Take Flight

Hello all, and a happy Sunday to you... I hope you've got some of the lovely weather we're having today - it's one of those deep blue skies of winter sunshine, and absolutely glorious.  

I'm sharing some more inspiration for using some of the delicious goodies you can source at the eclectic Paperie online store.  I started with a very basic 5 x 7inch canvas that I picked up very cheaply at The Works, and set about zhuzhing it up! 

I'll be sharing a tutorial for this piece over at the eclectic Paperie blog soon (will give you the heads up when that is), so I won't go into too many details for today, but all the product details are at the foot of the post.  

That'll also mean that you (and I) can get back to the last-minute Christmas prep which is now assuming slightly scary proportions!

The background of the canvas was created using papers torn from the absolutely lovely Serenade paper pad from Basic Grey, gesso, inking, and some stamping using the coordinating Hero Arts stamp, Serenade Music Background.

The butterflies you can see are all created using the Crafter's Workshop template, Mini Mariposa.  It's a great template, with seven different butterflies on it.













Some are stencilled on using Gathered Twigs and Vintage Photo Distress Inks.  I tried to position them so that they would go over papers and bare (or at least gesso'd) canvas, so that the texture would vary under the ink.

The textured butterflies are created using a texture paste (such as Wendy Vecchi's Embossing Paste) smeared through the same template using a palette knife.

Once the paste was dry, I applied some embossing ink and then used the glorious Liquid Platinum embossing powder from Ranger - I love its subtle lustre.

I also used the embossing powder on one of the Idea-ology bookplates, so that it would tone in with the butterflies.  



You do have to be careful embossing onto metal as it gets very hot, and takes longer to cool down than you might think. 



I decided not to colour the long attachers, as I rather liked how the brown picked up the colour of the stamped sentiment (Coffee Archival and my trusty little £1 alphabet).










The large wings from the Tim Holtz Layered Wings die were cut out of Grungeboard, and after inking and painting, I used the Liquid Platinum again to emboss the TH flourish onto them.


















Whenever I do a canvas, I like to make the most of its dimensionality, so I let the designs and motifs "overflow" down the sides.  I do love the texture the canvas gives you under the stamping, stencilling and inking.



Do click on the pictures to get a closer look...







So there you have it: a butterfly canvas ready to take flight into the wild blue yonder...  I hope you like it.  


Thank you so much for taking the time to stop by - your incredible support and generosity really does make this Butterfly's heart take flight.


For once you have tasted flight you will walk the earth with your eyes turned skywards, for there you have been and there you will long to return.
Leonardo da Vinci


I've always thought of music as something that gives the words their flight and their wings.
Neil Diamond


They seemed to come suddenly upon happiness as if they had surprised a butterfly in the winter woods.
Edith Wharton



I'm entering this in the following:
Simon Says Stamp are asking What's Your Favourite? - well, I'd have to say it does vary, but stamping and embossing remain at the heart of it - and my current passion definitely seems to be for neutral tones!
One of the Reader Art Quests at Unruly Paper Arts is to use 4 or More Patterned Papers
Addicted to Stamps have one more week playing their lovely Bingo board. I'm playing diagonally again: Favourite colours, Embossing, No Flowers
And at Basic Grey Challenges they are playing Anything Goes, using at least one Basic Grey product 

Basic Grey - Serenade 6x6 Paper Pad	TCW 6x6 Template - Mini Mariposa	Hero Arts - Serenade Music Background	Tim Holtz Alterations - Layered Wings Bigz Die	Idea-ology Ornate Plates
Grungeboard� - Grungebook, 6x6 Square	Ranger Embossing Powder - Liquid Platinum	Distress Ink Pad - Gathered Twigs	Distress Ink Pad - Vintage Photo	Fasteners - Mini Fasteners