Happy New Year everybody. Let's hope that 2021 brings us better things than 2020 did! Personally I fully intend it to bring a LOT of crafting! With all that is going on in this Covid crazy world right now, my craft desk feels like the safest place to hide!
I am kick starting the year by sharing an inspiration canvas that I have made for a mood board challenge over on the Artful Play Days Facebook group. Do join us over there and play along if you can. The theme is Winter Blues.
There is a prize, chosen at random, of £10 off your next order via the Artful Days website. Definitely worth getting creative for!
I was very kindly gifted the absolutely stunning Stamperia Winter Tales paper pad for Christmas, and I just couldn't wait to play with it, so have used this as the theme for my canvas as it ties in perfectly with the board.
I will take you through my process step by step ( and amazingly for me I actually remembered to take pictures for most of the steps!)
I am the kind of crafter that can never envisage a finished project before I start, and rarely have a plan. I tend to just faff around (alot!) , create an almighty mess rummaging in boxes for things as I go, until I eventually pull something together that I like. I have never worked to a mood board before, so for me that in itself was a challenge, and I decided the most sensible first step was to gather various bits and bobs together that fit the theme and colour scheme.
I grabbed an 8x8 canvas to use as my base and started to play around with a layout.
With a rough plan forming, I tore the edges off of a piece of backing paper and adhered it to the canvas.
When the mod podge was fully dry, I added more dimension with a smowflake stencil and some texture paste. I also used crackle paste on some for more texture.
I added some text with a script stamp and Fairy Dust Wow embossing powder. So sparkly!!
While the paste dried, I used gesso and acrylic paint to colour the metal leaf stems.
And I also added Fairy Dust embossing powder to the metal wings, creating some continuity between them and the canvas.
I had previously made some snowflakes with Stamperia clay, and the mould from the Winter Tales Collection. I have to say, the clay is amazing! It is so soft and light. Better than any clay I have ever used before ( note to self - order some more!) . I painted these in blue metallic paint, and brought out the details with Stamperia Cerantica wax ( also very light and smells fabulous!).
Its always good to draw the eye to the centre of a piece by edging it in a darker colour and framing it. To do this I took the same paint that I had coloured the leaves with, and applied it with a sponge. Once dry I also added some navy crackle paint around the edges.
Then it was time to start laying out my pieces again,
Once happy with the placement I adhered the main pieces, adding some fine mesh fabric behind them for a soft effect.
To finish I went to town around the focal pieces with and array of goodies from the Artful Days Textures collection ( I will pop the product links at the end of this post ). They finish any piece of art off beautifully, adding texture, colour and giving lots and lots of details to look at and really capture interest.
I am so pleased with how this canvas came together. We haven't had snow yet here in the south of England, but I am secretly hoping that this winter fairy can make it happen for us!
Artful Days Products Used
The Artful Days Creative Team would love it if you could pop across to Artful Play Days on Facebook and join us. It's a lovely creative corner of the internet, where you are welcome to share all your crafty projects.
Hope to see you there!
Lynda
xx
