At least I hope this flower I created somewhat resembles a poinsettia! Nevertheless, I used a great new product to create it and I wanted to share my results. I used the new Sticky-back Canvas paper from Claudine Hellmuth for Ranger Industries. This was one product from this summer's CHA (Craft & Hobby Association) show that really stood out for me and I couldn't wait to try it with my Spellbinders dies!
I used Spellbinders new Sunflower Set Two to cut the canvas -- or at least try. Here are my findings: The more detailed dies with more cutting edges (I also tried Snowflake Wonder) didn't cut through the Sticky-back Canvas very well -- I had to finish cutting parts with my scissors. But I did find that if you remove the paper lining from the back of the canvas (it's there to protect the sticky adhesive), then most Spellbinders dies cut through the canvas better. Honestly, I don't think the adhesive on the back of this canvas paper is very useful -- it's a very low tack and if I were to adhere something cut from the canvas to any other surface, I would be sure to use a more secure adhesive. However, it did help the canvas stay in place while I airbrushed it a few steps below, so that was nice!
I had fewer cutting problems with larger, more open dies like the leaf from this Sunflower set:
The leaf die cut through the canvas (with the paper backing removed) very nicely and you can see the die also embossed the canvas very well. But one thing I also discovered in another step below, is that if you soak the embossed canvas with ink or dye, it's fabric-like tendencies shine thru and most of my embossing disappeared! A simple fix was just to re-emboss the dried canvas by putting it back in the die and running it through my Wizard machine again with the Spellbinders tan embossing mat.
Once I had two flowers successfully cut out (I skipped the embossing step), I airbrushed the flowers all over with Copic Sketch R29 Lipstick Red:
Next, I airbrushed Copic R39 Garnet in the centers and on some of the interior petals:
Then I added just a little of Copic R85 Rose Red airbrushed to the tips of the petals, just to give a little depth and variation of color and to finish covering any of the white canvas that was still showing.
For the center of the flower, I decided to try another product -- Ranger's Adirondack Color Wash. It's a spray on dye-based color developed for use with fabric, paper, fibers and more. This soaking of the canvas is what made my embossing disappear!
After re-embossing the dried canvas, I gave the flower center some depth by dotting some Krylon Copper Leafing pen onto scrap paper (that blob next to my flower center below!) and then picking up some of the color with Ranger's Ink Blending Tool and wiping it onto the surface of the canvas.
The metallic leafing gave the center a nice glow. To bring out the embossed dots in the flower center a little more, I dotted Krylon Gold Leafing pen on each embossed dot. The flower center was popped up with dimensional foam tape and here's the finished look:
The colored canvas petals are still nice and pliable (I gently bent them into the shape you see) and have that wonderful canvas texture to them. Best of all, the canvas isn't bulky and will lie flat on the card for mailing purposes.
My 5.25" card base is Memory Box Crimson cardstock and the papers are BasicGrey's Wassail. I cut coordinating patterned paper with two different sizes of Classic Square Nestabilities, matting them with more Crimson cardstock.
The sentiment is from Mona Lisa Moments' Christmas Expressions. I love the sentiments in this set -- the fonts are beautiful and there's a wide variety of sentiments for just about any holiday need. I stamped it with Tuxedo Black Memento ink onto the Crimson cardstock, cut it out with a Classic Square Nestabilities die and then outlined the embossing with metallic gold gel pen. It's popped up with dimensional foam tape.
Some gold Dew Drops in three corners finish off this holiday card. I hope you'll try out this new canvas on some projects and report back to us what you've created with it. I know I'll be playing with it some more!
-- Sharon Harnist for the CLASSroom
