A 12 by 12 Altered Christmas Canvas

I cannot take credit for this idea. I do LOVE it though. I spotted the idea on Less Cake {more frosting} which is always a fun read. The owner is amusing if not downright pee your pants funny, which I value almost more than her cool ideas! She has a great tutorial on how to transfer the imagine to the canvas, so I will let you wander over there if you are interested in doing this project.

I will say that the difference between what she did and what I did was that I primed my canvas using gesso for some additional texture which I believe you can see in the close up of the flowers.

Also, I didn't read the part where she said the images should be in black and white. But, I like how my turned out.

So, let me give you some steps on how I got to this point and show you the imagine I started with:

1) Prime your canvas with gesso. I use a thick bristled brush for more texture. Add lots of drying time.
2) Ink up your canvas. I skipped using paint and went straight to stamp pads.
3) For a mottled look, spray with glimmermist or alcohol in a spritzer bottle.
4) After lots of drying time iron on your image. Take your time. Breath. It will not come out perfect. That is part of the charm.
5) I used the white t-shirt transfer paper and also before I ironed on my imagine, I very carefully added a wee bit of gesso where the photo was going to give me more white. I was paranoid my image was too dark.
6) Backing up to my image, I used LoFi to get my dark edges and contrast. I was trying to match some colors so played around a bit with that too.
7) After your transfer is complete, you can add more elements. I also used modge modge glossy to go over the whole thing. The photo transfer is a bit rubbery and I didn't want it to come off.

And, I wanted a bit more flare and wanted to add some gems. But the person I am giving this canvas to isn't into a whole lotta bling, so I had to down play it a bit.

Plus, these new prima flowers came with bling in the center that were also clear. I just added some alcohol ink to it and the flourish. If you leave it on and let it dry they are "wetter" looking. If you want less, dab them off on some paper and more of the crystal shows through.

On my doily, I used a combo of alcohol inks to get that tie dye affect. And some white birch got placed in behind the flowers to add to the over all affect. I do hope she likes it.

I will say for sure this is not the last canvas I will do. I love how this turned out. Can't wait to send it out.

One homemade gift down!