Decisions, Decisions!

 So, so many hard decisions...and one very easy one! When I last posted, the plan for today was to start painting the sunroom ceiling-something that I have put off for FAR TOO LONG! And, I woke up prepared to do just that. But, I have my little morning routine that always involves coffee and usually scrolling through some of the craft blogs that I follow. Today I was inundated with a relatively new craft idea-although I will say that I saw a crafter do this several months ago and I was interested but somehow just kind of forgot about it. And so today I decided that I shouldn't wait any longer...and, the first decision of the day was EASY...forget about the ceiling and get crafting! Lol

I didn't totally remember how the "busted canvas" was made but I kind of had my own ideas, Still, I looked up a few videos to see how others did it and I decided I might have an easier way. Spoiler alert! As I start this post I am also just starting this craft. There is a lot of ModPodge involved so there is also a good bit of waiting time. As I wait between steps I am starting this post so, that means we will all learn together if my method will work.

I decided I wanted to do an autumn canvas so I started by gathering up some autumn scrapbook papers, card stock and also some tissue paper. I need one print for the top, one for the bottom that will get rolled back and one for the background-as well as a picture for the display area.

I ended up choosing the tissue for the top because it would be the easiest to wrap around the edges of the canvas. And, I already had this image already printed-and it sticks to my new pumpkin and floral theme-so it was a no-brainer. But, picking the other two papers was a bit harder. I knew I needed contrast and pop but didn't want it to be too busy. The first step was getting the canvas covered with the tissue and then when that was dry giving it a good top coat of ModPodge as well.

While that was drying I turned my attention to the image I didn't like the white background it had so I decided to cut it out and back it on a piece of floral paper that had similar colors. I thought I was getting closer but there wasn't enough contrast between the background and image.

And so I brought out my old stand-by-Tim Holtz Distressing Ink-and gave the edges some color as well as a bit of shading on the pumpkin...and that did the trick!

The next step is to choose the bottom paper. This one is a bit harder but I think I am going to go with the "crackle paint" as it contrasts well with both the floral and the darker drama of the tissue. We'll see what happens.

I cut the paper to fit inside the back of the canvas and ModPodged it down. After it dried, I cut through the canvas with first an Exacto knife and then scissors. This was the one step I wasn't too sure of and I think I could have done it a little better. I didn't think I wanted all of the "explosions" to be the same size so I cut my pieces different sizes. When I went to roll them back, I wasn't happy with the results because it left me with an opening that wasn't symmetrical and you all know that that would drive me crazy. I did "jerry-rig" it a bit and played around until I kind of got what I wanted but, if I ever do another of these-and I might actually do one for Christmas, Valentine's, St. Pat's, Easter and the 4th-I will think a little more on how to make the cuts.

I cut the floral paper and glued on the image and then just used Tacky glue to put it on the back. I have seen some crafters who use two canvases to do this and their image is on the second canvas and then they're glued together. I didn't see the need to waste a second canvas. I did end up gluing small pieces of tissue on the inside edges because I was afraid when it was all done you might actually be able to see inside a bit and I didn't like the raw wood showing.

The top left corner is still bothering me a little so I grabbed what I had available and just laid a little bouquet of autumn colored flowers up there to see if I might like that. I think I will wait to see what I have that is actually more "autumny" when I pull out my stuff soon. I might want something there-might even just be a hang tag a few acorns or ???. We shall see.

So again, is this my favorite craft ever? No, but it was fun actually doing something I have never done before and now that I have navigated one, I think I have a better grasp on what to do better next time. And, I think they might be cute for the different holidays-we'll see.

Off to clean up the myriad of things I pulled down from everywhere to get this accomplished. And, as sad as it makes me to say it, it is definitely too late to even think about starting to paint...oh well. Lol Stay safe and stay tuned.