The Key to my heart is ART!! Crew 4x4 challenge...

Happy Valentines Day!  Well the news is officially out!  Canvas Corp Brands has finally announced the members of their new Creative Crew members!  Like I said before, I'm super excited to have been given this great opportunity and be working along side such an amazing bunch of designers!

We were all given a challenge to kick off this great announcement and that was to create a 4x4 canvas that describes who you are as a designer!  Please head over to the Canvas Corp Brands Blog and check out all the different 4x4's!  They're all incredible!

Here is my take on this challenge.  I love working on small pieces, although it wasn't really challenging for me to work on such a small canvas it was a challenge on what to do with it.  What to do, what to do...it always starts with that question....then I just dove right in and grabbed my favourite stencil of the moment, some acrylic paints, glimmer mists and molding paste and just went for it!  

I wanted to create lots of texture and depth and some visual interest so I added a little tiny metal lock to the middle heart.

The key to my heart is ART!  

What's the key to your heart?  I hope you check out the Canvas Corp Blog and take a look at the amazing 4x4 canvases!  Such inspiration!  

Thanks for stopping by!

L-O-V-E...pin to win with Canvas Corp!!!

Happy February everyone!  I've been keeping a little secret and I think its time to share!  I've been invited to be a part of the Canvas Corp Brands Creative Crew!  I'll be working along side an amazing crew of talented designers over the next year and am so super excited!  The big Creative Crew announcement will be on February 14, but I wanted to share my little secret today!  

In anticipation of Valentines Day, the Creative Crew at Canvas Corp have whipped up some Valentines Day Cards!

There's more!  We have a big Pin & Win Giveaway on the Canvas Corp Brands website!  Click the pic below and it will take you to the website with all the details!!!

For this Creative Crew challenge, we were all given a blank card to create a Valentines Day Card.  I chose the mixed media route and this is what I came up with!  I am planning on giving this to my husband.  I know this doesn't seem like a big stretch but we aren't the 'Hallmark Holiday' type.  I would rather give him or someone I love a card to tell them how special they are to me on a day when they aren't expecting it.  Know what I mean?  So I know he will be super surprised when he receives it on Valentines Day....

I used some Peerless watercolors for the background then used some Tattered Angels Glimmer Mist Sprays and a stencil to create some texture for the card base.  I splattered more Glimmer Mist on the card base then added a layer of cheesecloth followed by a layer of corrugated paper painted with some Tattered Angels High Impact paint in Aqua.  I had some burlap Thickers and painted them randomly with some of the High Impact paint as well.  

I hope you play along with us for your chance to win a $50.00 gift certificate to Canvas Corp Brands online store!  Check it out!

Thanks for stopping by today!  Have a good one!

Artblock Goodness...

Hello everyone!  Today I'm sharing with you a painting I did a while back.  Its been a bit of a work in progress adding things here and there etc...I have a hard time finishing projects.  I need to learn to just walk away satisfied when I think I'm done...lol...anyone else have the same problem?..I just have to keep puttering away...oh well...it is what it is...right?

This piece was painted on a 4x3" piece of wood block (2" deep).  I sanded the rough edges a bit then laid down some gesso for my base.  I love how the texture of the wood block comes through on the edges and the surface.  This piece also features some great embellishments from Pretty Pink Posh (little micro sequins) and Chic Tags (wood veneer 'Goodness' sentiment).

Not sure if you can tell from the closeup but I used an abundance of Canvas Corp - Tattered Angels Glimmer Mist sprays on the wood veneer 'sentiment'.  Lots of shimmery 'goodness'....

I hope you spread some goodness today!  Thanks for stopping by, have a great day!

A big 'Thank You' and some more fun canvases....

I just wanted to give everyone who took a look at the #BringBackOurGirls Art Auction last week a big huge THANK YOU!!!  This wonderful group of artist raised almost $4000.00!  It was just an amazing turnout!!  I want to especially thank the two winners who won their bid on my pieces!  Such a wonderful cause and I thank you from the bottom of my heart for your contribution!  I hope you enjoy your new piece as much as I did creating it!

Which brings me to my next blog post....more canvases!  I created these a few month ago for The Scrapping Bug using Hazel and Ruby Stencil Masks!  I had SO-MUCH-FUN making these!!! 

This wee little canvas was so fun to make! I used a 2x2 Stretched Natural Canvas (by Canvas Corp).  I applied a generous coat of gesso to the natural canvas to create a solid foundation for the layers of paper and paint that would follow!  After adhering the patterned paper to the primed canvas, 

(I wanted it to look old and 'vintage like') so I mixed some white and green acrylic paint together and let some of the designer paper show through.  I cut little triangles out of the same paper to create a little mini banner across the top, added some glitter and some natural linen trim around the outside to finish it off!  The Stencil Mask Peel away Alphabet letters are a dream to work with.  They don't stick at all and leave a really crisp finish once you lift them off (after applying the paint).

This is a nice and simple 12x12 canvas.  I used some designer paper from Cosmo Cricket (Alphabet soup) which I've been hoarding for ever and adhered it to the entire surface of the canvas.  Little tip - only use a small amount of liquid glue or else the paper will start to buckle.  Once completely dry, I added the banners, chevrons and heart from the Everyday Shapes Stencil Mask set and a few letters from the Brooklyn Alpha set.  I used some Golden fluid acrylic paint in Teal and covered the entire surface.  Once it started to dry I peeled away the masks and added a few sequins and some linen ribbon and it was done in a flash!

This next one was a bit of a labour of love....or pain...well lets say a bit of both...lol.  Lots of layers and a few curse words later this is what I ended up with!  Some supplies used:  Gingham designer paper from Doodle Bug Designs, white acrylic paint, whipped spackle from Faber-Castell and stencils from The Crafters Workshop, sequins and I created the banner using Hazel and Ruby's fat roll washi tape.  The flowers were from randoms I had in my stash.  Despite the blood sweat and tears, I'm happy with the outcome!

These scream 'Spring' which is taking its sweet time to greet us here in Canada, so its nice just to look at them every now and them as a reminder of the nicer weather to come!

Thanks for stopping by today!

Have a great week!