Altered Canvas

I entered a swap last month to do an altered canvas. The person I made mine for is giving it to another person as a gift for Mother's Day. The colors I chose were picked from the colors in the pictures that will go on the mats.

To create this, you'll need:

a 12 x 12 stretched canvas frame
acrylic paint
disposable paint brushes
assorted embellishments
paper
ribbon
mats
adhesive

First - decide what background color you want for your canvas and apply the first coat of acrylic paint. Let it dry very well between coats. For this one, I painted the backside first, then the sides, and finally the top. I put two coats on in most places.

Once your canvas is dry, lay out the items you would like to see attached in the layout. I started with the pictures and went shopping with the pictures and canvas in hand. I purchased more than I used but I wanted to make sure I had a variety of things in case I changed my mind in mid-stream.

I used the following items:

Paper
Making Memories
Basic Grey
Cosmo Cricket
Office Lingo Collection
Old World

Mat Stack
Die Cuts With a View Luxury Stack

Misc
Center Kissed Floral Ivory Rhinestones
Center Kissed Floral Fuchsia Rhinestones
Color Box Chestnut Roan ink
Color Box Creamy Brown ink
Prima Essentials flowers

I also had a few odds and ends around the house that I used like the buttons, the ribbon-covered frame, and the little skeleton key on the ribbon. I made the origami flower box.

After your canvas is dry, and you've got a layout that you're happy with, you can start gluing the items down. If you use Mod Podge as your adhesive, keep in mind that on thinner paper the edges will curl up. I glued my items down with Scotch Quick Dry adhesive first and then went over the whole thing with the Mod Podge.

Unfortunately, I didn't take any pictures of the before or in progress, but here's the finished product. I made a tag that is reversible or can be taken off altogether.