"True Friend" canvas by Sue Plumb

Hi everyone! Sue Plumb here today to share my latest design team project with you - a mixed media canvas I created recently. I was inspired to create this because I wanted to make a decor piece to showcase the beautiful quote featured in the centre. 

I started my project with the quote card (which is from Flutterby Designs); and a 6x6" blank canvas. (You could use anything for your canvas focal point - a quote / drawing / photo or even a picture cut from a magazine!) 

Despite the fact the surface of the canvas was was pre-primed; I covered it with black heavy gesso using a foam brush, as I needed a dark background for my design concept.

*Design tip - when painting on a canvas, don't forget to paint down the sides as well - it helps when your project isn't always viewed from front on to carry the theme over the edges*

Once my gesso had dried, I took my canvas outside and spritzed it all over with Bling Colour Shimmer Spray; adding a few splatters for good measure. (You really need to try the Colour Shimmer Sprays on a dark background if you haven't already, that is when they are at their best!)

After the Colour Shimmer Spray had dried (so shimmery!) I adhered my quote; then it was time to add a little texture. I reached for my Bling Colour Paste and smeared it around randomly using a palette knife. Once that was dry, I added a doodled border around my quote with a Sharpie pen (yes, a Sharpie will draw over dry Colour Paste, just make sure it is completely dry and don't push the tip in too hard.)

Next, it was time for embellishments! I wanted to keep the embellishments to a minimum to ensure the quote remained the focal point; so I opted for some simple chipboard stars from Imaginarium Designs, which I embossed using Snow White Colour Embossing Powder. (I would ordinarily prime my chipboard with white heavy gesso before embossing with snow white, but I didn't want the stars to be too stark against the background, so I opted to emboss them from raw and allow a bit of the natural colour to show through.)

As you can see, I embossed the entire sheet. Some of these stars were super tiny, so it made the job a lot easier to simply emboss the entire sheet and just pop them out with tweezers when they were done. I then glued them onto my canvas.

The final step was to add some small "starry" detail using my white Sharpie paint pen. (I really love this pen! It has a fabulous fine tip and great flow.)

And here is my completed canvas...

Here you can see some of the close up textural detail the Colour Paste adds...

And check out the shine on those stars!

Finally, look at how gorgeous the Bling Colour Shimmer Spray looks against the black background - *swoon!*

This was a relatively simple, but very effective, project to complete; and one I am sure even mixed media beginners could feel confident with!

That's all from me today. I hope I have inspired you to pull out those Colour Shimmer Sprays and put them to work on some dark backgrounds! (Remember the black heavy gesso is ideal for this - you can grab it in the Colour Blast store HERE)

I will be back in a couple of weeks with another project to share.

Until then, happy scrapping!