the hybrid chick

Hi there Hybrid Chickies! It’s Sharon here with a bit of a rundown on how I made a collage canvas, and it even includes a picture of me from back in the late 80’s (yikes)!

I am by no means a Donna Downey or an Emily Falconbridge, so this was just a run-by-the-seat-of-my-pants project where I just did a bit of this and a bit of that. I still don’t know if I like the finished project, but I’m like that with all my scrapbooking projects and eventually it will grow on me!

So let’s see how I created this masterpiece (LOL)!

I have a large stash of cheap paint canvases that are about half an inch deep – the canvas is stretched around a wooden frame and this one is roughly letter sized. I primed it roughly with Gesso first.

I recently bought myself some Tattered Angels Glimmermist and Glimmer Screens so have been itching to try them out. So I used one of my ‘Blossom’ screens and ‘Garden Fairy’ Glimmermist to come up with this on the base of my canvas. I love the subtle mask it gives you and I love how it all bled slightly into the canvas. It’s oh-so shimmery too.

You might also notice that there are some brown images on my canvas. I ‘attempted’ to stamp a couple of images onto the canvas and the ink ran when I used the Glimmermist but that’s just added to the effect for me! Note to self – stamps do not really work on a soft canvas, thus the whole image does not appear and need to use waterproof ink (not water-based ink) if spraying any liquid onto them! But there are no mistakes in scrapbooking, just creating art, and I continued on!

(By the way, you can click on any of these images if you want to see them in more detail.)

Next, I started to gather up and lay out some of the bits and pieces that I pulled together for this project. I printed off a paper from Gypsy Couture’s ENCHANTED AFTERNOON kit which is due for release on Thursday.

I scrunched it up a little, scratched it, distressed the edges and cut it to size. I then tore out my photo to fit – and yep, I’m only a spring chicken in this photo – maybe 16 or 17!

I adhered some white tulle to the left of the paper and some pink fibre across the bottom of the paper. I also had a go at making some embellishments out of tulle.

I cut out a number of rough circles with green and white tulle, layered them, stitched on a button with some fibre underneath and stuck a couple of digi leaves in behind the button.

I also ruffled up some ribbon and hand-sewed it to the canvas with some clear beads scattered along it.

Next, I stamped a couple of butterfly images with black Stazon ink, which is waterproof, then used some H20 Twinklings luminescent paints to colour the images. After I cut out the images, I stacked the butterflies with 3D foam tape to give it a more realistic look.

You’ll notice that I have added some pink glitter around the bottom of my tulle flower and onto the green paper – I added some drops of Crystal Effects and tipped the glitter onto them. On the paper, I also tipped some heart confetti onto the Crystal Effects. There is also some hand stitching around the paper to hold it to the canvas.

Using some metallic rubons, I worked some colour into the corners of my canvas with my fingers and you’ll see that it highlights the texture of the canvas too.

I have added the word ‘beautiful’ to the bottom left hand corner of my canvas with a Basic Grey rubon. I just adore how versatile rubons are and they adhere to just about any surface. There’s a couple more flourishes rubbed onto the bottom left corner of my photo which you may see in the images below.

And here’s some pics of the final canvas which I could have kept adding to. It’s fun to just get your goodies out and have a play around and see what you can create!

Supply List:

• Paper from ENCHANTED AFTERNOON by Gypsy Couture
• Gingham leaves from COTTAGE GARDEN MINI by Kaye Winiecki
• Letter-sized paint canvas (from a Dollar Store)
• Gesso
• Glimmer Mist – Garden Fairy
• Glimmer Screens – Blossom
• Tulle
• Basic Grey button and rubons
• Thread
• Fibre
• Ribbon
• Beads
• Butterfly stamp from Lucy’s Stamps
• Crystal Effects from Stampin’ Up (a/k/a Diamond Glaze)
• H20 Twinklings by Luminarte
• Glitter
• Heart confetti
• Assorted stamps used on canvas
• Tim Holtz Distress Ink – Vintage Photo

Other Articles by skyezak:

• Stamps + Digital = So Much Versatility! - October 4th, 2009
• Personalised baby's name gift - September 28th, 2009
• Recording memories of your little ones - August 19th, 2009
• Time to start those Christmas cards! - July 22nd, 2009
• Win a gift card to Sugarplum Paperie's store! - June 25th, 2009