CRAFT | She Lets Creativity Blossom Art Canvas

Want to know how I created this Art Canvas I shared with you yesterday for the Darice booth at SNAP!?

I used a 1.5" round craft punch and cut out a whole bunch of circles from the Core'dinations "Tillie Spotted" and "Jillian Dot" card stock packs - selecting only the colors that were bright and happy.  I just LOVE the texture of the "polka dots" of these two collections and the fun colors available. Seriously! Look at how adorable all of this texture and color is.  For fun, I also threw in a few gold glittered card stock circles from American Crafts just to add a splash of "glam" to the overall piece.

I used the brown "Tillie Spotted" card stock (the one with the larger polka dots) and used a pencil to sketch out a tree skeleton and then I cut it out with scissors.

I then used a piece of fine sandpaper to showcase the "color core" feature of the Core'dinations paper. I intentionally left the two large side pieces of the tree in the picture (shown below) to show you the side-by-side difference after sanding. Cool, right?

I secured the tree skeleton to the canvas using Ultra Thin Glue Dots and then I just started placing the various colored circles on the branches of the tree. In order to secure the paper circles, I chose two different types of Glue Dots. (Ultra Thin and Pop Up). I used the Ultra Thin on most of the circles but then used the "Pop Up" glue dots to create a little dimension for a handful of the top layer of circles.  I even found myself stacking two of the Pop Ups together to give some of the paper circles a little more height. 

Then I lightly sketched out an inspirational quote with a pencil on the canvas and painted over it with black acrylic paint.

TIP: Use a white eraser for the sketching part just in case you don't like the way it looks the first, 2nd or maybe even 3rd time. *wink* Make sure you erase lightly so as not to create any dents, creases or damage to the canvas.

I hope you're inspired to create something similar.
This would actually make a really pretty Mother's Day gift, don't you think? If your mom is a creative-type. Otherwise you could swap out the quote for something more fitting for your mom.

Anyway…I can see this in a baby's nursery or even as a creative back drop for dessert tables too - on a much larger scale. How about creating an oversized popsicle on a stick for a kids room? Or a pretty butterfly? There's no limit in the creative things you can do using the basic concept of punching circles from this fabulous textured card stock.

What are you inspired to make after seeing this? I'd love to know!

MATERIALS USED FOR THIS PROJECT:

Darice GX-1470-01 30-Pack Core'dinations Cardstock Paper Sheets, Spotted-Tillie Dot, 12 by 12-Inch Darice GX-1470-49 30-Pack Core'dinations Spotted Cardstock Paper Sheets, Jillian Dot, 6 by 6-Inch American Crafts DuoTone Glitter Cardstock 12 EK Tools Circle Punch, 1.50-Inch, New Package Glue Dots 1/2 Glue Dots Ultra-Thin Roll Pentel Clic Eraser Grip Retractable Eraser, Assorted Colors, 3 Pack (ZE21BP3-K6) US Art Supply® Professional Quality 16 Prang Hobby Paint Brush Set, 5 Assorted Brush Sizes (94005) DecoArt Americana Acrylic Paint, 2-Ounce, Lamp Black

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KEEPiNG iT REAL
It took me forever to decide on just the right quote.
Seriously, you don't know how long I fretted over this.
I knew it couldn't be too wordy because of limited space and I knew I wanted it to be something related to "creativity" since it would be displayed in the Darice booth. BUT I also wanted it to be something I, (or anyone), could hang in their studio or creative space. I like it. I think it turned out just right.