Steampunk Canvas

Well I promised I would share the canvas I did with Sheena last weekend, so here it is!

It definitely looks better in real life than it does in the photo's.  We started by cutting all the different elements we wanted to use on the canvas, which we then arranged onto the canvas. 

As there was a lot of layering I took a photo of my arrangement before taking it all off and sticking them down!

Once they were stuck down we then put a layer of gesso down across the whole canvas, including the sides.

Once this was done and it had dried we then went to work on adding cover to the canvas.  We used the Brights from the Aqua

Tints range and I primarily used the red, green and teal colours.  The tints were watered down and mixed together and then randomly painted onto the canvas, excess was wiped away with a baby wipe and this also helped to merge the colours together and add shading.  Once I was happy with the background I then watered down some of the tints even more and dribbled then down the canvas and they pooled around the elements that had been gesso'd (not sure that's a word!) down.

The extra cogs were coloured using Pebeo Gilding Wax before arranging them on the canvas.  Next we worked on the flower elements and the dragonfly.  We used Pebeo Texture Gel which had sand in it to add some extra texture to the flowers and dragonfly and then dried it carefully.  We then added the teal aquatints and it was interesting to see how this changed the look with the texture gel.  Once this was dried we added additional gilding wax to give a verdigris effect. 

Whilst the cardstock was still wet we played with the shaping of the dragonfly and flower to add dimension.

A small amount of gilding wax was added to the edge of the canvas and also to some parts of the gesso'd cogs to pick up some of the detail. Then we finished it off by adding the wording and calendar.

I have to say that I really enjoyed doing this and think it is something I will do again.  I believe Sheena did a version of this on Hochanda last week, so if it looks familiar that is why!

The products used are as follows:

10" x 8" Art Box canvas

White Gesso

Pebeo Gilding Wax - King Gold & Renaissance

Pebeo Texture Gel

Aqua Tints Brights range

Sheena Douglass Time Traveller Range & Dragonfly Dance

I hope that I will have something different, yet again, to share with you!  I am attending a weekend workshop this weekend, with Anna-Marie Designs.  That should be so much fun and I get to stay in a beautiful hotel in the Cotswolds too ;-)

I hope you are all having a good week, until next time ....

With love & crafty hugs

Ginny x

Tropical Nectar

Well today I got to spend the day with Sheena Douglas and Donna Ratcliff - and what a day it was!  I had an amazing time and stepped right outside my comfort zone - I did a canvas and this card, which I absolutely love.

Sadly both Sheena and Donna were both poorly with a nasty virus, so really hope they recover soon and they did admirably to get through the day.

We started by stamping and colouring the different elements of the card - the cogs, humming bird and flowers - using the aqua tints and gilding wax, before fussy cutting them out (except for the cogs which were done with dies thank goodness!)

We then arranged the card to our liking and before sticking it down, to ensure we were happy with the layout.  The cogs behind the flowers and bird really give the card a little more depth.  We used walnut stain distress ink around the outer of the card before layering it up on black matt and placing it on the card.

I have to say that the colours in the Aquatints Brights collection are stunning and I really enjoyed using them and they blend beautifully.

I used a combination a cosmic shimmer dies clear glue and silicone gel to add extra dimension to the bird and flowers.

There were 10 of us on the workshop but every single project we produced looked different.  I will share the canvas we created later in the week, so that will be something to look forward to!

The products used for this card are:

Sheena Douglass Perfect Partners Time Traveller Dies - Make Time & Geared Up

Sheena Douglass A Little Bit Sketchy A6 Stamp Set - Tropical Nectar
Spectrum Noir AquaTint Set - Bright and Beautiful
Spectrum Noir Sparkle Overlay Pen
Pebeo Gilding Wax - King Gold & Renaissance Gold

Anyway, that is all from me for today but I will be back later in the week.

With love and crafty hugs

Ginny xx