Mixed Media Canvas: Merry & Bright Ornaments

Happy Holidays, friends!  Barbara here today.  I hope everyone had a very Merry Christmas!  The Altered Pages team has been working all month with some really cool products from Activa® .  Today, I want to share a project, not only using Altered Pages products, but also two Activa® products, Lumina Air Dry Polymer Clay and PermaStone Casting Compound.  Both products give fine detail from these molds, but each one works a bit differently.  Complete directions can be found on the packaging.

I began with a 6"x8" Canvas Panel, adhering a 4-1/4" x 7-1/4" piece of Kraft colored Adhesive Corrugate paper  to the front. I offset the corrugate paper, as shown, so I could add a strip of the brown Vintage Lace Tape along the left side.  I used Aleene's Tacky Glue to ensure I got good adherance to the canvas.

Paint canvas and lace with Timeless DecoArt Chalk Paints, but dry brush the color over the corrugate paper.  

Randomly spread sand paste over corrugated board.

Mix a small amount of the PermaStone Casting Compound and pour into the ornament mold.  As you can see in the picture, I was having a good time making different pieces for more projects.  You will want to do that while you have it out, plus it's fun and quite addictive.  Tomorrow, I will show you what I did with the frame you see in the lower part of the photo.  The compound dries pretty quickly, but I like to let it cure overnight for added strength.

 I also made many roses using both the Permastone and the Lumina clay.  Below is a picture of the clay in the mold.

Silicone molds are the easiest molds to use because nothing seems to stick to them, and they are flexible, making it easy to remove your molded pieces.  

In the photo below, you can see the difference in the two products.  The clay is more ivory colored and very smooth.  The Permastone is white and, while I think the detail is awesome, there is a slight difference in the smoothness of the finished roses. But that can be a good thing for some  of our more shabby chic projects. 

If you are short on time, the PermaStone is the way to go, because it dries so quickly, while the Lumina clay requires 24 hours.

I coated my ornaments with glaze medium because the PermaStone is quite porous and I want to be able to blend and mix colors as I paint them. 

I painted the ornanments first with a coat of white fluid acrylic. The fluid acrylics are very thin, so I used them instead of regular acrylic so the paint would not fill in my details.

I next brushed on a coat of interference gold fluid acrylic.  

Activate the Mica Paint Palette with water and color the ornaments with the blue and green colors, blending as you paint until you like the effect, let dry.

Next, I added a wash of the gold metallic, mostly hitting the high spots on the ornament.  

I used the Lumina Clay to mold this little beauty.  I made a thick, creamy paste with the gold and hit just the tops of the flowers.  Set aside to dry.

Now, back to the canvas.  Paint the canvas panel with purple, red, violet, and gold from the Mica Paint Palette , mixing and blending on the panel until you like the effect.    

Adding Purple and Red

Adding Red and Gold

Adding White Pearlescent

Finally, randomly brush on some of the white pearlescent over the background, and spread a bit of the African Bronze Gilder's Paste in some areas.  Set aside to dry.

Adding African Bronze Gilder's Paste

I die cut some leafy foilage from green double sided paper and adhered to the canvas, as shown in the finished photo.  Some of the smaller foliage was painted with the green and gold mica from the Mica Paint Palette .

I used the Aleene's Tacky Glue to adhere all of the embellishments to the canvas, including the molded pieces.   Visit the Altered Pages shop for a nice variety of embellishments you could use on any of your art projects. 

I "hung" the ornaments from a piece of twisted wire and decorated the tops with tiny pine cones, punched leaves, and twine bow.  Finally, I added some faux snow on the leaves and along the top of the canvas. 

Here are a few close-ups of the canvas sections.

Altered Pages Supplies:

Canvas Panel (6x8)
Adhesive Corrugate paper (Kraft)
Vintage Lace Tape (chocolate brown)
Aleene's Tacky Glue
DecoArt Chalk Paints (Timeless)
Mediums Textural Accents Sampler
Mica Paint Palette  (Pearlescent & Metallic)
Gilder's Paste (African Bronze)
Molds

Other supplies:

Lumina Air Dry Polymer Clay
PermaStone Casting Compound
DecoArt Media Texture Sand Paste Neutral
DecoArt Media Fluid Acrylics Titanium White
DecoArt Media Fluid Acrylics Interference Gold
Finnabair Snowflake Paste
Foilage dies and punches
Twisted wire
Mini pinecones and berries
Brown twine

I hope you enjoyed my canvas and that I have inspired you to try making one for yourself or a special person in your life.  Remember, the Altered Pages design team shares even more inspiration daily on the Altered Pages blog.  Stop by and see what they are up to. 

Many thanks to Activa® , our sponsor this month.  Check out their website for a complete look at all of the products they carry. 

Thanks for stopping by, and have a very Happy New Year!!!

Barbara