A Little Birdie Told Me

As I mentioned back in March, I had the pleasure of taking Christy Tomlinson's online She Art Workshop. That girl is amazing! I completely admire her - she's uber talented & oh so sweet! I am so grateful to have experienced her online class & learned soooo much. Creating on canvas is such fun...and a fabulous stress reliever!

The March Hip Kit included some of this Pink Paislee tissue paper...
(Oh how I love the fresh spring green color and those happy polka dots!)

The March Hip Kit also included this awesome Pink Paislee Daily Junque paper...

With these supplies, I was completely inspired to create this little canvas...


A Little Birdie Told Me...

be positive.

be true.

be grateful.

be organized.

be on time.

be proactive.

be resolved.

be yourself.

be amazing.

be kind.

I started with matte finish Mod Podge and a blank 6x6 canvas (not the 4x12 that's in these first two photos) and covered the canvas with the Pink Paislee tissue paper. The beauty of the tissue is that it can be smoothed out for a nice flat background on the canvas or you can create some texture by leaving a few wrinkles in the paper, here and there. Plus, I love that a bit of the texture of the canvas can still be seen through the tissue...

While the Mod Podge dried, I cut out elements from the fabulous Daily Junque paper...

...and then 'auditioned' them on the canvas until I figured out how I wanted it arranged.

I selected my acrylic paints...

...and simply squirted a bit of paint directly on my canvas.

Rather than using brushes, I took an old handy dandy Starbucks card and spread the paint around. You can easily scrape paint off or add more with the edge of the card. (I use this technique to add paint to layouts & cards too...since you can get a super thin, almost transparent, layer of paint on a project this way, without any brush strokes showing.)

I started with a cream color paint & then added a bit of blue.

Here you can see the texture that the paint created over the top of the tissue...

Plus a bit on the edges...

Once the paint was dry I used the Mod Podge to attach the paper elements, gave the entire canvas a coat of Mod Podge to seal it all and then glued on the twig after wrapping a bit of twine around it.

I do love how it turned out! So simple. So fun. Wouldn't that make a sweet gift?

Cheers to getting paint under your nails and Mod Podge in your hair!
Wishing you a creatively messy day my friends...
xoBC

Getting Paint Under My Nails

For a long time I've been wanting to create on canvas. Totally inspired by talented artists like Kelly Rae Roberts, Pam Garrison and the fabulous Christy Tomlinson. I even saw Claudine Hellmuth in the Ranger booth at CHA! Here are a couple of her fun canvas projects that were showcased there and a smattering of other wonderful canvas pieces that I spotted at CHA...

From the Girls Paperie Booth

Another one from the Girls Paperie Booth

From Jenni Bowlin's Booth

Not sure what booth this was in, but it is super sweet!

I've been collecting canvas, beeswax, paints...and have quite a mixed media stash growing. Don't you think it's about time I do something with these supplies?!?

I do! So I took the leap and signed up for Christy's online class...

It has been an amazing class...and it's only week 2! Christy is so inspiring and full of fabulous tips, tricks and techniques. Here's what I have in progress...

The first canvas is 4x12 and I haven't decided what to do with that one yet. The girls are on 6x12 canvases. I'm still working on the backgrounds...playing with texture and adding layers of paint. It's so fun designing their outfits (I totally want a pair of striped rain boots just like the cute girl in the red dress has on)!

Can't wait to share the finished product! Until then, I'm off to get more paint under my nails...

xoBC