Design, Create, Inspire!: Canvas Corp Mixed Media Canvas Tutorial

Hello again everyone!

Today it is my pleasure to show you the basics behind creating a mixed media canvas. Historically, I have focused my crafting efforts on scrapbooking; however, mixed media recently caught my eye and piqued my interest. After seeing endless amounts of beautiful projects online, I decided to go WAY out of my artistic craft zone and attempt to do a canvas.

If you are a true beginner and have not made anything of this sort, it is very helpful to search for videos online and watch tutorials to navigate the many products and their purposes.

My latest creation, thanks to Craft Warehouse gifting me with awesome product, is a 12 x 12 canvas that utilizes Canvas Corp Black & White and Black & Kraft patterned scrapbook papers and chalk paper; Studio Calico masks, Mister's Huey Color Mists, and wood veneer shapes; gesso; molding paste; acrylic paint; adhesive; a Sharpie, and a word processing program and printer.

Keep in mind that there are many layers involved that must be allowed time to dry, so this is a project that may take an entire day or several if you work on it a little at a time. Granted, you can always use a heat gun to speed up the process, but I usually let mine dry naturally.

The first step is to paint the canvas the color of your choice with an acrylic paint. For this project I chose black. Next, I chose to use the Kraft theme papers as the base of the project, and I decided to tear them up so I could create a mosaic with them. During this process, I coated the backside of each piece of paper with Mod Podge and placed it on the canvas. I repeated this process until the entire canvas was covered and then put a coat of Mod Podge on the entire surface.

Once the Mod Podge had dried (it will dry clear), I dobbed gesso in various places to give the canvas more depth. When the gesso was dry, I applied another coat of Mod Podge and let it dry. Finally, I began coating the canvas with Mister Huey's Color Mist in Dark Calico. This was a process of trial and error (as most of my projects are), but I eventually discovered a technique that worked. This involved spraying one pump of mist very close to the canvas to create a puddle and then rubbing it into the canvas with a paper towel. This allowed me to create the patina I was hoping for by spraying one area at a time and making it lighter or darker as I saw fit (Once the Mod Podge dries it is glossy so there is some glare in the pictures).

Applied gesso is shown in the photo above.

Figuring out a way to incorporate the chalkboard paper was a challenge because I didn't want to use it as simply something to write on. What I ended up doing was using two Huey's Masks and Mister Huey's Color Mist in Inky Black to alter it. First, I misted the chalkboard paper using a chevron mask, let it dry, used the ampersand mask as a stencil, and cut it out.

Next, I adhered the ampersand cutout to the canvas and laid the Huey Mask over the top to protect it while I applied molding paste around the edges. Once I was finished applying the molding paste, I lifted the mask and again waited for everything to dry. When it had dried, I used a paintbrush and painted the molding paste with Mr. Huey's Estate Green. While the paint was drying, I began cutting out heart shapes using the remaining patterned papers and Mod Podging (technical term) them to the canvas along with the sentiment I printed using Microsoft Word.

At this point I applied another layer of Mod Podge and stained the hearts and sentiment with Mr. Huey's Plum Thumb and a paint brush. The wood veneer shapes were next, and they were sprayed with the same Mr. Huey's Color Mists, doodled on with the Sharpie, and adhered to the canvas. Again, Mod Podge was applied to the newest additions and allowed to dry.

The final steps involved using the Sharpie to go around the edges of the hearts, wood veneers, sentiments, and the dried molding paste. I did this several time, blending as I went, until I has achieved a look I was happy with.

Last, but not least, I coated the entire canvas with a healthy layer of Mod Podge and allowed it to dry over night. The next morning, I had the following results.