My Very First Art Canvas

Before this week, I have never used an art canvas to create an original piece of art. Actually, I've never used an art canvas for anything. Seriously, never!

However, one of the projects in the BPC Lift Me Up workshop about upcycling is to find an "abandoned" canvas project and repurpose it into a home decor piece. Unfortunately we did not have any abandoned canvases. What we did have, however, was a package of three canvas panels that Robbie purchased before we were married. We have moved them around with us and stored them in a closet for over a decade now, so I decided it would definitely be upcycling to get one of them out of the package and create a piece of art.

I started by punching a few scalloped circles from tissue paper and an old hymn book (because the abandoned canvas that Mou Saha used in the example had tissue paper circles adhered to it already). I added a few butterfly rubons and a bling flower sticker.

Following along with Mou's example, I added some acrylic paint to the canvas.

I used a small piece of bubble wrap to stamp on the remaining white area of the canvas, then added a variety of items to make this a true multi-media piece - washi tape, dimensional flower stickers, thin colored tape and a handwritten quote. I also added glitter glue to the word "talent."

After letting the canvas sit so that everything could dry, I decided to stamp a little more with the bubble wrap, this time with orange ink. I also added a larger butterfly rub-on to the area that I felt didn't flow with the rest of the piece. Here's a look at the complete piece - my very first mixed-media art canvas.

I have to admit that I'm feeling pretty good right now. This piece makes me smile and will soon be hanging in my craft room.

There were two more canvases in that pack we've been carrying around for years, and I'm thinking about doing something similar with them. I could then display the three of them as a small vignette. What do you think? How do you display your mixed-media art canvases?