UNDER LOCK & KEY

Once again l have 'up-cycled' an old canvas bought from a car boot sale. Again i have used a electronic die cutting machine to make the embellishments. Materials used can be bought from THATS CRAFTY ON LINE STORE. If i have used a different brand of equipment i have directed you to a very good alternative on the web site.

This project rely's mostly upon stencils and modelling paste to give the raised elements.

MATERIALS USED:
Electronic Die Cutting  Machine
Basic Strong Card
Crafters Workshop 6"x6" - Mini Roman Letters Stencil
Studio Calico Mister Hueys Mask - Bubbles 
Eco-Friendly Acrylic Paint - Lilac ~ Periwinkle ~ Peony ~ Purple Metallic Paint
P.V.A. Glue
Wide Brim Brush
Brown Paper

White Gesso
Black Gesso
Clear Gesso
Tim Holtz Alterations - Hardware Findings 
Tim Holtz - Distress Ink ~ Aged Mahogany
Ranger Blending Tool
Gold Antique Paint
Memento Tuxedo Black Ink Pad
Type Face Style Individual Stamp Set [For a Typewriter style font: Hero Arts- Typewriter Letters]
Indian Black Ink and Pen
Cosmic Shimmer Dark Bronze PVA Glue
Pan Pastel: Paynes Grey ~ Copper
Soft Foam Blender
Viva -Moulding Paste Dark Silver ~ Gold ~ Terra
Cosmic Shimmer Clear PVA Glue
Black Alcohol Ink Pen
Pastel Fixative
Baby Wipes
Faber Castell Gelato Black Pen
Small length Bronze Chain
Hot Glue Gun
Palette Knife
Spray Mister

LETS MAKE A CANVAS!:

 This is the 'up-cycled' canvas. One that would be given a new lease of life!

 Now for the fun bit. Using up all that brown wrapping paper thats used to pack items into boxes. Crafter's never throw anything away well do they?

 First thing we need to do as this is a coated canvas is to make sure we wet the surface.

 It also helps to wet the paper so that its a lot easier to manipulate when we are creating a surface.

 Now for the PVA glue. Dont be shy or a meanie!

 Then after the paper has been ripped into sections that are easy to lay onto the canvas start to build up an interesting base layer, not forgetting the sides!

 The finished base layer. A good dollop of glue to just fix it into place and to make sure that the paper is saturated right down to the bones... or to the canvas surface.

 This is where we can use a thick bodied paste to build up layers. Viva Range thats available in quite a few intresting colours is a very handy addition to our crafting arsenal. If not then moulding paste and acrylic paint when mixed together do just the same job. Its all about what you have in your crafting room/space right at that moment.

 i first used a terracotta coloured paint. as you can see its one of those in-between substances. Not quite thick enough to be classified as a moulding paste but thicker than a paint. This first layer was done by dragging some 'paste' through the Studio Calico Mister Hueys Mask - Bubbles and a spatula, if one isn't to hand then an OLD! store card is just as good. Leave to dry or 'skin' over. By this i mean allow it to become stable so that if you do put an object close by the paste will not be flattened but will hold some shape and substance.

 Then the next layer. i went with a golden paste from the Viva Range. This one has a 'Gritty' feel to it and when it dry's on your hand it has a crushed 'Brick' feel. i know its not crushed brick but its a very firm and gritty paste.

 When the paste had dried the next layer is a coat of white gesso. We do this so that when we start to paint the surface is a lot easier to paint on.

 The selected colour range for the canvas.

 Place a small amount of each paint oto the canvas, then with a small water tub, a wide brimmed brush and some baby wipes, get ready to start to lay down some colour.

Once the paint has been moved over the canvas we now need to start to create depth.

 The quickest way to do this while the paint is still wet.. a BABY WIPE! These are a must have when doing Altered Art projects like this or as far as i'm concerned all crafting needs these wonderful little things. It amazes me how something that wasn't meant to be used in our field has become such a staple item.

 if you look at the 2nd photo above this and then this photo you can see the difference. The paint has been 'thinned' where there are raised sections but left still the same hue at 'ground' level. To protect this we now need to seal it in. For this you can use a acrylic medium, however as i was going to be painting again the best option is to use a clear gesso to give me a good base to paint onto while protecting the work we have done so far.

 Firstly im very sorry for this photo i dont know what happened. I used a purple acrylic metallic paint over sections of the canvas, once again to help keep the paint in the raised section i used a baby wipe to dictate how much paint was in areas. The baby wipes became my brush at times.

