Enjoy a Little Garden Therapy

Hi all --

Today I'm featuring a delightful garden journal I created with a wonderful assortment of products from Canvas Corp Brands!

My journal is done in bright and vibrant shades of green -- perfect for a spring flower garden!

My inspiration started with the Canvas Corp Printed Cardboard - Flowers. The cardboard sheets come in 12 x 12 size and are the perfect weight for journals and mixed media projects. For my journal, I cut out two 4 x 4 panels.

Because I wanted to create a flower/garden themed journal, I also decided to use Canvas Corp The Watering Can: Garden Sayings on Ivory Paper as well as Canvas Corp Spring Showers: Spring Sayings on Ivory Paper. For the cover, I cut out the words "Enjoy a Little Garden Therapy."

I wanted to include some flowers on the cover so I spray misted paper flowers with the Tattered Angels - Simply Sheer Tangy Lime Glimmer Mist. When they dried I applied a coat of the new Tattered Angels Color Wash Faux Finish - White Wash. The white wash kept the integrity of the green, but softened the color beautifully!

Once I had my cover in place, I worked on the pages of my journal. I included a variety of spring-themed and garden messages and backed them onto paper that coordinated with my garden motif. 

Following are the pages I included. The lattice pattern reminded me so much of a garden fence.

This beautiful paper is from the newest Aga Baraniak Compose Your Life paper pack!!

The polka-dots are so cheery and definitely make me smile!

I also included pages done on kraft cardstock! The images were done in black ink from a couple of floral and decorative stamps that I have in my collection.

Once I had the pages assembled, I punched a hole in the upper left corner and tied them together with a piece of natural roping. I then cut a strip of fabric from the Green Canvas Sheet and threaded that through the corner opening.

I adorned the paper flowers with an ivory brad and adhered them to the cover with glue dots. I added a wooden flower embellishment to the upper corner for an extra decorative touch.

I just love the way this little journal turned out! The natural color of the cardboard contrasting with the vibrant green worked out so well.

Here is a list of materials I used for this project:

Canvas Corp Printed Cardboard - Flowers

Canvas Corp The Watering Can: Garden Sayings on Ivory Paper

Canvas Corp Spring Showers: Spring Sayings on Ivory Paper

Tattered Angels - Simply Sheer Tangy Lime Glimmer Mist

Tattered Angels Color Wash Faux Finish - White Wash

Canvas Corp Compose Your Life 12x12 Paper: Life is Really Beautiful

Canvas Corp Green and Ivory Lattice Paper

Canvas Corp Lime Green and White Dot Reverse Paper

Canvas Corp Canvas 12 x 12 Sheet - Green

Canvas Corp Cardstock Paper

Thanks so much for stopping by!

Beth

Sow Seeds of Kindness Card

Today I'm featuring a card I made that is so perfect for Spring!

I love this soft shade of pink against the black and white! It's really striking!

I started with a base of textured pink cardstock. To that, I added a panel of the beautiful Canvas Corp. paper, The Watering Can: Bikes and Baskets on Ivory.

I then added my message, "Sow Seeds of Kindness" which is cut out from a piece of paper from the Canvas Corp. In the Garden paper collection.

For my last step, I added a strip of the Canvas Corp. Burlap Fringe in Light Pink to the bottom of the card.

I then adorned the card with pink paper flowers and a dark grey paper butterfly.

What a lovely card for Spring! The message is truly sweet and the colors are so lovely!

Be sure to visit the Canvas Corp. Brands shop to see all of their great products for your creative endeavors!

Thanks for stopping by today!!

Beth

prettybyrddesigns.etsy.com

Before and After

Every so often I like to take a look at some of the pieces I've created and re-do them.

Here is an example of a mixed media canvas that I "revamped" recently. It was an okay piece but I wasn't totally happy with it.

The original piece looked like this:

To start with, I removed the pink flower and metallic embellishment. I then began my redesign using a couple of Canvas Corp Brands products. 

I replaced the pink flower with Canvas Corp Brands Canvas Flower. I placed that in the upper left corner of my canvas.

Then, I cut out a square panel from the 7gypsies Gypsy Mixed Media Pad - Gypsy Moments and adhered that at the bottom corner of the canvas. The message I selected reads "passion changes everything" which totally resonates with my creative spirit!!

For the final touch, I lightly sprayed the entire canvas with Tattered Angels Glimmer Mist - Vanilla Breeze. It gave the canvas a wonderful, aged look.

I'm really pleased with the way my "revamped" mixed media canvas turned out! I love the soft, rustic colors and textures. 

Be sure to visit Canvas Corp Brands to find an amazing assortment of goodies for your next creative project!!

Thanks for visiting today!

Mellow Time

The latest challenge at Canvas Corp Brands is "Lace and Lazy" ... and really could anything be more sublime. What a lovely way to start off this new year!

