Beautiful life canvas

Recent events within the crafting industry have made me do a lot of soul searching for what my true purpose is for creating and sharing.  I feel best when I use art to express myself.  I love being inky and painty and just get messy.  Being creative is a great stress reliever for me and since my job is very analytical (finance), being artistic exercises the other half of my brain and allows me to be a bit "illogical" for a while; which is a good thing.  I love being able to invoke feelings and emotions with colors and images.  I love finding new ways to incorporate things I have in my stash into projects in unusual and unexpected ways.  The idea of being able to share a project to teach others that creating beautiful things is as easy as following steps makes me happy.

This canvas is a prime example of just those things...paying homage to the start of spring and blending techniques together to create something that I adore.

I started with a small canvas from the Artists Loft line by Michaels.  I picked coordinating papers by designer Aga Baraniak; from her Bohemian Romance line; using paper from the 8x8 paper pack and the Mixed Media Pack.  I decided to make my flower from this wonderful journal paper in the paper pack.  I cut out a single leaf and then used it as a pattern to cut the remaining petals.  I inked the edges of each petal and set them aside.

I picked a piece of green from the mixed media pack and cut out leaves for the flower stem.  I then used a stylus to etch in veins on each leaf.

I then picked out the base papers for the canvas.  I trimmed them to the size of the canvas and used Mod Podge to adhere them to the canvas.  I then set it aside to dry.

I loved the rough edge on the brown paper I used on the bottom and left the edges that rough around the entire canvas.

I used blue watercolor paint to change the top piece from white to a sky blue color.  Using white paint, I started to add some extra details to the solid colors.  I like to use bubble wrap to add fun circles to my projects. 

I found this fun piece of cutout paper in the Mixed Media pack and thought it would make a fun stencil.  Using the same white paint I added some of these rose images to the canvas for extra details.

I really like the image left behind using this as a stencil:

I cute a long piece of jute and wound it into a circle.  I then added it to the flower center using Mod Podge.

I love how much this jute adds to the flower...  I then used a black marker to add little details along the stem and other places on the canvas for some character.  Once all the details are just so, cover the entire surface with another layer of Mod Podge to seal it in.

The title is cut from the top piece from a single sheet of the Compose your Life Beautiful Life paper by Aga Baraniak.  I added it to the canvas using Mod Podge, drawing some lines around each cut out piece and then sealing the surface with a final coat of Mod Podge.

I adore this canvas; from the rough texture of the brown paper at the base that looks like dirt, to the veins I added to the leaves and the little scraggly bits of jute extending from the flower center..  It makes me so happy to look out into my garden and see the colors of Spring popping out all over and this canvas reminds me of that.

Happy springtime crafting.....Lynda