a Silhouette Challenge project

This might look like a card in the photo, but...

 

... it's actually a collage on a wooden canvas
 to hang on the wall (or give as a gift):

(Psssst, here's the secret: at $3.50 the wooden canvas base
couldn't be a more affordable supply for making gifts!)

-1-

This is a project I made as part of The Silhouette Challenge facebook group.
The goal of the group is to make a unique Silhouette-cut project each month & link it up.

 (This is my first one, so far!) :-) If you'd like to join us, simply drop Lauren a line.
Her blog is The Thinking Closet & you can reach here here via email.

...................................................

The wooden canvas (or 'cradled panel') was inspired by my blog buddy,
Lisa, who just created a stunning collage, that she shared on her blog, here.

I've had a few of these wooden canvases around for a while &
have been wanting to share them with you, since they're so very handy!

-2-

(use a wooden canvas to make a quick gift 

that's as easy to make as a card!)

This is what my canvas looked like before I painted it, a wooden
 'cradled panel' base that measures 6x6 inches & 1/5 inches deep:

 
Cradled panels are surprisingly light, so they are very easy to hang.
(You can just use a push pin in your wall!)
 
  Their light weight also makes them quite affordable to ship in the mail.

They're made from a renewable resource, which is very important to me.
& Did I already mention they are 'cheap'? (The one I used was $3.50!)

 Want to know where to find them?

Since I live in BC Canada, I bought mine at Opus Art Supplies. If you're in the USA, you can find them at Dick Blick (I've never used that brand myself, but how exciting that they even have round ones!)

Do you sell your creations?

When I was researching the best supplies to make collage art to sell, these came up all the time. 

Many artist's prefer them to cloth canvases, because they are less likely to rip or crack in the mail.

They are great for encaustic work or beeswax collage & they can stand up to many collage layers.

-3-

 

This is a rather simple project that makes a quick gift (it's
basically akin to sticking a handmade card on a wooden panel):

1) Cut a silhouette background shape from paper
2) Add a little paint & ink to the paper
3) Paint a wooden canvas
4) Stick the paper on the canvas & trim it
5) Add a focal image with some embellishments

• A Wooden 'cradled panel' canvas
• Paint (I used Black craft paint)
• Paper (to cut in the Silhouette Cameo) 
• A cut file to create a background texture with.
• Gesso/White Paint (optional: a brayer to apply it to the cut paper)
• Distress Inks or other colour medium of your choice
• Miscellanous paper embellishments (or a focal image)

Step 1) Make an interesting background element out of cardstock. I cut a design using the Silhouette cameo... this Small Fancy Gate file from the Silhouette store. It's cut out of Neenah Solar White cardstock.

 

Step 2) Add texture to your cardstock, if you like.

To add more interest, I applied acrylic Gesso to my Silhouette cut cardstock, using a brayer. After the gesso dried, I used a foam applicator to add colour with Distress Inks. (If you don't have any Gesso, white acrylic paint would work nicely and any ink or colour medium would work as well).



Step 3) Paint a cradled panel (I painted mine with black craft paint). Then adhere the cardstock to the wooden panel using acrylic matte medium.

I brushed on a generous coat of matte medium. It goes on white like glue, as you can see in the photo above, but it dries clear and matte (which is just a fancy art term for not shiny!) :-)

I use a local brand Kroma (from Vancouver BC) but Golden also makes it (they list some uses for it in art, here), and I have heard amazing things about Claudine Hellmuth's multi medium (matte).



Step 4) Dab off any excess matte medium using a rag. (It washes out of the cloth nicely with a little warm water).



Step 5) After the matte medium dries, trim the excess paper off using scissors, or a hobby blade.



Step 6) Distress the edges to soften the look, if you like. (I added a tiny bit of Black Soot Distress Paint & wiped away the extra with a damp cloth).



Step 6) Add a focal image - To adhere things like this, I love Weldbond glue because it's very ecological (it's non-toxic & has the eco-logo) Plus it's also strong & cleans up with water.



I added a fair amount of Weldbond and pressed on it a little here & there, to be sure it dried flat.

If you like the bird, you can find it free as a digital image, here:



The flowers on the focal image are hand-cut fabric flowers:



They were made like this:

1) ...printed a free flower template onto heavy cardstock.

2) ... added the fabric with Mod Podge (just coated the cardstock with a layer of Mod Podge & stuck fabric on it leaving the flower template printed visible on the back).

