Song of the Sea Canvas

Happy Tuesday!! I hope you are having a wonderful last week of July!! I have a canvas to share with you that I've been working on for a month - no kidding. I sadly don't have the time to devote to the mixed media projects which I love. But I have to find time each month to participate in my sweet friend Pamellia of My Little Craft Things' Anything But Cute Challenges. And when I saw the theme this month that my sweet friend Samra of Paper Talk With Samra picked - Summer Romance, I knew I had to play along...two of my favorite things!!

I'm not sure I can remember all I did with this, but I'll try...if I miss anything, and you have any questions, please don't hesitate to ask :) I started out adhering crumpled tissue paper to a canvas with Mod Podge. I then added cheesecloth to represent the waves of the sea.

I wanted there to be some sunshine on my canvas, so I used Wendy Vecchi Crackle Paste through a Tim Holtz Rays stencil. Once it dried, I used Sea Glass acrylic paint over the entire canvas, along with Dylusions Sprays in London Blue and Calypso Teal. I let it dry for a bit then used a baby wipe to remove some of the color. Then I used a toothbrush to remove the paint from the cracks, and to remove the tissue paper from the canvas so that texture would show. Inka-Gold Metallic Rub in Gold was dry-brushed over the rays for a subtle shimmer.

For the underwater portion of the canvas, I used several Tim Holtz products, including Mixed Media Thinlets, Spring Greenery Strips, and the seahorse from TH's Mini Sea & Sand. It was covered with Distress Inks in Mowed Grass, Mermaid Lagoon and Salty Ocean, and then covered with TH Distress Crackle Paint in Rock Candy. The edges were inked with Walnut. Once it dried, white acrylic paint was brushed into the cracks.

For the land section, sand was made using the technique Tim Holtz described in his July Tag of 2014: basically glossy accents, Utee Clear Embossing Powder, Distress Embossing Powder and Distress Glitter. The couple is an Impression Obsession Couple Sitting die on a Spellbinders D-Lites Garden Bench die. The couple was covered with Liquitex Thick Gel with Glass Beads. The fence is a Memory Box Weathered Fence Die.

I used a Crafter's Workshop Palm Tree Stencil with Glass Beads over plastic, fussy cut it, and then colored the back with Distress Inks in Gathered Twigs and Mowed Grass.

The sentiment was stamped onto tissue paper and then adhered with Mod Podge to the canvas.

I am entering this in the following challenges:

1) Anything But Cute #3: Summer Romance

2) Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge - No Ordinary Paper (Tissue Paper)
3) DL.ART - July Linky
4) Little Scrap Pieces - Show It Off Saturday

Thanks so much for stopping by :)