Under the Sea Canvas by Elisa Ablett

Hi Crafters,

It's Elisa from the Design Team again and it's my turn here on the blog today with a very colourful and fun 'Under the Sea' themed porthole Canvas. As you can see from the finished project that it shimmers and shines and has tones reminiscent of gems.

Apart from the chipboard sea grass, anchor, coral, sea horse, the title and fish, the rest of the embellishments were created using a toilet paper pulp technique and silicone molds, the technique is easily found on YouTube. BUT trust me this technique is amazing and you can pretty much create any embellishment using your old cake decorating moulds, mod podge or silicone moulds. A wonderful friend of mine, Lilian made most of these 'toilet paper' embellishments for me to use on this canvas and my son and I made the cute little turtle. 

The first step in creating a 'porthole' canvas is to paint your canvas with a layer of gesso then once dry, draw your circle onto your canvas, I used a dinner plate that was at hand. I then choose my spray colours, stencils and the most important thing - a masking fluid pen! The masking fluid is for use with watercolours and is a barrier, you lightly squeeze it on where you require it (in my case around the outside of my circle) and it dries to a rubber consistency, once you have finished your project you can use an eraser to rub it away or gently lift and pull the dried rubber up. The beauty of this product is that it lets you put your colours where you want them and provides a barrier to stop them leaking out! Well worth the purchase.

The Colour Blast pastes, sprays and embossing powders that I have used with this project are as follows:- Tangareen Dream, Snow White, Bling, Envy, Deep Water and Just Blue. Click on the link to take you to the Colour Blast shop!!

Next step is to place your embellishments on your canvas and work out placement so you can direct your sprays and stencilling in the way you want. 

Once you are happy with your plan, you can go ahead and spray your embellishments with your chosen colours. I also embossed the chipboard pieces with several colours to build up subtle colour layers. (I actually overheat the powder so that it becomes quite runny then tilt my chipboard from side to side to create a great multicolour effect). Use a paintbrush to brush a layer of colour paste over your embellishments. As mentioned earlier the textured sea themed pieces are actually made out of toilet paper layers thoroughly wet and pressed into wet silicone moulds, there are many YouTube videos explaining this amazing technique. I used to make my own paper when I was younger and I used a 'pulp' instead of torn layers either way you end up with amazing handmade embellishments. I gave my pieces a layer of gesso or you could use clear gesso or gel medium to seal the paper before you spray. 

From the close up below you can see the embellishments coming together.

 

While the embellishments thoroughly dry, I started with the background to my canvas with my chosen stencil and 'Bling' Colour Blast Paste. Gently spread the paste with a palette knife and keep away from your edges. I put an old book under the canvas to keep a flat surface as well.

 Next step! Once the first stencil had dried I added my second layer at the bottom using Just Blue Colour Blast Paste and once that had dried I gently sprayed close to the surface with my first layer of Colour Shimmer Sprays.

The next photo shows a few layers of the shimmer sprays, this is the part where I open the lids and use them as watercolours with a paint brush. I find that at this stage I can get greater control and intensity of  colour with this technique as an end layer.

The next step! once thoroughly dry I sprayed with a thick protective coat of fixative spray called Crystal Kote Fixable in Matte by Helmar to keep the colours vibrant and to avoid smudging. At this stage I painted the white surrounds a brilliant white acrylic paint. I then added my embellishments and the title and added another coat of the Helmar spray over the top. Then I removed the masking fluid carefully from around the circle and used a small paint brush with white acrylic paint to clear up any little spills or messes.

A close up of the intense colour and shine. 

 And lastly a photo of the canvas on my bookcase, I think it fits right in with my coloured bottles, jars and shells.

Well that's it for me today, I hope you have enjoyed watching how the canvas came together. Make sure you leave some love....

Thank you

Elisa xx