imaginarium post

Canvas, Letters and a
Chronograph
by Sue Smyth 

I have been inspired lately by books and movies, so my

next few projects have taken a theme and made it my own.

The first one is the Cursed Child, the new Harry Potter book.

I loved the image of the nest with wings and a child nestled 

inside. See the bottom of this post for a tutorial.

I have made a nest from lots of thin strips of cardstock. And 

tucked green moss and feathers inside. 

I think any self respecting bird would love this nest dont you ? lol.

In the corner there is a little plastic baby, which I have spray 

painted black and then rubbed over with gold paint.

Lots of cogs and metal trinkets layer over each other

give a steampunk look to the canvas.

I have added some stryo foam eggs too.

The gorgeous wings, have been dry brushed with gesso and 

sprayed with orange dylusions and colour bursts.

I wanted the letters to blend in with the canvas, but to

have a ombre look too.

The pearl strips, when painted look just like a dotted line

turning into texture instead of shine and bling.

I have tucked in some snipped up fine leaves, to soften 

the look of the cogs.

A lovely 3 D layered butterfly, see a tutorial below to 

find out how they are made.

Here is a nice close up of the letters, layers of 

colour makes them look so interesting.

A close up showing the layering of cogs, mix chipboard 

ones with real metal ones to extend the metallic look.

And here we see the wings protruding out of the canvas

don't be afraid to work outside the boundaries. 

A Chronograph folly 

Well if you have seen Alice through the looking glass

you will know the Chronograph is the device

which Time, and later Alice travels through dimensions.

I found a small pool ball in a junk shop for a few cents.

And for some odd reason thought that would come in handy.

Later I decided to make my version of the Chronograph.

This project is hard to photograph because it 

has so many layers. But here you can see 

inside the pool ball, it is the blue part.

I have adhered the tiny cogs to the surface of the 

pool ball, with gel medium and painted it with black gesso.

Then rub over with inka gold 

turquoise, blue, graphite and purple

 for a metallic sheen

Then I have used the large cog set, which I have 

spray painted black. The I have snipped them up to

make the circular layers around the 

pool ball.

I have added 2mm rhinestones along the cogs

edges this not only gives detail and texture, but 

as I have glued them with extra glue, it also

gives the chip cogs strength.

Two trinkets either side, give more detail. I have 

actually cut the centres out of the trinket.

Then I have added a gorgeous antiqued clock cabochon

to re enforce the time theme.

So what I have ended up with is a bit

 of nonsense really lol. But I like it's tactile 

appearance, besides it is only small and takes

up so little room.!

Monograph Letters 

Next is a project I did for the June show here in Brisbane.

I had purchased the letters for my first name, sometime 

ago, and this year I found the letters for my surname.

So I decided to do them up as a sign for the 

class room, to go above my work.

I dont think anyone would miss seeing them lol.

These letters were already black, I so arranged and glued

Imaginarium chipboard and trinkets on to the letters.

Then paint with black gesso, and rub over with inka gold,

turquoise, purple, blue and lastly gold.

Then add pearls and rhinestones for highlights

Here is a tutorial in pictures to make the

 Natural Born Children Canvas above.

I have started with a square canvas, and

using the reverse side, adhere Imaginarium 

chipboard corners with gel medium.

Add pearls around the edges and alphabet chip, as desired.

I have trimmed bubble wrap and adhered to the centre

with gel medium.

Then paint with white gesso, dry with a heat gun, but

be careful with the bubble wrap as it will burn and shrink.

I have added texture paste to the edges of the canvas

use a palette knife, with a stipple motion

for great texture.

Next emboss, cogs and children, with aged gold embossing powder

this is kind of a Utee so will give  lumpy bumpy look.

Dont be too perfect with some, leaving gaps and exposed chipboard.

Then spray with Black dylusions and wipe off 

excess, to create a wonderful aged look to your 

cogs.

Some other pieces of chipboard, are double embossed

to give a lush thick look.

Then I have added mini Art stones to the embossing 

powder while it was hot.

Then spray with Black dylusions to colour the 

art stones for a great crusted look.

Now paint the chip children with black gesso.

Use a crackle stamp (rollergraph here) over

top of the wet gesso to create texture. Then dry off.

Rub over with gold paint, which will now pick up 

the crackle texture.

Back to our canvas, spray the edges with

black dyluisons.

Then the centre with yellow dylusions, blending 

in the edges.

Dry, and add Colour bursts, which are actived 

by a spritz of water, be careful and

dry after each addition. 

Rub, gold paint and shimmer paint over top of canvas.

Keep adding layers of colours.

Here is the nest, lots of strips of white cardstock, are 

dampened with water and twisted into a nest shape.

Then spray with Brown dylusions.

Dont forget to flick over gold and brown sprays.

Tuck in some green moss, along with feathers.

Dry brush wings with gesso, then spray with orange

dylusions and rub over with gold paint.

Now start to assemble, adhering each layer as you go.

Here I have painted branches and butterflies with 

a gold shimmer paints 

The base butterflies, are spray painted with black

spray paint.

Cover with Dimensional Magic

Then layer over the gold butterflies, and allow to dry.

I hope you are inspired by some of the techniques here

or even to tackle your own canvas.

Chipboard used

Happy Crafting