 When that layer of paint was dry i wanted the canvas to have an aged feel about it and to look as if it was a few hundred years old and a treasured possession. For this l used Black gesso as the painting medium. Gesso is not just for preparing a layer for painting. The White Gesso is a wonderful white paint and the black is a deep black black, sometimes you get a black and it has a blue tint to it. Gesso doesn't.

 Once again with the help of those trusted baby wipes you can build up the colour and not let the colour be the boss!

The canvas almost finished well the layer of colour is. Just a few touched her and there is now needed.

To give further high lights to the lettering i used a copper pan pastel. Don't be scared and say Oh you cant mix your mediums. Where does it say that? You can use what ever you want your the boss when it come to being creative, so pull everything you have out take stock and use things.

I was pleased the way that the pan pastel had coloured the raised surface, it gave another dimension, also the metallic pan pastel  is a wonderful deep rich colour as are all the metallic pan pastels, i know they are a little more costly that the normal pastels, but trust me when l say they will still be there and able to be used 10 years down the line if you look after them and use them correctly. Don't dab or act as if your trying to fit a screw into the wall. Just take long strokes. ONLY IN 1 DIRECTION at a time don't go back and forth. That way you will cause the pressed medium to become unstable and that way you will loose more than you use on a project.]

 it is best then after using pastels to use a sealant. This one here is a pump action spray that's non toxic.

 Now then its time to make the embellishments. For this i opted to use the T.H. Alterations die to cut out some hinges, key and a key lock. For this i just used the thickest card i had available in my scrap box, or i could have used an old cereal box. I cut out 3 of each.

Using the black gesso i painted each one of the items. now then as i was going to glue them together i could have glued and then painted. There is reason in my madness. By painting each one separately the amount of paint on each item would be different. i also made sure that all the base colour was being covered in paint. Then when it came time to secure them the object would have reacted to the wet substance and became different. So when all glued together they would create different edges. A black Alcohol pen just touches up where the black paintr missed. also a great tool to get inside of the key panel section when its glued up.

 Using a dab of gold paint on my finger i started to 'Rub' down gold highlight to give that Golden Buff look, this was used very spairingly.

 When the black gesso had dried the same gold acrylic paint was used to paint the embellishments. While the paint was still wet i kept on buffing the object so that it looked aged.

 The same treatment was done to the hinges. To make sure they adhered to the canvas i resorted to my Hot Glue Gun. Please take care when using this as it can burn. Make sure when placed down its onto a surface that can handle heat, just in case the glue drips from the pressure taken when forcing the glue out of the hot nozzle.

 Now to give shading. For this i used a Pan Pastel Paynes Grey and a small adapter. By rubbing under the embellishment to give that aged look . it also gives the impression that the embellishment is a lot bigger than it is.

 Right now to make the embellishments look natural. We need to give the impression of nails or screws. So this is when the Cosmic Shimmer Copper PVA glue come in. There is a wonderful collection of colours that can give you depth on a project.

 Something was still missing from the surface. Viva do a great range of colours and textures. This Ferro is a nice gritty steel grey finish that can reflect the light. So i added just a little of it at the edges, the intention was to give the feel of metal.

 Back to the hinges, they were still not fitting in, they looked to 'New', Faber Castell do a great range ow water soluble wax pen [i think they are wax, they have that feeling but i could be so far of the mark its not true.] when they are placed onto a surface your able to rub it. so the marks made from the above photo

 To this one. The hinge now looks aged and fit's in just as l wanted it to.

 i have in my stamps collection a set of magnetic ones. These are just a font style but they are very good when it come to just typing out a few words. Armed with some scrap card and a memento ink pad i started to stamp out my wording.

 The edges needed some treatment so i opted to use a ink pad that complimented the card and just darken it at the edges. i could have used a brown but that wouldn't give me the look i was after it had to be a darker hue of the card.

 A cheap black Indian ink and a wide nibbed pen were used to frame the text. Not a great deal of care and attention was undertaken while doing this as once again i didn't want perfect i was after imperfect.

 A little bit of dark metal chain was used on the key to give some movement or the look of movement. Also you would always put a diary book key on a chain......

Above i have taken several photos showing in detail the finished project.

i hope you have enjoyed reading this project and how i went about it. As normal if there are any questions please feel free to send me a message and i will get back to you a.s.a.p.