'Today!' Canvas by Julie Ann.

It's lovely to be back at Calico Craft Parts blog with a new project to share. There's something thrilling about waking up on a May morning, your mind bursting with new ideas for art projects. That's the mood I wanted to create with this chunky mini canvas, which I created as a companion piece to a canvas I called 'Take Flight'. Now, if we stand them side by side they read 'Take Flight Today!' That's something I hope you will feel like doing, but not before you've taken a look at my mini canvas.

I'm so glad that Helen at Calico Craft Parts created the wonderful little house kits. I've found the possibilities for creating not only free-standing 3D miniature wonderlands but also interesting 'stand-out' focal points on canvasses limitless.

For this project, I began with the snowy white bare, chunky canvas and some torn tissue and fragments of my own doodles.

Collage and mixed-media backgrounds have fascinated me for a long time. I love the challenge of integrating what - at first - are little more than random scraps into a cohesive background. This time it was fun to use my own doodles and see how I could transform them by spraying with diluted acrylics and randomly stamping with script in inks and white acrylic. I also did some dripping of acrylics mixed with a string gel medium in blues, pinks and turquoise.

You might remember I used this medium on a tag a couple of weeks ago? l had some left over that I had mixed in a small glass container and covered with cling film and I can report that it still worked well after 2 weeks' storage! I wanted to create the idea of flight and soaring high into the sky so I took one of the doves from the Calico Garden Birds sheet, painted it white and then added a coat of clear ultra thick embossing powder melted with a heat tool. These Calico Craft Parts can take more than their share of altering!

I love how box canvasses allow you to extend over the sides of the project with stamping, dripping and spraying.

Once again, I've left the roof open to the skies. This time I wanted to create the impression that my little bird-house character offers the visitors to her cottage refuge, but without them having to sacrifice their freedom to take flight when they wish. As well as the doves flapping above the open roof, a tiny wren has settled on her hand.

Once they were integrated into the canvas background, I was able to add just a touch of water-colour to the doodles. The face was drawn on to paper that had been stamped and collaged with various scraps of tissue, including paper patterns.

What are your plans for today? Who knows what adventures await you if you are open to all that the world might have in store. Step forward with an open heart and arms wide to embrace the day like my little bird-house lady. Have a wonderful, creative time until we meet again.
Calico Craft Parts Used
Block Style Wide House kit, mini
Sheet of Wood MDF Garden Birds
Standard Jointed Art Doll Kit, Style 1, Small