We all love to live, love and laugh and we sure love to see a little one doing all three. Mandy created this special altered layout that features her son who is almost 3. Her photo is her inspiration for the color palette and wow is it amazing. Who knew that the Canvas Corp Kraft and Black papers were a perfect match to Connor’s plaid shirt. Mandy walks us through how she created this special layout, which might find itself in a scrapbook, but we are pretty sure it would be perfect on display in a 12×12 frame. They are pretty easy to find or you can slip it into one of the Canvas Corp Wooden Frames available in black, white or natural wood and ready to be stained to match your project.
Mandy here – I took these pictures so I could create a birthday invitation for my son Connor’s upcoming 3rd birthday and it was perfect for an altered art layout.
I used some fun chipboard pieces that represent him at this age: puzzle pieces, cars, planes, gears and some fun ‘boyish’ shapes like stars, feathers and quirky arrows. I wanted to incorporate the style I use on canvasses into this layout: covering all my embellishments in gesso and spraying them in a color matching my picture and theme. And I love the outcome!
Materials Used:
- Canvas Corp 12×12 Black & Kraft Live, Laugh, Love
- Canvas Corp Glimmer Mist – Verdigris
- Canvas Corp Glimmer Mist – Rolling Tide
- Canvas Corp Glimmer Mist – Boardwalk
- Gesso – Black and White
- Chipboard/Wood Embellishments: Stars, Puzzle Pieces, Gears, Shapes, Words, Numbers, Arrows.
- Iron Wire
- Crackle Medium
- Inka Gold – Brown/gold
- Photo Corners
Tools Used: Glue Gun, Brushes, Palette Knife or Credit Card, Foam Brush
Step 1: Cover some of the areas of the page in black gesso. Black gesso offers full coverage. If you do not have black gesso, Tattered Angels High Impact Black Paint is a good alternative, but it will give you a bit of luster when dry.
Step 2 – Adhere embellishments, keeping in mind where the picture will be. You may want to cut our a piece of scrap paper to use as the place holder for your photo. Also, I drew quirky lines with my glue gun. You can choose a wide range of pieces, they will all be covered, so no worries if they do not match perfectly.
Step 3 – Cover the front of all of your embellishments with white gesso or you can use Tattered Angels High Impact Paint. Both will cover almost any surface well. This allows you to choose a range of embellishments that may not be the right color or style, but once painted they all look alike and work well together.
Step 4 – Then, cover the sides of the embellishments in black gesso, and dab some over the surface as well. Don’t worry about perfection, just have fun.
Step 5 – Spray everything carefully with Glimmer Mist, until you are satisfied. You can cover the paper and areas you do not want covered with scrap paper or apply the pump very close to the surface of your project. Dab (thickened) white gesso on all surfaces with a foam brush, spray a little more Glimmer Mist and add some Inka Gold. You always want to shake your Glimmer Mist side to side to make sure the mica is blended well and does not get caught up in the mister.
Step 6 – Wrap some iron wire around the embellishments and glue into place. Finally adhere the picture the picture in place. You can add the photo too a piece of chipboard, Thickstock or add with photo corners.
Close-up, you can see the glue gun ‘lines’ at the bottom that are streaming. They Glimmer Mist transforms them into part of artwork.
To see more of Mandy’s mixed media work you can visit her blog Less is Bore and follow her on Instagram.
Happy Creating!!!
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'“Live Laugh Love” Mixed Media Layout' have 3 comments
February 29, 2016 @ 12:43 pm Mandy Leever
Had so much fun creating this layout, the glimmermists are a dream to work with. Love their shimmer, versatility and how you can paint them afterwards without them bleeding!
Thank you for featuring me and my boy ♡
http://Www.facebook.com/lessisbore
March 2, 2016 @ 5:10 pm Sanna
Lovely layout!!!!
March 7, 2016 @ 12:48 pm Peter & Jannie
Hejje mooi ‘edaon, Meisje. Smashing Initiative. Keep going!!
Love & hugs.