Off The Rails March Tutorial - How I made my Canvas Wall Art.

Off The Rails Scrapbooking challenge site

I enjoyed making my Canvas Art for the February Moodboard so I thought I would share how I did it!
The photo is of Direction Island, one the Cocos Keeling Islands way out in the Indian Ocean. Fabulous place for a holiday if you like the beach and snorkelling!

My inspiration to use the thongs was because the beaches on the ocean side of the lagoon were littered with flotsam and jetsam including many many abandoned thongs!!

All about the islands there were pretty cool art creations using this junk!

I came home with a hankering to do something similar and am really pleased with the result!

I used a 14 x 14 inch canvas which had been triple primed so my first step was to apply texture paste through a stencil.

I used Golden Gel Medium Light Moulding Paste over a Tim Holtz Layering Mini Stencil( the brick pattern coming from the moodboard).

I usually leave my projects with moulding paste overnight to dry but one can use a heat tool if one has the patience!!

Once dry I painted strips with Jane Davenport Acrylic Paints

It was at this time that I thought maybe a coat of white gesso on the canvas before I started might have been a good idea as it took a few coats of paint to give the colour that I was happy with.

My next step was to lightly coat my chipboard and title with white Gesso.

 I also coated the outer sides of my photo mat.

 I cut some cheesecloth

and distressed the edges with my fingers

I chose blue for the outer edges of my photo mat

I played around  with where I wanted to place my photo and other features and once I was happy with the placement I took a photo, so I could reference back to it later.

 I don't know if other people work this way but I find it helpful.

  

I thought the white made a good contrast so I embossed my chipboard and title with Versamark Ink and Altenew Crisp Embossing Powder - Pure White.

The chipboard was Blue Fern studios Chipboard  - Seaside Shells

the title Kaszazz Chipboard word - Timeless

 Once this was all  done it was time to lay it all down!!

 I glued the thongs down with a hot glue gun.

I  layered the base of my photo with strips of cardboard so that the photo would sit flat across the canvas between the two thongs!

I encountered the same issue with the Kaisercraft Paper Blooms- Sea Breeze but I just layered up the double sided foam mount

The chipboard and title I attached with Prima Art Basics 3d Matt Gel

I also used the gel too, with a fine paintbrush to stick down the sequins( Dress My Sequins - Sea Breeze).

Voila!!

This canvas now hangs in my home, a lovely reminder of the fab holiday we had in 2014!!!

I had  great fun making this canvas!

 I would really encourage you to give a go!

 Worst comes to worst and you don't like where it is going  you can just cover it all with a layer or

 two of gesso and start again!!