Altered Canvas #3

This one was inspired by a layout I saw in a Close to My Heart catalogue. I needed to use colors to somewhat coordinate with the very first canvas I did. Stampin' Up didn't have any colors that were an exact match to that canvas (which was done in a scrapbook store in Abbotsford), so these were as close as I could get.

I first applied my Close to Cocoa ink pad directly to the canvas and rubbed it evenly across the surface, adding a little extra around the edges for a distressed look. The ink came out more like Chocolate Chip than Close to Cocoa...must be a combination of the surface medium plus the direct from ink pad concentrated approach. Now I'm too impatient to wait for the ink to dry, so I then took the time to sprinkle my clear embossing powder over the entire canvas surface (manageable sections at a time) and heat embossed it with my heat gun. It not only "dries" the ink, but it also adds a subtle sheen to the canvas.

The color combination I used is Bashful Blue, Creamy Caramel and Basic Black. To try to get the caramel more golden, I sponged on some More Mustard ink and a touch of Close to Cocoa on the edges of the Creamy Caramel paper. The Bashful Blue is also sponged around the edges with the Close to Cocoa ink.

I also used my new Cuttlebug to make the dry emboss diamond impressions on the one piece of Creamy Caramel paper (The Cuttlebut is so fun and easy to use, it's almost embarrassing!). The photo of my son is distressed aroung the edges with Stampin' Up's distressing tool and I puffed up the photo with my handy dandy stampin' dimensionals. The only stamp I actually used for this canvas is in the bottom left corner from the "It's All Good" stamp set. The stars have been inked with Bashfull Blue and More Mustard and are chipboard from the "On Board Accents" collection. I also used Jumbo eyelets, brads from my hodgepodge hardware, black hemp twine, and More Mustard grosgrain ribbon as embellishments.

I really struggled with what to put in the space where the stars are. The stars alone didn't seem like enough, but anything else just looked like clutter. Adding the brads with the stars was all I needed in the end to feel like I had balanced the space without making it look like I "tried to hard".

In the end, I'm pleased with how it turned out. I have to actually find where I can hand it on the wall now. That seems just as challenging as creating it in the first place!! lol!