with a cheapie $1 bin alphabet that I bought somewhere and covered everything up with a coat of matte medium. After I thought I was done I had a final thought to add some liquitex glass beads that I bought at Blick's while in Chicago. I thought I really needed that stuff...but you know what...you could do the same thing with glossy accents and loose glass beads. I'll admit, a total waste of money there! Plus it took FOREVER to dry.

And that's it! I lovinly placed it in a 5x7 shadow box frame, hence the not-so-great pic because of the glare and hung it at my day job desk along with my other canvas stuff! I must say, the day job is becoming a happier place when I'm surrounded with things like this! Speaking of my other canvases, YES I have a few and will blog them here in the next week or so. They make me sooooo happy!

see ya all on Friday for our Ribbon Challenge over at Emily's blog.

11 comments:

Katie said...

This is just gorgeous! I love all the layers and those butterflies are to die for. I've not been pulled into the mixed media but when I see things like this it makes me want to try it out. Thanks for the wondeful inspiration!
xx Katie

Bren said...

No reason why this would not make one happy. Very beautifully done. And yes, it is all inspiring.

Isabelle Norris said...

Linda, this is AMAZING work!!! totally love it
isa

jroffel said...

It is beautiful!

Amy Sheffer said...

This is amazing, Linda! I love seeing your mixed-media work! I played around with some stuff just the other day, and I had a blast! You should know that I decided to give it a whirl in part because of your previous artsy projects and mentions of art journaling, so thanks for the inspiration, as always! Seeing this post today was like a little "sign" to keep it up!

Regan said...

Its freakin gorj!

CraftyViolet said...

Love it! Love it! Love it!
You inspire me more and more to get busy being more creative in my own work. I love the mixed media art but so far I haven't done much....it's that first step you know!!!! Thanks for the inspiration.

Beth Norman-Roberts said...

Absolutely stunning. You found your calling.

paula tracy williamson said...

do I have the mother of all names for you today....

dpkennedy said...

I love this! I kinda left my canvas hangin'...but this has inspired me to get back to them and get creative! Love the colors in this!

milkcan said...

AMAZING and gorgeous!

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