Linda’s DIY by Design: Canvas "Card"

I was commissioned to create a "thank you" card for a client of my friend Sharon, who is a photographer! (You should check out her work...Simply Design Studios. I will link her sites below. She has done some beautiful work and has even been featured in well-known magazines! Nope! I'm not proud of her! wink wink) Anyhoo! I don't often like to just create a simple card and since this is for a wedding client, I really wanted to make something that they could display in their home and also feature one of their wedding photos. I used a 6x6 (3D) canvas for the base of this "card". I used the paper transfer technique using a gel medium to transfer the paper to the canvas. I love this effect because it allows the paper to look infused to the canvas versus just being glued on top! It also allows for the paper to have a worn, shabby, white washed appearance! Basically, you apply the gel medium to the canvas, lay your paper (right side down) on top of the medium, smooth out any bubbles and then let it sit for about 24 hours to become completely dry. Once that is complete, you begin by using a sponge (you can use anything, but a sponge allows you to soak the area without becoming to saturated) and dip it into water, ring out the excess and begin wetting your paper. Once you get a nice "all over" wet look, take your fingers and begin rubbing off the top layer of paper fibers. You will have to keep re-wetting your surface area throughout the process. You basically keep wetting and rubbing until you see your paper starting to show through. Be careful how hard you rub or you will rub your actual pattern paper off the canvas! It looks good in small patches to create a worn look, but you don't want that all over. You keep completing this rubbing process until your entire paper is shown through and all the paper fibers are gone. I find that by using yours fingers to fun off the fibers, you have more control. It takes some time to complete the process, but it's totally cool!!
After, I did this transfer technique, I wanted to cut a heart shape opening into the canvas where my picture would show through. I had a wood heart shape that I used as the frame for my photo and also as the pattern to cut into the canvas with. I printed the picture onto an inkjet transparency! Once I adhered the picture on the backside of the canvas I adhered a script paper behind the transparency so that it would show through the photo! I worked with colors of aqua and orange...as these were the colors of the wedding. I wanted to add wings to my canvas, but knew that I couldn't place them under the wood heart shape because there would be a huge space between the heart and the photo. I used the wood heart again to trace the shape of the heart onto the end of each wing so that the wing could have the exact shape of the heart "edge" and then the wing could be adhered directly up against the heart shape. Once I was done with the wood heart I glued it onto the front of the canvas at the heart shape opening of the canvas...and then I went to town with the decorations! I used 2 little Prima wood bird shapes on the penny farthing because the wedding couple had little love bird figurines around their wedding as decor and even on their wedding cake. I used a trio of clocks to simulate the essence of time and their future ahead as husband and wife. I also added gears to simulate clock parts! I wanted this piece to have a masculine and feminine feel to it, so that is why I added gears in combination with lace and flowers! For texture I used acrylic paint mixed with sand around the embellishments and on the large aqua flower, I added German glass glitter! So....you're wondering where the "card" is...it's on the back...of course! I created a pocket, sewing and distressing the edges of the paper and added a sheer ribbon to make a bow. Around the bow center, I added acrylic gems, wheat sprays, two diamond shape circles dangling from chain to look like wedding rings, and a pretty flower! I adhered all this to a 6x6 piece of chipboard and glued the chipboard to the back of the canvas. Here's the pics: