Mixed Media Canvas with Simple Stories
I've been working on a lot of home decor projects lately, so when I came home from the Orlando Scrapbook Expo with the new "Sunshine & Happiness" collection from Simple Stories, I decided to create a mixed media canvas with it!
Mixed Media Canvas
[Disclosure: Some of the products that were used from Plaid, Cricut, Ranger, and Buttons Galore were provided to this site for editorial purposes, and I am the blog editor and social media manager for Buttons Galore. This site is a participant in the Amazon.com affiliate program. Some links below are affiliate links that earn us a commission when you purchase after clicking. Now, thanks for reading all of that stuff that the FTC requires that I tell you, and let's get back to crafting!]
To start this canvas, I laid down a base coat of the Plaid FolkArt Cottage Green Milk Paint directly on my blank canvas. This is the second canvas that I've used this milk paint on, and I am really loving that I can distress it with a baby wipe or damp paper towel after it is dry to get this nice aged look.
Next I tore a piece of the "Total Crush" paper from the Sunshine & Happiness collection to make a background for the canvas design. Wetting the paper made it easier to tear, but this paper isn't designed to get wet like a watercolor paper is so be careful or it will be shred. Once your paper is sized right (and dry), glue it down with liquid glue like Mod Podge.
To finish the background, I spritzed it with the Plaid Color Spray Acrylic Paint. It was my first time using it, and the sprayer was a bit fussy to use. But once I got the hang of it, I was thrilled with the results. I'm rarely happy with the results I get using spray ink - the mist is always too fine for the look I want. This gave me the the larger splotches that I'm always trying to get. I look forward to giving it a full workout in the future to see what it really can do.
Woven Paper Heart
The next big element on the canvas is the woven paper heart. I cut paper strips from the two patterned papers, and then attached the ends of one set to a piece of scrap paper. I wove the other set through the anchored set. When the weaving was done, I drew a heart on the completed weaving in pencil. I cut it out a little bit at a time, using glue to anchor the paper strips together after I sliced through each row.
3D Flowers on Canvas
The 3D flower (and the other two large flowers) were cut on my Cricut Explore machine from heavy 140lb watercolor paper. There's actually a setting for that paper on the machine and with the deep cut blade and heavy stick mat, it cut perfectly. Then I used my watercolors to color them with my water brush. I colored the outer edges and then soaked the paper with my spray bottle so that the color ran to create the soft wash all over. I then went back with another layer of heavier layer along the outer edges.
Once everything was dry, I assembled the rose with my hot glue gun. The centers of all three flowers are filled with seed beads from the 28 Lilac Lane embellishment bottle. I used only the white ones from the yellow and white assortment that is included. Even though they are tiny, it's easy to sort them out in only a few minutes by dumping them in an embossing powder tray. I used my paper piercer, poking it in the beads' holes to push them into piles in the corners. When I was done, it was easy to dump them back into the bottle with my tray's spout!
Adhering the beads was easy - I just put a big glob of glue and pushed a bunch of beads down into it. I was able to shape and mold the glue before it dried to get just the effect that I wanted.
Sunshine and Happiness on Canvas
The embellishments were mostly simple - just arranging and adhering things. The wood piece was painted with milk paint and then stamped. At the top of the canvas (not visible in the photo above), I adhered one butterfly with pop dots for dimension while the other is just glued down.
Want to make your own canvas? Here's what you'll need:
8 x 10 blank canvas
Recollections Wood Word Labels
Embroidery Floss
Plaid FolkArt Milk Paint (Cottage Green, Georgian Yellow)
Plaid Mixed Media Color Spray (White)
Simple Stories "Sunshine & Happiness" patterned paper:
Simple Stories "Sunshine & Happiness" bits & pieces: Amazon
Simple Stories "Sunshine & Happiness" stickers: Sb.com & Amazon
Strathmore 140lb Hot Press Ready Cut Watercolor Paper: Amazon
Stamper's Anonymous "Simple Sayings" stamps by Tim Holtz: Sb.com & Amazon
Sakura Koi Watercolors: Amazon
Cricut Explore Machine & Digital Cutting Files: Sb.com & Amazon & Cricut
Buttons Galore 28 Lilac Lane "Hello Sunshine" embellishment bottle: Sb.com
Adhesive Foam Dots
