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Gratitude Mini Canvases with Perfect Paints

Hi, friends - Walter here on the blog with you today! It's so hard to believe that it's already November and that Thanksgiving is just around the corner. Where did the year go? Given that it's Thanksgiving month, I wanted to create a project that incorporates gratitude into the theme as well as freshly fallen leaves. After all, this is the time of year to think of gratitude and all that you're thankful for - and there are plenty of fallen leaves to be collected and incorporated into art. I had recently purchased some 3"x4" mini canvases on clearance that come with a little wooden easel for each. Inspiration struck when I thought about a Thanksgiving tablescape that incorporates these mini canvases and easels as a gift for each person attending the celebration. The canvas could include a word or a phrase related to gratitude, and the art could include vibrant fall colors and a leaf.


Lots of questions came to mind as I sat down at my craft table and started to play around with possible designs: what colors to use? what textures to play with? what else to accentuate the piece? I opened up a package of ephemera from 49 and Market and found some perfect pieces to use along with the leaves. I then noticed some scrap cardboard pieces sitting off to the side and thought it would be fun to include some exposed corrugated pieces with some Shimmering Stucco plaster on them. I then went through my stencils and found the one. I knew it as soon as I saw it. I started to play around and was very happy with the resulting pieces:


Gratitude Canvases using Shimmering MatteAcrylics
Gratitude Canvases using Shimmering MatteAcrylics

I used the following Perfect Paints Products!










  • Ranger Tim Holtz Distress Inks: Tea Dye, Vintage Photo, Walnut Stain

  • Ranger Tim Holtz Distress Spray Stains: Rusty Hinge, Speckled Egg, Weathered Wood

  • 49 and Market Curators Botanical Ephemera Bits

  • Mini Canvases and easels

  • Cardboard

  • Small leaves collected from outside

  • Mosaic Spiral Stencil 4x6 - Stuff by Belle


Directions:

I started off by painting each of the canvases with a different Shimmering Matte Acrylic: Halo and Vintage Mercury on the other. Each color creates a lovely background to help accentuate the other components. Once dry, I used an ink blending brush and added some Vintage Photo ink onto the darker canvas and Tea Dye ink onto the lighter one.


Painting the backgrounds with Shimmering matte acrylics
Painting the backgrounds with Shimmering matte acrylics

I next cut a scrap piece of cardboard to 3"x4" and removed the paper off of one side to expose the corrugated part. I used the Mosaic Spiral Stencil and applied Shimmering Stucco to it with a palette knife. I sped up the drying process with a hair dryer on the low setting.


Adding Shimmering Stucco through a stencil
Adding Shimmering Stucco through a stencil

Once dry, I sprayed it with Rusty Hinge, Speckled Egg, and Weathered Wood Distress Spray Stains. I once again dried it with the hair dryer to speed up the drying process.


Adding distress sprays to the background
Adding distress sprays to the background

I then cut the piece diagonally across to create two separate pieces and added some Walnut Stain ink around the edges to age each piece.

Walnut ink to the edges of my project
Walnut ink to the edges of my project

It was now time to work with the leaves! I started by applying a coat of Mod Podge to each side of the leaves, and used the hair dryer to speed up the drying time. The purpose of the Mod Podge is to add a coat of sealant to keep the leaves from becoming brittle.


Adding modge podge to my leaves to keep them from drying out
Adding modge podge to my leaves to keep them from drying out

With the leaves dry, I could now apply Shimmering Matte Acrylics to add color. I randomly applied Honey Gold, Cantaloupe, and Red Wagon to one leaf and Aged Copper & Vintage Patina to the other. The Shimmering Matte Acrylics are the perfect medium to add robust color to the leaves!


Painting my leaves using Shimmering Matte Acrylics
Painting my leaves using Shimmering Matte Acrylics

While the leaves dried, I applied Walnut Stain, Vintage Photo, and Tea Dye ink to the 49 & Market ephemera to distress them.


Distressing our embellishments with inks
Distressing our embellishments with inks

It was now time to assemble the canvases! I started by adhering a mosaic cardboard piece to each canvas using double sided tape and craft glue. The ephemera was glued to the canvas in random spots so that they may still be seen once the leaves were in place. I then put craft glue on the back of each leaf, tucked the stem part way into the cardboard, and pressed the leaf onto the canvas.


Voila - the mini canvases were complete! I think they're beautiful little pieces of art that will be a treasured gift for everyone at the table!


Finished Gratitude Mini Canvas
Finished Gratitude Mini Canvas

Gratitude Mini Canvas
Gratitude Mini Canvas

Thanks for spending some time here with me today. I'll see you again soon!

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