On the Fifth Day of Christmas your goodie box could be... Five Fab Fine Art Fixings - how's that for a mouthful (LOL)... (Be certain to sign up for all of the blog candy we are giving away - 12 days worth! All you need to do to join in the fun is to leave an answer to the questions on each giveaway. We will do the random drawing on January 7th Ü)
Are you singing along with us yet? I thought about loading this song to play when you arrived at the CLASSroom, but then decided it would most definitely drive you all away if you had to listen to it for 12 straight days - LOL! We are absolutely thrilled to see you stopping by and enjoying our 12 day celebration. Over the years I have learned that it takes time to get comfortable using new products and so I decided to just keep with my exploration of the Studio Line of products and see what types of creations I could come up with. I am truly excited for a couple of upcoming ideas I have floating inside my head, but before I go there I wanted to share this project with you so that I could showcase one of the techniques that I saw Claudine demonstrate at CHA Summer.
This resist technique takes on a completely different look than some of the other resist options I have explored as a rubber stamper due to the nature of the matte medium. I absolutely love how variegated the look is that comes about from using this process.
I used the Sticky Back Canvas (which I apologize for running out of yesterday during our sale - hopefully we will have more in by the beginning of next week) to create this flower. As you can see from the shape of the flower above it is quite maleable - which made it so fun to create with.
To begin I used brushed the Matte Medium over the surface of the Distressed Grid Scrapblock.
I immediately stamped my Sticky Back Canvas using this "gluey" stamp. As you can see I continued to use the piece of canvas that I had created my Christmas tag on. It is wonderful to know that you can continue to cut and use pieces of this canvas as you need it without any problem whatsoever. After stamping I promptly went and thorough cleaned my Scrapblock with warm water using an old soft toothbrush to remove all the "glue" from it's surface.
Once I had allowed the medium to dry I then mixed up my paint. Being an impatient artist I did use my heat embossing tool to help speed the process. I don't know that I can or should recommend this, but it did work just fine - whew!!!
The beauty of the Studio Line is that the paint is buttery smooth in the containers - it is really thick and gives excellent coverage. For this purpose I wanted a much more "watery" paint to work with and so I just added some water with my paintbrush and thinned the paint in to a much thinner "glaze".
As you can see from this picture the canvas has a tendency to curl when wet. I am showing this to you so that you don't worry - it will be just fine Ü
A little more warmth (don't overheat it or you might ruin the sticky part of this canvas) and my canvas was ready for me to create my flowers.
I ran it through my die cutting machine using the Nested Flowers. As you can see not all the edges cut smoothly, but it was easy to use my snips to finish the cuts. I then realized that perhaps I should have applied my backing before cutting them out - it was a rather "duh" moment for me. So I set about preparing yet another option to share.
I selected a lightweight cotton fabric and inked the surface of the Victorian Pattern using the same Modern Red paint. This time I did not thin the paint. I just brushed it on to the Backgrounder surface and then stamped directly on the fabric. Once again I immediately washed my Backgrounder using a old, soft toothbrush to remove the paint from the crevices. Once again I quickly dried the surface and found that the fabric was (is) still soft and maleable - yippie - it doesn't feel scratchy at all. I am thinking we might be able to create some wonderful little quilt blocks to make pillows, or... more testing to come - that's for certain!
This time I adhered my altered Sticky Back Canvas directly to my painted fabric and then sent it through the die cut machine. Once again it did not cut cleanly all the way around, but the snips cut the remaining portion easily. This method was a LOT easier than adhering the Sticky Back Canvas to the second fabric and cutting around the entire image. I hope this helps you avoid my little time consuming mistake. As well I found that I needed to use the Matte Medium to hold the Sticky Back Canvas in place being it lost some of it's "grip" after I did the whole scissor cutting method - LOL! This turned out to be a good experiment though because I have learned that by adding the Matte Medium I did receive a more "sturdy" product. It wasn't quite as maleable as the flower petals that I cut at one time with my die. Hopefully this all makes sense - I begin to babble when I get tired - LOL!
To complete the flower I sewed the layers together using an Urban Prairie Button as my center. I then shaped the canvas to make it more "blossom-like." Experimenting with products is SO much fun - I encourage you to give it a try. It does something for the soul - it makes me feel perhaps just a little bit like a pioneer woman - LOL! OK, not really - but it truly is fun to explore and see what you can find Ü
I finished my card by using the Urban Prairie Paper and a cute little tag with Kim Hughes "For You" sentiment stamped on it. We are so excited about your response to our endeavour to brighten these days following Christmas and would like to encourage you to participate in our drawings. You can only receive the goodies we are offering if you leave your comment. Thank you again for stopping by the CLASSroom and sharing in our explorations.

