I've been back working on new pages for my Canvas Album and am really excited with how this fun photo transfer technique turned out on the canvas album. Photo transfer is a technique that takes a photo or image and transfers it to another surface. You can use a photo transfer technique onto paper, a hard surface or in this case, the canvas fabric. It's a super cool way to get a photograph onto a wide variety of surfaces.
Photo transfer is really a very easy technique with great results if you just follow the directions. You can use a photograph or other image. Most photo transfers give a great vintage look. Due to the fact that usually a black and white image is used and the artistic look of this medium, it gives a slight aged and imperfect look.
The first thing you do when starting to transfer a photo is make a copy of your original onto white printer weight paper. You don't want it too heavy as you will eventually have to work off the layers of paper fiber. Laser printed images or photocopied images work best because of the toner based ink. Some inkjet printer inks will work but I did not have any success with mine and it's probably just as easy to go make a photocopy. Another thing you'll want to bear in mind is that whatever your image looks like, it will be reversed after the photo transfer technique. If that doesn't matter to you, just photocopy away. If there is text or because of hairstyles etc. you want to have it the correct way, make sure you print the photo in reverse first before photocopying it. I did this for the photos below to keep my parents' image as close to realistic as possible.
The photo transfer technique can be done with many types of paint but I had great results with the Claudine Hellmuth Studio Glossy Multi Medium. I wanted a clear look but you can mix in some of her colored acrylic Studio paints with the medium for a tinted look if you wish.
Brush the Multi-Medium onto the canvas page making sure you get the canvas well-covered. You'll need enough so that the paper with adhere well to it.
Trim your image close to the edges and apply over the Multi-Medium. Use a Ranger Craft Scraper or an old credit card to smooth out the paper and make sure you have a good bond. And then the hard part. Wait.
It actually dries quite quickly and depending on your application will dry in 15-30 minutes. You'll want it to be dry to touch and look like the photo below.
Spray the paper with water using a Mini Mister and then gently remove paper by rubbing with a soft cloth or sponge. Remove paper layers slowly and gently so as to not harm the image underneath.
Here's what the transferred image looks like. Isn't that cool?
I photographed this shot on an angle so that the light would pick up the canvas texture for the photo.
So now I'm ready to finish up my canvas page. To get an idea of the layout I laid out 2" squares of Basic Grey Porcelain paper and a Manila tag across the bottom.
The embellishing is always one of the fun parts for me. The tag is stamped with images from the Ornamental Beauty stamp set in Black Memento ink, Worn Lipstick Distress Ink and Shabby Shutters Distress ink to create a journaling space. Beautiful lace is stapled onto the end of the tag with the Tim Holtz Tiny Attacher. A Fragment highlights the Bride and Groom sentiment from the Wedding Centers stamp set by CHF.
Each of the squares is sponged with ink and then stitched to the canvas page. The middle square has been stamped with another image from the Ornamental Beauty set and then colored with Copic Markers.The tag is tied with some gorgeous white silk ribbon, perfect for anything but especially weddings.
To "tie in" the photo with the rest of the design, I decided a stitched "frame" would be nice around the photo transferred image.
And here's the finished page...
My next canvas page post is another fun photo idea that I think you'll want to try. Join me January 1st for it as Ellen has a superb surprise in store for you to go along with it. In the meantime, if you're looking for the other Canvas Album posts, you can find them at Part One and Part Two.
Thanks for stopping by the CLASSroom!