3) ...stamped on the fabric with Frost White Colorbox ink & this paisley stamp & heat embossed the ink with clear embossing powder. Distressed them, to look tea-stained, with a little Antique Linen Distress Ink & water.

4) ... Cut the flowers out & shaped them using a stylus tool (or the pointy wooden end of a paintbrush).

If you're a visual learner, you can see the flower making process 

in this 'Book page Mod Podge Flower' tutorial:

 (I just swapped the book pages for thin white fabric, here). :-)

...I also used the Weldbond to glue the flowers on & beads in their
centers. Just dropped a blob glue in the middle of each flower...



...and then popped in the bead:



& that was that!





If you'd like some ideas for how to use your silhouette,
these projects by the Gals in the group are sure to be fun!

DIY Paper Star Lanterns by Me & My DIY

A Jar of Gratefulness by We ♥ Cards

Adding Easy Sketch Pen Detail to Silhouette Cuts by It Happens in a Blink

Laundry Room Labels by Unoriginal Mom

Kids Step Stool with Sass by Joy & Gladness of Heart

Magnetic Perpetual Calendar by Everydaypaper

Silhouette Fabric Ink {An Experiment} by Create & Babble

Playhouse Signs: Who Will We Be Today? by Suburble

How to Get a Second Wind Out of Your Gel Manicure by The Thinking Closet

DIY Graduation Gift by Super Sweet Life

A Silhouette Challenge by Home at Eight

Oval Coffee Table Reveal & More! by Give Me a Paintbrush

Stamped Gift Boxes by Coley's Corner

Monsters University T-Shirt by Tried & True

Travel Accessories for Vacation Mementos & Business by An Elegant Touch
My Pinktastic Makeup Organizer by The House on Hillbrook

Whew that was a long one, hey? Thank You for 
having a look & Happy Creating! ox

P.S. Just thought I should let you know, I have no affiliation with any of the companies whose products I've mentioned here. They're just things I use and love & I'm only linking them in an effort to make them easier to find for You. :-)

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A new tutorial on Splitcoaststamers: Traced Doodling technique :O)

Sorry to be missing from the blog for so long (again) I'm still working on the transition from
 'depressed computer-obsessed hermit' to 'healthier real-world social butterfly' ;o) I'm still looking for my missing 'blog voice'. I really need to learn to keep posts more simple so I can pop in more, but you know me, they always turn into sprawling missives with 100 different things!



Craftwise, I haven't been doing much (the mojo is still hibernating), but I did spend some time
making a new tutorial for Splitcoaststampers. It's kind of a fun way to change up older stamps:
 the Traced Doodling technique...

Traced Doodling was inspired by Lydia's fab "no line coloring" video. Except it's completely reversed: we're adding lines to a solid stamped image and treating it like an outline image instead. 

Lydia (of Understand Blue fame) always inspires me to look at stamps in a whole new way. Lydia was inspired by Holly who was inspired by Zoe. (Don't you just love those chains of creative inspiration?)

There are all kinds of variations to this technique that I can't wait to share with you. I even made a video showing some of them. The video is sort of awful technically, but it was so exciting to finally get over the fear of making my first video. I'll be sharing it soon.

 

Of course, you can trace anything to create the doodled look. This is a Hero Arts 'Thank You' die cut sentiment. (I always feel like the die cut sayings benefit from having something added to them to make them pop so they're easier to read) :-D 

The watercolour effect that is layered under the die cut was created using Distress Paints. To get a softer effect with them, I sprayed a piece of watercolour paper (coldpress 140lb) with plenty of water and then dabbed directly onto that with the Distress Paints (and added another spray of water to blend). If you wanted to, you could get the same effect with Distress Inks, or Stains or other inks and water and a large paintbrush.

True tracing option...

You could use do this Traced Doodling with a light table (by stamping and laying a piece of paper over the stamped image on the light table and tracing the outlines). Then you'd be left with just the clean doodled lines and no stamped ink... but I've done the technique with stamping for those who don't have a light table.

(the freebie digital papers

and tidbits used on these two cards)...

.

How to save one of these papers
(directly from my blog): 

PC users in Firefox/Chrome: right click on the image & choose "save link as"

PC users in Explorer: right click on the image & choose "save target as"
.

