Sunday, March 23, 2014

Mad props


Since it is the end of March after all, I thought that a graduation card would be fitting.  I am currently on leave from work (I teach high school Biology), but for the past several years, I've been handling seniors.  So during this time of the year, I make some sort of token for my students, and this usually involves some crafting. :)  And as you can probably tell, I love these stamps from The Greeting Farm.  I've already used these Grad Ian and Anya digital stamps last school year, right before I went on leave. 


And so here is my third entry for challenge #47 at the Filipino Scrapbookers Challenge Blog.  Still using bright colors and a celebratory theme for graduation.

Smile


Here is another bright and colorful card that was based on the card sketch by Melissa Bonifacio for challenge #47 at the Filipino Scrapbookers Challenge Blog.  I wanted to make a sweet little card for my friend who is on the mend from two surgeries this past month.  I do hope this makes her smile.



Lovely Day


It's been so long since I've joined any of the challenges on the Filipino Scrapbookers Challenge Blog.  And here I am trying to make the deadline, which I eventually do.  There is some measure of comfort in old habits.  For some time, I joined each and every challenge on the FSCB.  Even when I just barely upload my one entry moments before the deadline, I pushed myself.  But later on, I just got swamped with work and other things so I just wasn't able to do the challenges anymore.  And even then, I saved all the sketches so I might be able to use them later.  I love sketches. :)


So here is my entry for challenge #47 using a lovely card sketch by Melissa Bonifacio.  I used bright colors and a sunburst design... just in time for summer, too!

Saturday, March 22, 2014

My first attempt at an altered canvas

The past six months just came and went.  You would think that since I am on sabbatical leave from work, I'd have plenty of time to spend on things other than work.  And I suppose that is what I have done, but unfortunately, updating this blog has been relegated to the back burner.  Which is just too bad, really, because there have been many many ATCs, cards, and assorted projects that have been made and given away in the course of the past six months.  And I would still like to post them all here, but I decided to start with my most recent crafty project and just work my way back.  I actually have a little over two months left before I go back to work again, so there's a lot of catching up to do before I actually get back on track.


So here is my very first altered canvas.  I have seen a lot of beautiful ones on google, pinterest, and youtube, of course... and I've wanted to make one myself.  But something seemed to be holding me back.  It was as if it was a bit too overwhelming to finish something like that.  Eventually, I just buckled down and started working on it.  It didn't even take me two days to finish, considering that it involved a lot of sitting around and waiting (for the adhesive, paint, and fixative to dry).  It isn't as elaborate as many of the ones I've seen online, but I'm  quite happy with it.  The picture on top was taken when I thought I was done.  But the next morning, I thought to add some white acrylic paint to shabby chic-ify it.  The change is subtle, as you see in the bottom picture, but I like it.  I plan to hang this in the craft room, which is still a work in progress, so that will be described in full in a later post when the room is all done.

I don't want to go into too much detail, but since I've been asked about how this project came about, I will just list the steps here:
  1. I started with a canvas panel board.  The one I purchased has already been coated with gesso, which helps the paint (and most everything else you want) stick to the canvas.
  2. I then decoupaged the entire surface with torn pieces of dictionary, music, and book pages.  I recently bought some old books from a garage sale, which I especially liked for the aged and yellowing pages (although you'll notice that I covered them up).
  3. Next is a coat of white acrylic paint.  I deliberately used uneven brush strokes to give it more texture.
  4. Then I inked the surface with distress ink (Broken China) but it bare near the edges, so that the white paint still shows.
  5. I stamped the background using doily stamps (Martha Stewart Crafts Clear Stamps - Doilies) and some tiny text (Kaisercraft Clear Stamp - Dictionary Meanings) with distress inks (Broken China, Shabby Shutters, and Weathered Wood).
  6. For the bird cages hanging from the branches, I spread some home made modeling/texture paste (white glue, white acrylic paint, talc powder) over the Birds of a Feather template by The Crafter's Workshop.
  7. I also used a template for the wings (Prima), but this time, I spread some white acrylic paint on the wings and then I pressed them down on the surface (much like a stamp).
  8. After the moldeling paste and the paint have dried, I added glitter glue to the little birds and the fairy wings.
  9. The fairy itself was made by stamping the Prima doll stamp (Ruffle dress) on dictionary paper for the body and assorted paper scraps for the dress, shoes, and headband.  I fussy cut the images and paper pieced them to make the fairy look more dimensional.  Some glitter glue on the headband and glossy accents on the shoes also added some texture.
  10. I added some lace on the bottom edge of the canvas.
  11. Then I die cut the letters for the Mark Twain quote from brown cardstock (Wassau Paper) and glued them down, centered in the space between the fairy and the right edge of the canvas.
  12. I glued the die cut shapes of the leaves (Sizzix Sizzlits - Flowers, branches, and leaves) along the corners and edges.  Then I glued on assorted fabric and paper flowers in the foliage.
  13. To subdue the really bright colors of some of the flowers and the dark color of the leaves, I added a thin layer of white paint, just pouncing the brush and not really pulling it across in even strokes.
  14. The last step is spraying on the fixative (Kuelox) on the entire surface of the canvas (make sure to do this outside, or at least in a well ventilated area).  This protects and waterproofs the finished project.
I hope I didn't miss anything here.  If you have any questions, leave a comment or send me an email (melaniecheng@gmail.com).  Thanks for dropping by.