wow- this is really neat, TFS
Posted by: Regan | December 30, 2008 at 09:52 AM
Wow! Thanks so much for this tutorial. I am totally a create-your-own-flower-so-it-matches-perfectly kind of gal and this one is fantastic. I guess I will be placing a follow-up order to the inventory sale because I am super keen to get some of the paint and sticky canvas and try this myself.
Posted by: Morag | December 30, 2008 at 09:59 AM
Oh my word!!! Now I need that set of Nesties...hee hee...this card is so lovely!! TFS!!
Posted by: DeeDee | December 30, 2008 at 11:03 AM
Great ideas for the canvas. I saw it yesterday and was pondering all the possibilities.
Posted by: Donna Hitz | December 30, 2008 at 11:03 AM
Also can't wait to get my hands on this canvas!! Mary<><
Posted by: marytbing | December 30, 2008 at 11:51 AM
Ellen, I don't know how you do it! You amaze me with the wonderful ideas you share with us. I'll bet yur brain is busy creating new projects even while you sleep.
Hugs,
-mary
Posted by: -mary | December 30, 2008 at 11:51 AM
way cool ... love that sticky back canvas. Your card is beautiful, Ellen!
Posted by: Lori Craig | December 30, 2008 at 11:54 AM
I need to re-read the directions ... but the look is very cool!
Posted by: Loydene | December 30, 2008 at 11:59 AM
I have yet to try the sticky back canvas. I can't wait to play!!! Thank you for the tutorial.
Posted by: Deborah Young | December 30, 2008 at 12:17 PM
Very cool. Love those handmade flowers.
Posted by: lacyquilter | December 30, 2008 at 12:49 PM
Oh my goodness that is quite the tutorial! TFS!!
Posted by: Janet Zeppa | December 30, 2008 at 01:30 PM
Wow..this card is really pretty!
Posted by: Diana | December 30, 2008 at 01:33 PM
Sticky-back canvas. I think this may be another item that I have to add to my list of must-haves!
Posted by: Janet | December 30, 2008 at 02:08 PM
Great tutorial. I love when someone does the trial and error for me. Thanks so much. Very pretty card.
Posted by: Karen Q | December 30, 2008 at 02:34 PM
Great tutorial! Thanks for sharing such a beautiful technique!
Posted by: Linda E | December 30, 2008 at 03:07 PM
You always put together such interesting stuff! Wow!
Posted by: Joan B | December 30, 2008 at 03:39 PM
Ellen -
Thanks so much for your tutorials. It really helps when someone shows how to use different products.
Thanks - Elaine Allen
Posted by: Elaine Allen | December 30, 2008 at 03:45 PM
This is gorgeous Ellen! I love the paints, although I have not used them a whole lot. I have watered them down and mixed a little. Asela told me to remember to use the paints over Copics or highlight areas using paints. She said Manga artists often use paints to highlight over Copics. But I love what you did with the flower here. Thanks for all your tips and inspiration!
Posted by: KathyN | December 30, 2008 at 07:16 PM
Great tutorial, and what cool idea. TFS
Posted by: Brenda | December 30, 2008 at 07:46 PM
Amazing tutorial and lovely flower...thanks so much for sharing.
Posted by: Alison Reid | December 30, 2008 at 08:08 PM
Amazing ideas ! I so want to get my hands on some of this canvas now after seeing what you have done with it ! Always such an ispiration for new ideas and thinking outside my box ! TFS !
Posted by: Donna | December 30, 2008 at 08:31 PM
this looks AMAZING!!!! love love love!!
Posted by: claudine hellmuth | December 30, 2008 at 09:02 PM
Wow...great idea and looks fantastic
Posted by: Karen from Ontario | December 31, 2008 at 04:48 AM
Fabulous tutorial! Those flowers are gorgeous! I wonder how they'd do in the weather? I am envisioning them on a bag, purse or a jaunty little hat, too! Thanks for the inspiration.
Posted by: Cindy H. | December 31, 2008 at 08:39 AM
I thought for sure that I had already left a comment for the 5th Day, but I don't see my message here, so I'm leaving one now. This is a wonderful tutorial on the making of these flowers, but I've never heard of this type of canvas. I'll have to get some. Thanks so much for the lovely lesson!
Posted by: Marilyn Hitterman | December 31, 2008 at 01:38 PM