Mac users: Visit the flickr set here, click the thumbnail for the paper that you want (to open 

its flickr page) Then select all sizes & click on "download the original size of this photo"
.

soft yellow bold stripe

 A2 card PORTRAIT

(or add the A2 size to your 

faves on flickr her)

12.5" square soft yellow bold striped paper:

(or add the 12.5" square size to your faves on flickr here)

(or add the sentiment to your faves on flickr here)

A2 card size Pale Grey bold diagonal stripe paper:

(or add the A2 card size pale grey striped paper
 to your faves on flickr here)

12.5" square Pale Grey bold diagonal stripe paper:

 

(or add the 12.5" square pale grey striped paper
 to your faves on flickr here)

And here's the Light Batik flower paper
used to line the A2-size envelope:

(or you can add it to your faves here on flickr)

 Hope you & yours are doing wonderfully,

P.S. I've bought a commercial license for some butterfly vector graphics to share with you since the BasicGrey Bitsy butterfly is extinct (it retired with the Amrobosia collection). I'll post them here as soon as I convert them. :-)

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a Happy Secret: a Tutorial on SCS! :-)

So, there's this happy secret I can finally share with You!


(Butterflies: K & Co. "Hello Friend" sentiment: Hero Arts "Just for You" digi kit.
"happy birthday" sentiment SRM Stickers "Happy" set)

First things first, Thank You! There are no words for how much your kindness means to me. I am always astounded anew by how incredibly supportive You lovely Crafty Kindred spirits are. How lucky for me that you take the time to share your wise thoughts and beautiful way of thinking. A thousand happy thank yous & I'll keep you posted on my journey to healthiness. OXO

And that secret?
It's an ultra special first:


A while back, the queen of tutorials, Beate from Splitcoaststampers

offered me the chance to do a tutorial on SCS. Of course, I jumped at
the opportunity & today is finally the day it goes live!
giggle giggle giggle

The technique is called Distress Watercolour Embossing
and you can find the tutorial here on Splitcoaststampers.

Here's a version of the technique that uses another image style of folder, a tree
pattern in a Spellbinders M-Bossabilities embossing folder called Flora:


(Butterflies: Hero Arts "Flutterbies" digi kit. Sentiment: Hero Arts "Just for You" digi kit)


This background is really quick and easy to do. I tried to get an ombre effect with the shades of green. Distress Ink colours used: old paper mixed with crushed olive & shabby shutters.
All the details are on SCS here, for this card.

If you like the graph paper,
it's a freebie that you can find here:

(I lightened the plum colour in photoshop by selecting the
following: image - adjustments - hue/saturation - lightness +)

To save this file:
In Firefox/Chrome: right click on the image & choose "save link as"
In Explorer: right click on the image & choose "save target as"
(or you can see the whole set here on Flickr)





And here's a version that's my attempt at that modern casual style:


("happy birthday" sentiment from SRM Stickers "Happy" set.)


It uses just a piece of watercoloured embossing &
a Tim Holtz Texture Fades embossing folder called Regal Flourishes.
Distress Ink colours used: tumbled glass; broken china; crushed olive
and all the other details are here on SCS.

If you like the papers, they are digital paper freebies
that you can find...

... here:


To save this file:
In Firefox/Chrome: right click on the image & choose "save link as"
In Explorer: right click on the image & choose "save target as"
(or you can see the whole set here on Flickr)

...and here:


To save this file:
In Firefox/Chrome: right click on the image & choose "save link as"
In Explorer: right click on the image & choose "save target as"
(or you can see the whole set here on Flickr)

This last example is a soft version that uses a more abstract watercolour

style and an embossing folder from Sizzix called Tropical Paisley:


(Baby T-shirts and Sentiment: Hero Arts "Special Delivery" digi kit.)


By the by, it's actually easier to do this type of folder than the rose outline one,
since there is less chance of getting embossing powder where you don't want it.
Distress Ink colours used here watered down to make pastel shades:
broken china; wild honey; crushed olive; spun sugar
And you can find all of the other supplies & details on SCS here.

If you like the papers, they are digital paper freebies
that you can find...

... here:

To save this file:
In Firefox/Chrome: right click on the image & choose "save link as"
In Explorer: right click on the image & choose "save target as"
(or you can see the whole set here on Flickr)

...and here:

(I lightened the plum colour in photoshop by selecting the
following: image - adjustments - hue/saturation - lightness +)

To save this file:
In Firefox/Chrome: right click on the image & choose "save link as"
In Explorer: right click on the image & choose "save target as"
(or you can see the whole set here on Flickr)

Thanks ever ever so much
for being You!

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