I take a LOT of pictures on my iPhone. I would almost say I take more on the my iPhone than I do on my Digital Camera. It's just so much more convenient. And with that, I have found some pretty amazing Apps that I like to play with and Instagram is one of them... Actually it's probably TOP on the list. Most everyone knows about it by now, Facebook actually bought them. Well, during the Creative Retreat I took a LOT of photos and posted them on Instragram, so I thought I would make something with them when I got back. There's NO way I could use ALL the Instagram photo's I took, but here's what I came up with, with some of them...
(you can click on any photo to see it enlarged)
So this is my "Creative Retreat Canvas" and I LOVE IT. I'm a yellow girl and Italy is FULL of beautiful hues of yellow, so I wanted to capture that in this canvas. I started off with a blank canvas (I think it's about 10" x 13" and went to town on it with some gesso and Art_Anthology Gelate. I mixed some yellow, shimmery white and the gesso and took a spatula to the canvas. I wanted some ridges and uneven areas, so it conveyed the look of the buildings in Italy. Then I took some spray ink in a charcoal black and opened up the lid and used the spray stick to "drip" some dots onto the canvas. After that was all dry, I went back over some of the black ink spots with a black ink pen and added some mini swirls and hearts. You can't see it much b/c they are under the photos, but I think enough is there to make a little "artsy" statement.
Then I went to town printing out my Instagram photos. Now this is a bit tricky and I'll share how I do in on my Mac. I've heard of a few places that will print your Instagram photos for you, and that may be better, but I like to find my own way b/c I want to have them NOW. :)
So on my Mac, I went into iPhoto and I highlighted TWO of my Instagram photos (with the command key) and then went up to File, and then Print. It will go into your print options and you'll just see ONE photo. So click on Print Size and select 2x2, then click on Paper Size and click on 4x6. Then Click on Print and it will send you to the print page where you can select Print and they should be go to go and start printing! Love that I can do this on my OWN computer!!
Well, back to the canvas...
After I printed all my photos out and cut them out, I started putting them onto my dry canvas and moved them around until I liked the composition. Then I went to TOWN finding embellishemnts, papers, letters and all kinds of things I wanted to put on my canvas. I always have "BIG EYES" when it comes to this part of the process, but it's FUN and I just put away what I don't use. (well, maybe it all stays out for a bit too long... lol)
I used a bit more Art_Anthology on the Maya Road chipboard letters and then I used some Glossy Accents over the Gelate to give it a nice sheen. I used quite a bit of Heidi Swapp "Sugar Chic" for this canvas, because I just LOVE that line and am hoarding it for special things JUST LIKE THIS! :)
I mean who doesn't LOVE a bright yellow and Chevron Bow!!?? Notice the "bling" too, It's a beautiful Maya Road button I "snagged" from one of the goody bags from the Retreat! (I figure I deserve a goody bag too, right??)
This is the FUN part, just PLAYING with all my goodies! Oh, before I forget... To adhere the photos to my canvas, I used more Glossy Accents. I think it's one of the BEST adhesives and especially when working with canvas and paints, this holds the photos FOREVER.
Now, if you've followed my other blog, A Kiss on the Chic you probably get the feel for "my" style. I really have been trying to "break out" of MY style, but looking at this and other things I've created in the past, I realize you just really can't change too much. I like order, I don't like too much "mess", I like COLOR, and I like black and white. If there is any slight "change" in my style, I would say it's even more CLEAN than before. I don't want to flood my designs with flowers anymore or tons of embellishments. So this canvas I really tried to keep things to a minimum (some may not agree with this statement :) but to me, this is JUST the right amount. If you plan on making something similar, just go with what YOUR style is, because to you it WILL be the right amount!
Of course there are 2 things that I've used lately, that you may not find in my older layouts and creations. Two of my FAV "new" products are:
1. FLAIR BUTTONS
2. WASHI TAPE
Oh. my. STARS. Don't you just LOVE these?? I'm quite addicted to them BOTH and I think you may be two... So of course, there is washi tape and flair buttons on this canvas! In fact, the Flair Buttons are from a lady on Etsy that I found out later has been on the Maya Road DT for years!! I think she devotes herself to Etsy full-time now, but she knows LISA AND CAROLINE and we had a fun little chat about that!! I guess Lisa and Caroline recognized her Flair Buttons at the Creative Retreat in Italy (I game them some and had some for sale) and they took pictures of them and sent them to her! How cute is that!? So let me add to your shopping FUN on Etsy and tell you that you should definitely check out A Flair for Buttons and see how ADORABLE these are and how YOU WILL WANT SOME! (I think her shop is on vacation until the 27th, so check back after that to see all her goodies)
So that's it. My canvas is DONE and I'm now going to clean my ARTSY room, so I can find a place of prominence for it!!
Next week, I'll share some photo's of my ALMOST completed journal from the Creative Retreat this year. Here's a SNEAK of it...
Have a GREAT weekend everyone!! Don't wait too much longer to sign up for NEXT YEARS Creative Retreat, spots are filling up!
Hugs,
Laura
