I promise I had the best of intentions of getting my BoBunny mixed media canvas posted on my blog the same day it went up on the BoBunny blog however, we had just returned from our vacation to Mexico and it didn't happen. I guess it is better late than never, because I noticed several people asking about how I made it. It is really quite simple and I will walk you through the process below.
INSPIRED BY | Arlene (AKA mybutterflykisses12)
I was inspired to finally give this mixed media canvas thing a try after I came across a project created by Arlene on YouTube. I don't remember how I found her video, but I knew immediately that it was the technique for me to try on my first canvas. This is my very first attempt at creating a mixed media canvas. It is something I have been wanting to try my hand at for quite some time however until I came across the technique that I used, I had always been a little intimidated to try it. The process she shared and that I used was really quite easy and the things I loved most about it were using up some of my leftovers and extra supplies and playing around with my spray inks to create something with a lot of depth, texture and color.
.jpg "BoBunny Mixed Media Canvas by Juliana Michaels")
TECHNIQUE | Mixed Media Techniques
This is a simple technique and I certainly did not create this one as I mentioned above. Arlene has a wonderful video tutorial that I followed to create my canvas. I applied all of the same techniques she mentions, however I did them on a canvas instead of a tag. You can view her video HERE.
INSTRUCTIONS | Mixed Media Canvas
- Apply a layer of White Gesso with a paint brush to help prime your canvas and let it dry
- Use Matte Medium or another liquid adhesive to adhere lace, fabric, ribbon, doilies, and other flat items to the canvas and let dry.
- Lay a stencil or mask on your canvas and apply Modeling Paste using a spatula or other such tool. (an old credit card or gift card works well too). Remove stencil and let Modeling Paste dry.
- Arrange flowers, chipboard letters or shapes, trinkets, jewels, paper clips and any other items you wish to use onto the canvas. Any sort of metal charms or other dimensional embellishments will work well.
- Once you have determined where you want to place them, attach them to the canvas using a strong adhesive. I used a hot glue gun.
- Using a paint brush, paint everything on the canvas with a coat of White Gesso. Make sure to get into all of the nooks and crannies. Allow this to dry. You may need a second coat if you don't get good coverage with the first coat. (Unfortunately some of the Prima flowers bled when I applied the Gesso to them. I did not have the problem with any of the BoBunny flowers.)
- Take your Spray Inks and begin spraying the canvas with your colors. Use a heat gun to dry each color before adding a new color to reduce mixing colors. When you add colors you want to think about what colors you put next to each other because the colors will bleed slightly and mix together with the Dylusions Ink because they are reactive. There is a nice explanation of how to attempt to avoid getting brown when you mix colors HERE if you are interested. A basic understanding of the color wheel and how to mix colors can be helpful during this process. If you are too afraid to try it, then simply go for a monochromatic look and stick with one color or color family such as pinks or blues.
- Once dry, apply a coat of Clear Acrylic Matte Coating or Fixative to help protect your canvas. With these particular spray inks the colors will become reactive and bleed if they become wet or moist. Applying the spray coating will help protect the colors or anything your canvas comes into contact with if it should happen to get wet or moist. I highly recommend it!
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.jpg "BoBunny Mixed Media Canvas by Juliana Michaels detail")
.jpg "BoBunny Mixed Media Canvas by Juliana Michaels detail")
.jpg "BoBunny Mixed Media Canvas by Juliana Michaels detail")
.jpg "BoBunny Mixed Media Canvas by Juliana Michaels detail")
SUPPLIES | BoBunny
Blossoms: Dahlia, Zinnia
Lace: Buttercup
Trinkets, Jewels: various BoBunny collections
Blossoms: Dahlia, Zinnia
Lace: Buttercup
Trinkets, Jewels: various BoBunny collections
Other supplies:
Spray ink: Dylusions by Ranger in Bubblegum Pink, Postbox Red, Pure Sunshine, Sweetened Orange, Lemon Zest, Fresh Lime, Cut Grass, Vibrant Turquoise, London Blue, Crushed Grape; Heidi Swapp Color Shine in Gold
Canvas: 9 x 12 Canvas
Adhesive: Hot glue gun
Additional flowers: Prima
Stencils: Crafters Workshop
Modeling Paste: Liquetex
White Gesso: Liquitex
Clear Acrylic Matte Coating or Fixative: Hobby Lobby
Clear Acrylic Matte Coating or Fixative: Hobby Lobby
Chipboard letters and Circle Paper Clips: my stash
I hope you enjoyed my BoBunny mixed media canvas and tutorial! Thanks for stopping by and I would love to see what you create inspired by my canvas!
I hope you enjoyed my BoBunny mixed media canvas and tutorial! Thanks for stopping by and I would love to see what you create inspired by my canvas!
Thank you for taking the time to post these instructions. I think I will give it a try andI will let you know how it turns out. I liked your tip about making color choices and how to avoid an overall brown colored project. I think I will choose only a few colors for my first try.. Sometimes less is better.....a hard concept for me to remember lol. Great post!
ReplyDeleteWowza, this is absolutely gorgeous!!!
ReplyDeleteThis is sooooooooo amazing!!! I loveeeeeeeeee the colors!! I pinned it from Bo Bunny the other day!!!
ReplyDeletewow!! love it!
ReplyDeleteBeautiful!!!
ReplyDeleteGorgeous canvas Juliana!! Love the way you blended the different colors together and the great texture from the flowers!
ReplyDeleteWow, Juliana!! You totally rocked this canvas!! I love all your details and vibrant color! I can't wait til Thursday!! ~ Blessings, Tracey
ReplyDeleteGarden of Grace
Stunning canvas Juliana and it came out beautifully! Thanks for the step by step...really want to give this a try! ;-)
ReplyDeletethis is beautiful! wow! love, LOVE he texture you gave this canvas. the colors are gorgeous, too.
ReplyDelete