It's Tutorial Time - Birds On A Wire Canvas

Our lovely design team gal - Cassie McCumstie has been busying herself with some mixed media and punches in readiness for our Paper, Punches and Photos Workshop on 18 March 2012.

To 'wet the creative appetite' we have decided to publish this fabulous tutorial so you to can have a play with some mixed media backgrounds and some innovative ways of using your punches....





Materials we suggest for use are:

• Artist canvas - any size you like (We used a 10" x 8")
• Paint  - shades of blue and white
• Mod Podge adhesive
• Paint brushes
• Paper doilies
• Dressmaker's pattern tissue paper
• Masking Tape
• Black & White Cardstock
• Black Stazon Ink Pad
• Black Marking Pen
• Book paper
• Selection of background Stamps
• Punchinello and other masks from your stash
• Punches as outlined in the instructions below

Step 1:
To create the background. Paint with a light blue paint covering side of the canvas. Layer dress making paper, book paper, masking tape and doilies on the bottom half of the canvas to create a hilly mountain effect.



Step 2:
Draw clouds on book paper and attach to the sky.

Step 3:
Add texture with paint and stencils, i.e. Punchinello, crafters workshop etc.
** Handy Hint:  Using a 'stiple brush' the type you use for 'stenciling' works great with these tools.
Step 4:The punches used on this canvas are:

• Martha Stewart's 'Bird on a Wire'
  ** Handy Hint:  We used black cardstock and trimmed some of the birds off to create the gaps for the bigger birds to sit.
• StampinUp - Two Step Bird Punch
• StampinUp - Heart Punch
  
  

Step 5:

To make the bigger birds we have used the StampinUp Two Step Bird punch.  Punch two wings in black to make the bird. The pointy edge layered under the other wing makes the bird’s beak. You may need to trim some off if it’s showing. You then finish off by drawing the legs on with a black marker and add a bit of 'doodling'.

Step 6:

You are now going to punch out the leaves in black cardstock using the same punch as above to make the foliage of your tree.  Hand draw and cut a tree trunk to suit your size canvas and keep the picture in proportion.  Randomly layer the leaf motif to create the foliage as shown in the picture.

Step 7:

Punch the full heart using the StampinUp Punch or any heart punch from book paper and layer on the background to the bottom right corner.  Finish this off with a black outline.

Step 8:

Stamp a quote onto white cardstock and cut up and layer on the centre of the canvas. This quote is one from the Tim Holtz Stamp Collection called:  Good Thoughts.

Step 9:

Stamp with black Stazon Ink and white paint to build the background, creating depth by adding light and shade. It dosen’t really matter what stamps you use. You don’t really see a lot of it. We  have used a Kaiser grid, a Prima script and a Unity butterfly.  We have also used a Unity spotty background stamp with white paint as well ( you can see this in the photo below  toward the top right near the cloud).

Step 10:

Now it's time to finish off with some 'doodling'. Doodle to your liking with a permanent black marker.  We have used a StampinUp Stampin Write Marker. These are great because they will write over the Mod Podge.

Have fun playing with your punches and remember there is so much you can do beyond their untended purpose so get creative and start playing.

Xo Cassie