Donna Salzar Sep II

The below post went live to day on the Donna Salazar Designs Blog with a step-by-step tutorial on how to create this home décor canvas.

** click on any of the images within the post to enlarge/sharpen their view **

I have to admit, I am not really all that comfortable creating home décor projects, I just find it much easier to  get a layout or cards done.
But seeing that we are talking about change this month, I figured I should bite the bullet, put on my big girl panties and get cracking :)

First I took one 6 x 6 blank Canvas Board and started misting it with Smooch Spritz  in Caramel Latte and Pralines and Cream. Usually Smooch Spritz dries incredibly fast but stays wet for a little longer on the canvas. This gave me the great idea to randomly sprinkle some white Top Boss embossing powder on some of the wet areas. I had no idea how it would look once I set it with a heat gun, but the end result was pleasantly surprising.

Next step was to find some papers to add to the background and with the fabulous Antiquities line I was pretty much spoilt for choice. In the end I decided to make use of a piece of scrap from the Time For Tea sheet. I used Donna's All My Love stamp in a very random fashion
(did not even notice I stamped upside down at some stage...what a dork I am!)
and added the Branching Out stamp to the top and bottom edges on the right hand side.
The torn edges were then inked by running Cat's Eye Chalk Ink  in dark brown along them.

I also fussy cut the flower image from the Vintage Gears paper, as this was going to be layered on top of my stamped background.

I adhered both papers onto the canvas with normal wet glue and inked the canvas edges with Chalk Ink in dark brown.

As I am a very dimensional crafter I knew I had  to add some bits and pieces to the left and right of the image, otherwise it would look unfinished to me. But I also wanted to incorporate this wonderful quote, from the Crafty Chronicle:

"Do not follow where the path may lead. Go, instead, where there is no path and leave a trail."
- Emerson

Now this is a quote that I have always lived by and will continue to live by. Over the years I have refused to change the way I am, the way I talk, write and dress just to suit what others may find acceptable. The person I am now I have become by sticking to what I feel comfortable with, by going against the stream if I felt it necessary and more often than not have I started a path where others followed my trail.

So, you see it is always worth just to BE YOU, even if it makes your road in life that little bit  bumpier. In the end you feel such a great sense of achievement and pride that it's worth to lead your own path once in a while.

But I digress, let's go back to the project at hand...

The above quote would undoubtedly get lost on the background of the Canvas, so I traced and hand cut a small tag from one of the Artistic 6 x 6 squares. As the background is plain, they are perfect to be altered with Chalk Inks.

First I started to run a Cat's Eye in dune along the edges and then ran it more and more into the middle to give the tag a slightly aged look.

Then I added some more Chalk Ink in Chestnut Roan and Dark Brown to the edges.

All I need to do to complete my tag was to add a self adhesive enforcement ring, cut the above quote from the Crafty Chronicle and glue onto the tag.

During September Donna Salazar Designs teamed up with the fabulous Want2Scrap - where you can get the most amazing chipboard shapes, bling and pearls. As my tag still needed that little something, I added a few teeny weeny Baby Pearls.

Next I took my new favourite die set, Donna's Alphas, and cut the title for my Canvas  with some Corrugated Board - I LOVE how it gives you a grungy/wooden feel straight away. But I still added some Embossing Powder and Vanilla Shimmer Smooch Spritz and outlined the letter edges with Dark Brown Chalk Ink

Tip: you may have to run the die a few times back and forth over the cardboard to get a good cut. Alternatively you can peel a layer of the cardboard away beforehand, which only requires one run through your die cutting machine.

I outlined the shadow cut of one of the butterflies from the Wonderful Wings die set, added some Smooch Spritz in caramel latte. Its detailed counterpart was then covered in Sugar Shimmer Fairy Dust Glitter before I adhered it to the shadow base.

To add some extra dimension to the Canvas, I decided to hand cut the flower images from another sheet of  Vintage Gears and adhere them to the original cut with some adhesive foam, pads.

Finally I cut the Finesse Swirl from Want2Scrap in two and added the two pieces to the left and the top of the tag. I always feel that cutting swirls into pieces makes them go further on your project and you are not restricted as to where to place them.

And there you have it - a piece of home décor to remind you to BE who YOU are.

Products used

• Papers: Donna Salazar for GCD Studios - Artistic 6 x 6, Crafty Chronicle, Time for Tea, Vintage Gears, Harmony
• Mists: Donna Salazar for Clearsnap - Smooch Spritz in  Caramel Latte, Pralines and Cream; Vanilla Shimmer
• Inks: Clearsnap Cat's Eye Chalk - Chestnut Roan, Dark Brown, Dune, Alabaster
• Glitter: Donna Salazar for Clearsnap - Fairy Dust Glitter in Sugar Shimmer
• Stamps: Donna Salazar - All My Love (DS-0681), Branching Out (DS-1281)
• Dies: Donna Salazar for Spellbinders - Sprightly Sprockets , Donna's Alphas, Wonderful Wings
• Corrugated cardboard: Donna Salazar for Zutter - 7 x 7 board
• Pearls and Bling: Want2Scrap
• Tools: Zutter - Rivets in Antique Brass, 

Other products: 
Stickers: Jenni Bowlin
Pens: Uniball Signo in black, Zig Millenium pen in black
Various Trims

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