I chose to make my "canvas" on some chipboard that I already had. It is a bit odd sized at 12 x 9 but it will fit an old frame that I have here. Obviously you could use a pre-made canvas for yours. I began with a coat of gesso on the board. Once it was dry I added a piece of Tim Holtz tissue paper - melange- using matte medium to adhere it. Why gesso and matte medium? Well, since my chipboard was a brown color I wanted to make sure I had some light behind the tissue. Gesso is quick and easy so I chose to use it. The matte medium can be replaced with Mod Podge is you wish. I have adhered the tissue to the front and wrapped it to the back of the board. A final coat of matte medium will seal it. Let this dry completely before moving on.
Once it is dry add distress ink with an applicator (I used vintage photo but any brown will work) to the entire front. The edges were inked more heavily than the rest. I will add here that there were many at the retreat that used colors - blues, yellows, pinks, greens - and they were stunning!
At this point it is about assembling all the pieces. I printed a the Fly Free collage sheet on white heavy weight card stock. Each image was cut out and those I chose to use were then matted on a dark brown heavy weight card stock. There are more images on the sheet than what I chose to use.
Paint your wood pieces (the swirls) with acrylic paint. I used alcohol ink on my metal pieces to make them match my color scheme. Here are the detailed pics of the other objects on the canvas:
This is at the top right. I had to substitute some items from the original since they were no longer available for purchase. I tried to keep everything as close to the original as possible. The butterfly is chipboard so it should be painted. I used distress paints in peeled paint, broken china, and frayed burlap.
These mini frames are from my stash....I simply punched a hole in the center and added the door knob. This element is at the lower edge.
These little pieces were so hard to find!!! I had to change the Maya Road circles that have the hearts on my original to these. These are from the jewelry section at Michaels. You can alcohol ink them if you want. The "time" is a Tim Holtz letter bar that is discontinued.
Ah. The mini burlap frame. When I made my original I found 3 x 3 burlap canvases. And now I can't! So, I made my own. I cut 3 x 3 chipboard pieces and was originally going to wrap burlap around them. However, I could only find the wider woven burlap and it did not look right on the chipboard. So I had some burlap banners in my cabinet that were paper backed. Perfect. I simply cut them to the correct size and glued them to the front of the chipboard!
Chipboard letters.....I chose to use the word "fly". You can use whatever works for you. Since they are chipboard, I painted them.
The original had a cute metal butterfly from Maya Road. I simply could not find them in time for the weekend. So, I punched these using a Martha Stewart punch. Distress ink the edges and add stickles. Butterfly is only adhered on the body so that it looks as if it is flying.
Wooden swirls from Simple Stories. They have some super cute ones. I have also used chipboard ones from Dusty Attic. Just a flowing swirl....painted of course.
The one image in the upper left is "hung" on small clips. These clips can be purchased at Michaels or you may even be able to find the Canvas Corp ones I used. You will need to bend the top of the hangar part so that it will lay flat on the canvas. The screw head you see is actually a brad.
Once you have all of your elements, lay them out on the canvas before you adhere anything. Many of the ladies at the retreat added other elements from their own stash. I hope you enjoy making this.
Take a visit to Gecko Galz Etsy store. There are so many cute collage sheets that you could do this with. I think I may need to do a vintage Easter one!
Blessings
