Nautical Canvas

Hello everyone!!!  Today I would like to share with you an 8" x 16" nautical themed canvas.  For this project you will need the following items:  white gesso, modelling paste, spackle which is a dry wall compound, various chipboard letters, stencil, and various nautical embellishments - shells, stones, star fish, etc. 

THE COMPLETED CANVAS

I painted a coat of white gesso onto the entire surface of the canvas.  Let this dry.  I then added a couple of pieces of  mesh, some dry wall tape and tissue to give it a textured background.  I then took the Prima bamboo stencil and applied a coat of modeling paste over the entire surface.  This gives the entire surface a lot of texture.

The next step is the outside edges of the canvas.  I decided to apply an 1 1/2" wide area of light weight spackle..  The spackle is a lot less money when you are using the amount that I used.  It does take a little longer to dry depending on the thickness that you apply.  After cleaning out some of my drawers of "stuff", I found that I still have chipboard letters to use up.  So I started at the upper left corner and worked my way around the canvas using different sized chipboard letters. I made sure that I pressed them into the spackle.  I tucked in some very small letters here and there to fill in some gaps.  Below shows you the letters.

Let everything dry completely.  Drying time depends on how thick your spackle is.  I then painted a good coat of white gesso over the entire surface including the middle section.  Let this dry.  I then sprayed the surface first using the Prima tea stain, then summer sky and a bit of the iris at the end. I applied a coat of decopauge over the surface to seal everything.  I had some turquoise glass tiles sitting in a drawer and decided to place them onto the letters around the outside edges.

I then added a piece of fish net which I found at a craft store.  It actually comes up from the bottom of the centre section and up over the right side edge.  At the bottom I used some green grass to represent seawood.  Then I added the stones, shells, star fish and some more of the turquoise broken tiles along with the lighthouse,  chipboard grass and butterfly. which I painted first. Below is a picture of the embellished section.

Until next time, this is Donna wishing you a happy and safe day.

Keep smiling and

"HAPPY SCRAPPING"

"Let us be grateful to people who make us happy, 

they are the charming gardeners who make our souls blossom"

Gramma's Garden Layout

Hello everyone!!  Today I am sharing a layout with you using the Graphic 45 "Secret Garden" patterned paper.  A short picture tutorial follows.  

 I have a granddaughter that loves the colour purple and my garden.  

This paper totally fit her personality.  I first cut a strip off the background paper 3" wide and turned it over to the other side.  I laid the two together. I then cut a 2" wide strip from another paper, adhered it to the back of the main piece then onto the top of the 3" strip.  I made sure that the 3" strip lined  up with the main piece.   I then took a 12 x 12 Prima stencil that has tiny diamonds and applied modeling paste over the entire surface including the side strips.

Next I cut several pieces of paper from the various papers in the paper line and created a collage.  I made sure that I had a piece of the 3" wide strip to pull the papers together.  Here is a picture of the collage.  I turned the upper right corner of the middle piece and adhered in place.

Next I adhered a thick piece of  chipboard to the back of the picture and adhered the picture down.  This pops the picture up.  Next I painted a piece of chipboard lattice and vine with white gesso.
After I painted the vine with a green paint to match the green in the garden and kept the lattice white.

To complete the layout I added the vine and lattice as shown then my flowers along with a resin bird cage.  For a final touch I added a small piece of cheesecloth to each flower section for more texture.  Then lastly, using glass beads mixed into gel medium, I applied the beads using a spatula in and around the layout  and onto the flowers for extra texture.  A strip of lace down the side strip between the green paper and the flowered paper strip and a few sprarkly gems finishes it off.  Here is a closeup of the bottom right section.

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I hope you enjoy this layout as much as I enjoyed making it.   Until next time, have a great day and

"HAPPY SCRAPPING"

"Garden fairies come at dawn, bless the flowers, then they're gone."