NUMBERS CANVAS FOR CREATIVE CARTE BLANCHE

Hello Everyone!

Welcome to my blog and my "Numbers" piece for Creative Carte Blanche this month. Yvonne Blair is hosting this month's adventure and it's a good one!  Numbers are such an important of our lives.

I recently saw something on (I think it was) Facebook and it fascinated me.  Sorry I don't have the link. I wanted to give it a try.  So, I combined it with another idea I had for a "numbers canvas".  I like the way it turned out!

Want to know how I did it?  Well, let's get going on this art adventure and I'll show you. This melting crayon thing was so much fun!  You really need to try it!

I began with an 8" x 10" canvas.  Using Tim Holtz' Numbered Stencil, I scraped DecoArt Media Crackle Paste over it, using a palette knife.  I randomly placed the numbers on the lower half of the canvas and left a space for my silhouette girl holding an umbrella.  Let the crackle paste air dry and clean off the stencil and palette knife immediately.

I had already temporarily placed the silhouette girl on the canvas before I added the crackle paste numbers.  But then I put her back in place and drew a pencil line around her placement for the next steps.

I removed the silhouette again.  I added some of Tim Holtz Alpha Parts Numbers; both the actual numbers and the spelled out numbers.  These are black plastic.  I glued them in place using DecoArt Media Liquid Glass.  Once dry, I brushed over the entire surface of the canvas with DecoArt Media White Gesso to make everything white and opaque.

Once that way dry, I place the Tim Holtz Numbered stencil back over my numbers and scraped over them again with DecoArt Media Crackle Paste.  Let them air dry as you are cleaning off the stencil and palette knife.

At this point, your canvas will look like this.  The top is left bare for the crayons that will later be hot glued across the top.  The space between "19" and the crackled numbers is for the little silhouette girl holding the umbrella.

I decided to paint over the entire canvas with a light yellow.  So I combined DecoArt Media Fluid Acrylics Titanium White and Hansa Yellow Light.  I then brushed the soft yellow over the entire canvas and let it dry.

Now this is what the canvas looks like.

I found this little girl silhouette on Google Images.  She originally had a different umbrella that I didn't like so I edited it out and added a different one.  I printed her out onto a sheet of heavy white cardstock.  I glued a couple of layers of plain heavy cardstock underneath her and then cut her out.  The extra cardstock gave her more strength and a little dimension.

Just placing her on the canvas to see how she is going to look ... I like it!  On to the next step!

I tapped my little silhouette girl all over with an Embossing Ink Pad and laid her on a piece of plain white paper.  I then sprinkled Black Embossing Power all over her, tapped her to remove the excess and returned the excess embossing powder to the jar. Next I heat set the embossing powder.  I liked the bit of glossiness it gave her and it also strengthen her. 

I took a charcoal pencil and added shading around all of the crackled numbers and the Alpha Parts raised plastic numbers; both spelled out and just the numbers themselves.  Next, using my fingertip, I dabbed DecoArt Media Fluid Acrylics Carbon Black onto the surface of the Alpha Parts numbers and spelled out numbers.

I measured  2" down from the top of the 8" x 10" canvas and drew a line across the canvas.  This would be the line that I would line up the crayon points to as I began hot gluing them in place.  I had decided the way I would arrange the crayons prior to my beginning to glue them in place and laid out the crayons above the canvas.  Only about half of the crayons are glued onto the canvas.  The rest of the crayons stick out above the canvas but I don't think it matters.

Here is the way the canvas looks at this point.

With the crayons glued in place and the shading around the numbers completed, I glued the silhouette girl and umbrella in place on the canvas.  I added a little black cord around her dress and tied it in a bow for more interest before I glued her in place.  Once she was completely dry, I gently taped over her with masking tape and added a lid that was the same size as the umbrella curvature.  I taped that in place also.

Then I situated the canvas in an upright position so that when the crayons would begin to run as the heat from the heat gun was passed over them.

Once I thought I had enough runs, I let the crayon wax dry.  That did not take long at all.  Then I removed the cup and the masking tape and here is the result!

Next I created this sentiment on my computer and sized it to fit on the crayons.  I cut it out and glued it in place using DecoArt Liquid Glass.

Then I added Liquid Glass over the top of the letters to make them glossier and have a little definition. In this picture, the Liquid Glass is milky but it will dry to a clear finish.

To finish off the sides of the canvas, I added one of Jane Davenport's new Washi Tapes. Then I added a bit of DecoArt's Media Fluid Acrylics Carbon Black using my fingertip all along the edges of the canvas.  

So that's it!  This was a fun project to do and I'm sure I'll be using this melted crayons technique again.  I love the randomness of it!

I hope this piece has inspired you to join us at Creative Carte Blanche and show us your "NUMBERS" art.  Anything goes.  Use any products and techniques you want to use!  Just join us and share your art and techniques with us!