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 :)

Becca's Birthday Bash Link-Up

Happy Tuesday!! I hope you are having a wonderful week!! I'm posting two days in a row - woohoo!! I had to find time in my craft room to participate in my sweet friend Becca of The Damsel of Distressed Cards Birthday Bash celebration!!

Becca has a mood board of her favorite things (see below). I tried to incorporate as many as I could into these cards (except clean and simple cards - ha!! What's that??!! :)

I started with Becca's favorite color pallet of purple and teal...though my teal is a little more blue. I used Distress Inks in Dusty Concorde and Mermaid Lagoon (maybe I should have used Peacock Feathers for a more teal look...hindsight...) She loves polka-dots and I tried to incorporate several different sizes here. She also loves typography, so I used two of my very favorite My Creative Time sentiment stamps and heat embossed them with white embossing powder.

She loves distressed, vintage cards full of texture. I added texture with Wendy Vecchi Crackled Texture Paste through a Crafter's Workshop Punchinella stencil and distressed the edges with a Zutter DIA. The edges were then inked with Walnut Distress Ink.

I am entering these in the following challenges:

1. Becca's Birthday Bash - Linky/Mood Board (see below)
2. DL.ART - July Linky
3. Little Scrap Pieces - Show it Off Saturday
4. Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge - I scream for... (Ink)

Happy birthday, Becca!! Thanks so much for stopping by!! Have a great week :)

No Regrets Steampunk Canvas

Happy Friday!! I hope you are having a wonderful week!! Here's a shocker - I'm actually posting and it's not for a DT commitment!! I actually had some time in my craft room...I used it as a distraction so I didn't itch myself to death. I helped my sister cut down a tree last weekend and we stacked and stacked and stacked wood. Apparently, it was covered in some kind of poison because I'm now covered in some kind of poison. I don't get poison ivy so it must be oak or sumac. I have never had anything like this. I'm a red, splotchy, oozy, itchy mess. My face, my neck, my arms, legs, back, you name it. I just ran and hid from the mailman and he was bringing me goodies from Scrapy Land - that's how bad it is!! Fun way to start summer, huh??!! :)

So anyhoo, on to my project. My sweet and amazingly talented friend Pamellia of My Little Crafty Things has started an awesome mixed media challenge blog, Anything But Cute. I haven't used my mixed media supplies in so long and I've been wanting to join in. I was afraid my supplies would be dried up from non-use but thankfully, they were not :) I hoped to participate in the last one and the theme was my favorite - secret garden. I started a project but was so busy, I didn't get to finish. The theme this month was challenging for me - masculine. You know how much I love my flowers!! But I was so inspired by my sweet and amazingly talented friend Samra of Paper Talk With Samra and her fabulous Steampunk Frame, I had to pull out all of my gear dies and get to work!!

To start, I adhered crumpled tissue paper to a 5x7 frame with Claudine Hellmuth's Multi Medium. I cut the Memory Box Gear Assembly die in cardboard and adhered it to the top left corner with Multi Medium. I then covered everything with gesso and let it dry.

I applied Wendy Vecchi Crackled Texture Paste through a Crafter's Workshop Harlequin Stencil on several places on the canvas. Once it dried and cracked, I covered the entire canvas with Burnt Umber acrylic paint and let set for a bit. Then I took a baby wipe and removed most of the color, leaving enough to highlight the texture and cracks. I rubbed Inka-Gold Metallic Rub in silver over all of the raised area. I cut more of the Memory Box Gear Assembly with a Silver Foil Engraving Blank from Royal Langnickel and then sanded off the black coating. I cut the gears apart and adhered them around the canvas and matched a few up with the original set I pasted to the canvas.

I added gears to the Frantic Stamper Geared Butterfly, a punched butterfly and a Memory Box Isabella die. All of the butterflies were cut with the RL Silver Foil and sanded. I cut a Tim Holtz Mixed Media die in Ranger Silver Foil Tape Sheet and adhered it behind the TH Idea-ology Ornate Plate. This moment, no regrets and the arrow are all TH Remnant Rubs.

Live the Life You've Imagined, the arrow, the game spinner and the metal flower are all TH products, covered with Inka-Gold silver rub. Happy is a Poppystamps Vintage Happy Birthday die. It was cut with Ranger Foil and lightly outlined with a charcoal pencil.

I am entering this in the following challenges:

1. Anything But Cute - Masculine
2. DL.Art - June Linky
3. DL.Art - Thankful Thursday - Man or Boy 
4. Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge - Favorite Technique
5. My Sheri Crafts Challenge #159 - Masculine
6. Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge - Don't Cut, Just Paste
7. Decorate to Celebrate - Anything Goes - Not Cards
8. Die Cutting Divas - Masculine with a Die Cut
9. Inky Chicks - Butterflies

Thanks so much for stopping by!! Have a wonderful weekend :)