Mixed Media Canvas - Life is About Creating Yourself.

I have to give credit to those who seem to be able to post often on their blogs and I'm sure their lives  are just as busy & full as mine.   It has been a challenge trying to find time in between 2 jobs, developing and teaching the odd class, trying to work on my own art, a downsize house move, and Dr's appointments with my husband who's just finished 10 rounds of chemo (which appear to be working well thankfully).   Unfortunately the blog had to be put on the back burner.  But, I'm going to try and squeeze in a few posts.  I just finished working on a mixed media canvas.  Texture is done with Golden's Molding Paste and Finnabair's Copper Crackle Texture Paste, painted with Golden Acrylics and various sprays.  Die Cuts:  Memory Box Riviera Corner and Tim Holtz Alterations Sewing Room.  The dress is made from a long strip of dyed cheesecloth that I folded up & down to create the folds, then wrapped the end around the waist & added a metal gear for embellishment.  The metal word band is by Tim Holtz idea-ology.  Sorry - no pictures of the work in progress.

Journal Covers

This is my current work in progress.  A painted canvas cover for a journal which is a gift for a fellow coworker's grandmother and the main word was to be "faith".  Used my scanner for the picture so it's not the best (slightly cut off - my camera is recharging). 

I used gesso on the floral stamp and stamped the canvas before painting with a selection of FW Liquid Acrylics.  Stamped "faith" using calligraphy letters from Quietfire Designs, "Blooms" and "love" from a couple of different Recollections alpha stamp sets and "precious" from Hero Arts.  Then I went over the words with calligraphy pens and different colours of the FW Liquid Acrylics.  The diamonds were stencilled in using Golden Fluid Acrylic Anthraquinone Blue and a Dylusions stencil.  Embellishments came next - beads, brads, buttons, charms, paper flowers, fabric hearts etc.  I leave a 1" border at the edges to fold over the book cover - remember that when you start adding embellishments - I did the beading on the front cover and ended up having to remove a bead (you can see the white spot) because it ended up right on the fold.  When it's finished, I'll use Yes glue to adhere it to the hard cover of the blank journal.  Hope she likes the end result...