I'd been playing with the idea of stamping on fabric but then remembered the fabric-type qualities of Claudine Hellmuth's Sticky Back Canvas, so I decided to use that instead. The nice thing about the canvas is that I could use any of Claudine's Studio paints to get the exact color of "fabric" I wanted! Here's the project I came up with ... a 5"x7" piece of botanical framed artwork:
Supplies:
- Stamps: Kim Hughes Silhouette Blooms II
- Paper: Graphic 45 Botanicabella collection (Antiquity & Secret Garden) & Botanicabella Tags
- Ink & Paint: Memento Tuxedo Black ink pad, Claudine Hellmuth Studio Paints-Landscape Green & Charcoal Black
- Accessories: Claudine Hellmuth Sticky Back Canvas, Sunflower Dew Drops, Tim Holtz Paper Distresser, Stamp-a-ma-Jig, Sanding block
After choosing which papers wanted to use from Graphic 45's Botanicabella collection, I custom-mixed a green shade of paint, to match the green in my papers:
I started with Landscape Green, but as you can see in the photo below, it was a little too light and bright to go with my papers (straight out of the jar Landscape Green is on the right):
I mixed a little bit of black into the Landscape Green, to get a deeper green shade (left in the photo above). After painting the canvas and allowing it to dry, I used Charcoal Black Studio paint on Kim Hughes' Silhouette Blooms II stamps to stamp the flowers onto the canvas.
TIP: Immediately after stamping, be sure to clean your stamps ... otherwise, you'll be scrubbing for days to get that dried paint off your stamps (ask me how I know this)!
After the painted canvas was thoroughly dry, I lightly sanded the entire surface of the canvas, to let more of the canvas texture show through and to soften up the canvas some (the dried paint stiffens the canvas a little). Hopefully you can see some of that texture in the photo below:
The result ended up looking like a printed fabric! I also distressed the edges of the canvas with the Tim Holtz Paper Distresser. The butterfly strip above and tag below are both from the Botanicabella Tags sheet. Below, I stamped Kim Hughes' "Live Love bloom" sentiment onto the tag using a Stamp-a-ma-Jig to aid in precise placement and added amber Dew Drops to enhance the tag (there's a little bit of the same amber color in this butterfly tag, as well as the butterfly strip at the top):
Machine stitching finishes off the canvas. I found this frame at the dollar store. It was the size I wanted (5"x7") and shaped to be the shadow box effect I was looking for but was pink! So I also painted it with Claudine's Charcoal Black Studio paint and then lightly brushed it with the Landscape Green, to compliment the green on the canvas and patterned paper.
The next time you think fabric might work well in your project, try using this canvas -- I think you'll find it easy to work with and add that bit of "fabric" flare you are looking for!
