be yourself poppies...

Hello my wonderful friends!

It's time for another Unity hop!
(and sale!)


Somehow, despite everything, time passes. I find myself marveling that we are nearing the end of March already. Some days it feels like time has stopped, but most days seem to slip past without me knowing. How does that happen?

The past year or so has been filled with a lot of discovery, growth, and change. Some of it has been liberating and joyful. Some of it has been painful and hard. Lately, I have been feeling like I have totally lost myself, like I have no idea who I really am....

I guess you could say, I'm a work in progress. I'm still growing. I'm still finding my place.

And that's ok.

Flowers may not look like much at first either, but when they finally open up, they are beautiful, just they way they are.

I know, I should have taken pictures while doing this, but my friend came over to my studio, and I was distracted, and didn't get my camera out. SORRY! I'll try to explain what did, and hopefully it will make some sense. (I promise, nothing too complex here.)

I started this canvas with a couple colors of spray inks. I then sealed the color in with a layer of mod podge. (this allows the blue to stay in the background instead of reactivating and mixing with all future layers.)

For the poppies... I stamped one of the big poppies and one of the little poppies on a piece of paper. I then used my PicScan mat and Silhouette to scan them in and create both stencils and masks SUPER quick. I made sure to cut the stencils and masks out of acetate so they can be used over and over.
(here's a video made by Camille from the Unity DT on PicScan basics.)

*note: when she is cutting out her stamped and colored images, she traces then uses the 'off set' feature to create a slight border... for my stencils and masks, I chose not to do that.*

After I had my stencils all cut out, I sponged gesso through them onto the canvas. Because of the layer of mod podge, the gesso stayed white... otherwise it would have turned a light blue as the inks underneath react to the moisture...

At this point, it looked like I had a bunch of clouds in a blue sky. LOL!

Once the gesso was dry, I stamped the Vintage Handwritten  background stamp through the stencil using Archival ink. Once that was dry, I sponged on just a touch more gesso to lighten the script.

I then went back and stamped the Donna Poppies outline stamps over the gessoed "clouds" using acrylic paint. It was super fun to see the clouds turn into fantastic flowers!

One  complaint I have heard about rubber stamps is that you can't line them up because you can't see through them. Well, for this, I didn't really care. It gives it a very artsy look to have it slightly offset.

I hand painted the stems in, then added a wash of pinkish coral watercolor over the poppies.

Finally, I stamped the sentiment "be yourself" with acrylic paint. This time, I did want to make sure everything was lined up perfectly and STRAIGHT, so I used a stamp positioner.

Nice and simple...

Next time, I'll remember to take pics. :)

Tip: One of the challenges of stamping on a wrapped canvas is that you have a 'gap' in the back. The wood frame lends support to the outer edges, but stamping on the center leads to problems because there is nothing supporting the center. To fix this, place a piece of wood (or, I stacked about 4-5 flat canvases) underneath the center. Make sure it is the same height as the frame so when you flip it over to stamp, you have a flat solid surface all the way across.


You will notice that my inserted canvases don't quite fill the whole back.... that's ok, I just had to make sure to move them to whatever area I was stamping in.

alright... that's all I've got for you today...

Have a wonderful day, a fantastic weekend, and ENJOY the hop!

Don't forget---
 Leave a comment on EACH blog in the hop (including the Unity blog) for your chance to win.  The winners will be announced Monday on the Unity blog.


Enjoy!

Comments

  1. Your detailed explanation was great - even without pictures.
    The canvas is so pretty.
    thanks for sharing.

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  2. What a gorgeous card, thanks for sharing!

    Linda Patti. tpatti@windstream.net

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  3. Love the way you explain your technique. Sometimes,flowers bring peace and tranquility to our mind just by looking at them.We see perfection,creativity and inspiration.Thanks.

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  4. Kassi Your canvas looks amazing. I just love it. Thanks for the explanation of the procedure. I will have to come back to read it again. The flower stamp is one of my favourite. Thanks for the wonderful inspiration.

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  5. Your canvas is stunning!! Love the poppies and beautiful color! Aren't we all a work in progress!?

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  6. Love your canvas. I bought a few blank canvas a couple years ago, but still haven't tried. Your instructions inspire me to try it!

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  7. I love your canvas. I like to see more work using stamps for more than just cards. And arn't we all still growing? Even at 62, I feel I still am growing and have more to learn.

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  8. Very nice. You did a beautiful job on your canvas, as well as explaining it!

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  9. wonderful canvas and the sentiment is inspiring.

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  10. Beautiful canvas, Kassi. Thanks for the tips!

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  11. Thanks so much for the detailed walk thru for your project. I just received my Poppies set and you've definitely given me even more ideas to use it. My house is going to be covered in poppies before I'm done!!

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  12. Cool technique and some great tips!

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  13. Beautiful work......and so are you! Thanks for sharing more than just your art with us. Hugs.
    <3 J

    jwoolbright at gmail dot com
    HerPeacefulGarden.blogspot.com

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  14. So pretty. The flowers look great, kind of like they are waiting. Read a great sentiment the other day. I took the way less travelled and now I don't know where I am. Yeah, some days are like that. Hugz

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  15. Lovely! Love that background.....lets the simple beauty of that stamp shine ♥

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  16. Even with the not so great photo, I can see that it looks awesome. I love this stamp its so versatile, cards mixed media off the page. Thanks for sharing, its beautiful.

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  17. Your canvas is gorgeous. Thanks for sharing.
    Crafty hugs,
    Dawn
    DesignsByDragonfly {blogspot}

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  18. I wish I would have read this early. I just tried to stencil on a wrapped can as. Yours turned out beautiful.

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