My entry is a 4x4 canvas that was truly a pleasure to create:

I started with the 4x4 Stretched Natural Canvas and painted it with a pale pink acrylic. When that was dry, I used an ivory acrylic paint with one of my decorative stencils. Since I knew I'd be working with lace, I wanted to keep the background light.

Once the paint was dry, I wrapped a piece of lace from the 7gypsies Trimmings Assorted Pack across the front of the canvas and stapled it in the back. I made a tag from the Canvas Corp Tan & Ivory French Script Paper, adorned it with two little buttons and a piece of pale pink seam binding. 

For the finishing touch I added the words "mellow time" which I cut out from the 7gypsies Gypsy Moments Express Yourself Paper. Below that I added a vintage-style button that matches the smaller buttons on the tag.

This challenge was truly enjoyable as I love the lace and vintage theme I was able to incorporate here. Be sure to visit the Canvas Corp Brand blog to see the amazing entries for this challenge here.

Thanks for stopping by.

Mixed Media Butterfly Cards

Hello!

We've been hit with a very chilly and biting cold snap and I thought it would be a great time to think of things that remind me of spring. Flowers and butterflies came to mind and so today I am featuring a pair of mixed media butterfly cards.

These cards have lots of layers and textures, but the soft colors keep them feeling light. I started with a basic white cardstock and layered it with a panel of 7gypsies Gypsy Moments paper that is part of the 8x8 paper pack. I then added two panels to the center of the card -- the first a piece of Canvas Corp. Blue and Ivory Ribbon Stripe paper and layered that with a piece of the Tattered Angels Mixed Media Origins Wings paper.

Before I layered the paper panels to the card, I tied a piece of raffia to a vintage-style metallic embellishment to add a decorative touch. 

To the upper corner of the card, I stapled a square of Canvas Corp. Natural Burlap that I cut out from the 12x12 sheet. To that I adhered two butterflies that I punched out from the Tattered Angels Mixed Media Origins Mermaid paper, to which I had previously spray-misted with the Tattered Angels Abominable Snowman Glimmer Mist. 

If you are not familiar with Mixed Media Origins paper, it has a wonderful fabric-like texture that is perfect for spray-misting, painting or coloring. Canvas Corp Brands has a lovely assortment of these papers which you can find here. 

To finish off my cards, I added an inspirational word to the bottom corner. I cut them out from a sheet of 7gypsies Gypsy Moments 8x8 paper pack.

Thanks so much for stopping by today! I hope you are inspired by these butterfly cards!

Beth

Sending Smiles

I'm sending smiles because I am so pleased to continue on as a member of CCB Creative Crew!

Canvas Corp Brands has an amazing range of craft supplies -- from specialty paper, canvas fabric items, paints, and their newest 7gypsies collection - Architextures™-- all of which I plan to feature here in coming days.

Today I'm featuring a card I created from Canvas Corp Brands Kraft Greeting Cards.

The size of the card is 5" x 7" and I've layered it with a panel of 7gypsies – Gypsy Moments paper. Gorgeous!!!

For the flower, I used Canvas Corp Brands Black and Ivory Plaid paper. I punched out the flowers and leaves and cut out the stem. I added a pink gemstone embellishment to the center of the flower to give a bit of zing.

I stamped "sending smiles" onto ivory paper and layered it onto a small piece of 7gypsies – Gypsy Moments paper that is backed onto kraft paper. A piece of natural twine adorns the edge of the card, adding a wonderful dimension of texture.

This was such fun card to create -- and is perfect for the new year ahead!

Please be sure to stop by Canvas Corp Brands Shop.

Thanks for stopping by today!

Beth 

Little Christmas Planners

It's the end of October and Halloween hasn't yet arrived, but we all know what's next!!

November and December are full of activities and in spite of our best intentions, they always seem to leave us wishing for more time, more money and more help! One of the things that always helps me is trying to plan ahead stay organized as best I can. That's why I love having a planner on hand, especially one I can easily throw into my purse or totebag.

Here are a few little Christmas planners I've created using beautiful canvas fabric from the Canvas Corp Collection - Farmhouse Christmas. For my notebooks, I was able to use images of Santa Claus, a Christmas tree and old-fashioned sleigh!

I started with a  mini composition book and measured a piece of the canvas fabric to cover the front of the notebook. The notebooks I used here are 3-1/4" x 4-1/2." Because I don't sew, I instead glued the fabric onto the cover and then trimmed to size.

I distressed the edges with a black ink to give a rustic look. Then I added strips of red and gold ribbon to add a festive look. "Merry Christmas" was stamped in black ink onto ivory paper, which was then backed with black cardstock.

For a finishing touch, I adorned each notebook with a fun holiday embellishment! 

These notebooks make the perfect holiday planners -- they are small which makes them so easy to keep on hand in your bag, backpack or tote - or just a pocket. The printed canvas is so festive (as well as durable) and makes these little notebooks the perfect Christmas and Holiday Planners!

Be sure to visit Canvas Corp Brands - Farmhouse Christmas for this lovely canvas fabric and additional items!

Thanks for stopping by today!

Beth