My Mom is a Work of Art

by Michelle Champion
(Paducah, KY)

In trying to create a one of a kind piece for a one of a kind mom I decided to create some canvas art.


What materials did you use?

• 12x12 white canvas
  
• Distress inks (in Broken China, Worn Lipstick, Peeled Paint, Mustard Seed, Spiced Marmalade, Seedless Preserves, Dusty Concord, Chipped Sapphire, Festive Berries, Evengreen Bough, Wild Honey, Crushed Olive, Fired Brick and Faded Jeans)
  
• Distress Crackle paint (in Broken China and Peeled Paint)
  
• seed beads, brown ribbon and wire from my stash
  
• Chipboard cirlce by Creekbank Creations
  
• Metal Gears by Tim Holtz
  
• Gear Stamp by Hampton Arts
  
• Dot stamp by Ditto (Hampton Arts)
  
• Script stamp by Hero Arts
  
• Low Temp hot glue gun
  
• Silver embossing powder by Stampendous
  
• Mom letters, mom card, flower die cuts by K&Co
  
• Rose cut outs by Graphic 45
  
• Lady in frame paper by Tim Holtz
  
• Rosette made by me on my Martha Steward scoring board using scrap paper and the gears stamp by Hampton Arts
  
• Tag under mom stickers by Technique Tuesday
  
• Prism found on the Christmas clearance aisle at Hobby Lobby
  
• Black Archival ink by Ranger
  
• Ink blending tools (made by Michelle's Musings - Me)
  
• Ink sprays by Michelle's Musings (in Cozumel Blue, Sterling Silver and Radical Red)
  
• Embossing ink by Tim Holtz
  
• water spritzer bottle
  
• heat gun tool
  
• Randomly found objects
  
• It's your day stamp from Fiskars
  
• Bingo numbers by Maya Road
  

How did you make it?

I started with the white canvas and stamped the dots stamp and gears stamp in random places using the archival ink. I then took the script stamp and using embossing ink I stamped in one random spot then used the silver powder to make the script stand out. The next step was to ink the background. I used many Distress Inks and my ink blending tools. I just dipped the sponge into the ink and using a circular motion applied to the canvas. When the canvas was colored using my desired colors I used my misting bottle and sprayed plain water into my hand. Once I had a good amount I just flicked it onto the canvas. It will leave little puddles on the canvas. Then I held up the canvas and the inks began to run. I took my misting inks (Michelle's Musings) and sprayed them onto the canvas while I was holding it up. When I was achieving the look I desired I set it all using the heat gun.

I "drew" clouds with Stickles on the far left with Picket Fence, but I filled in the middle of the clouds using Broken China and Worn Lipstick. I also decided to put Worn Lipstick dots of stickles on the right side of the canvas...just for fun. Then I "drew" some flourishes over the dots using Picket Fence. This took quite some time to dry, but it was so worth it!

I then took some Distress Crackle Paint and randomly painted it onto the canvas. You need to let this dry to get the right effect. Once the paint was dry I began to layer my collage.

I stared with this great ring I purchased at Creekbank while at CKC. I tied some scrap ribbon on the left of it and hot glued it onto the canvas. I did NOTHING to the ring.

Then I just used found objects to place onto of the ring. I found a quote on the internet and printed it onto plain paper. I inked that paper using Festive Berries Distress ink and applied a scrap piece of lace to the bottom.

Next, I wedged in a TT tag and added the letters M-O-M to it. I strung some seed beads onto a piece of wire and wound one end of the wire around the ring and the other I glued under the mom tag.

There is really no rhyme or reason to my layering techniques. I like to wedge papers (like the mom sentiments paper and the lady in the frame paper) under things if I can. The other objects just sort of build on top of each other until I get the look I like. I do NOT glue any of the objects down until I am happy with the arrangement.

The 31+9 equals the number of years that my mom has been a mom. I had no 40 so I just got creative. The "it's your day" was because she is so honored on Mother's Day.


Once everything it like I like it, I check to see if there is anything else that requires a little hot glue underneath. This is going to hang on a wall you want it to be very secure.


Anything else you'd like to share about your project?

This canvas took me 2 days allowing for drying time.


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Check out more of Michelle's projects at her blog Michelle's Musings and Creations.

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