Hello all, Mandy Leever-Koel here, sharing with you the nautical canvas I made for the Sea challenge.
During our Summer Vacation last year, we stayed in The Netherlands, in the province Friesland. Honestly I had not expected it to be that beautiful! It reminded me a lot of England, which is our favorite Holiday Destination.
We were in luck and had almost an entire week filled with Sunshine, which made activities on and in the water possible and even very enjoyable. We feasted our eyes on the ridiculous amount of expensive and huge boats, one even more beautiful than the next. I dare say it wasn’t all about the sailing, it was about being SEEN mostly too.
Alas, we don’t own a boat. (I scrap, so no money left, haha.) Which is fine because I get seasick anyways. However, we had the chance to sail along on a 100 year old Skutsje and I figured I’d be okay on the open water. If I have my fresh air, I can usually keep my guts inside. And once again, life surpised me. I’ll admit this sailing trip was one of the most wonderful experiences of my life!
And the best of all? Our little man Connor LOVED it! I hadn’t expected him to sit as tight as he did. We were on a boat that didn’t have a huge deck, so it was all very exciting. Connor loved looking around and had a smile on his face the entire time.
The boat didn’t have a toilet, so we had to use a bucket. If you want to see how long adults can go without having to use a restroom, this is how to test it… Of course, kids are not bothered by such things and Connor had to go. I dare say, it added to the experience. We had 2 funny skippers who loved their jobs, you could tell. They added some water to the bucket Connor had just peed on and joked about how much he had peed. They tossed the contents and made Connor hold the rudder while they were at it. He felt so important, steering the boat!
So, now you know the background story (sorry, I tend to get a bit elaborate…) let’s get on with the project! Yes, yes, finally…
Products from Canvas Corp Brands:
Canvas Corp Brands Canvas Nautical – Saying
7gypsies Architextures paper 12 by 12 – ‘Smile for the camera’
Tattered Angels Glimmer Mist – Denim Blue
Tattered Angels Glimmer Mist- Suede
Tattered Angels Glimmer Mist – Chalkboard Splash
Tattered Angels Glimmer Glaze Chianti – Palo Verde
Tattered Angels High Impact Paint Metallic –Copper – Antique Gold
Tattered Angels Naturally Aged Paint System Bare Metal – Weathered Copper
Other products:
Stretched Canvas 12 by 9 inch- Open cardboard /wood circle 7/7,5 inch – Bradz – Acetate sheet – Something to punch holes – Metal Octopus – Glass Bottle – Die cut Compass – Plastic animals – Moss – Fishnet – Chipboard Anchor – Chipboard bottle (Scrapiniec)
Clear and White Gesso – Crackle Paste – Sponge and paint brush – One Step Crackle Medium – Stapler and staples
STEP 1
Cut the 7gypsies Architextures 12 by 12 sheet ‘Smile for the Camera’ to size, and adhere to a 12 by 9 inch canvas, using gel medium and a (sponge) brush.
STEP 2
Cut a circle from the acetate sheet to fit inside your wood circle. I used a circle that was in a diy dreamcatcher kit and had holes already. Punch holes in your acetate sheet and attach both acetate and wood to each other using bradz.
NOTE: I didn’t mind my mists clouding up the acetate because a real porthole window will get dirty too. But, when using my heattool to speed up the drying, the acetate wrinkled some. In my opinion, very old windows can be a bit withered and bumpy too, but if you don’t like such a result: be careful.
OR: attach the acetate AFTER you’re done with the mists.
STEP 3
First, coat the wood with Tattered Angels High Impact Paint Metallic Gold and Copper. Next, use the Tattered Angels Naturally Aged Paint System Bare Metal- Weathered Copper according to the instructions.
STEP 4
If you are like me, you can never have too many layers and will keep altering things to match your own idea. In this case, I mixed some white gesso with Tattered Angels Glimmer Mist Verdigris (one of my favorite colors!) and dabbed it onto the circle. In my mind, this mimicked the algee, crusty substance sometimes found on rusty things from the sea.
STEP 5
Cut a hole in the canvas to fit your porthole inside. Attach your (dried) porthole to the canvas by punching holes in the canvas and pushing the bradz through. OR simply leave the circle as is, with bradz in place, and glue the whole thing down .
STEP 6
Cut a piece of cardboard in the same size as the canvas. Find out where your porthole is and paint white gesso on the background. Spray and paint with Tattered Angels Glimmer Mist Denim Blue and Chalkboard Splash.
STEP 7
Paint some cheap, plastic sea animals with Tattered Angels Glimmer Glaze Chianti.
STEP 8
Paint the chipboard anchor with Tattered Angels Glimmer Glaze Palo Verde, as well as the chipboard bottle. Use Tattered Angels Glimmer Glaze Chianti for the red details and white paint where desired. Give the rope more life by adding a shadow with Glimmer Mist Suede.
STEP 9
Cut a piece of fishnet to desired size and stain it using Tattered Angels Glimmer Mist Suede. Staple it to the cardboard. Die-cut a compass from brown paper. Cut the saying ‘Life is better on a boat’ from the Nautical Canvas Sheet. Give the edges some color with Tattered Angels Glimmer Mist Suede.
STEP 10
Attach everything on the inside, add sea creatures, add moss, etc. Glue the backside to the canvas and create the composition on the front. Add real shells, the painted plastic animals, a steering wheel spiced up with crackle medium, another compass die-cut and some 7gypsies nautical themed ephemera. Fill a small glass bottle with sand, attach a mermaid bead, add the metal fish and seahorse spoon and add moss where desired.
Wrap the fishnet around.
STEP 11
Cover the sides with white crackle paste and let dry naturally. Once dry and cracked up nicely, paint Tattered Angels Glimmer Glaze Palo Verde and Glimmer Mist Denim Blue on the cracked surfaces. Add a little more IN the cracks and dry inbetween.
We will leave you with a few more close-ups and the hope to have inspired you to join our challenge, there’s still time left!
For more of Mandy’s work, check out her facebookpage or Instagram!
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