Vintage Photo Canvases Inspired by Tim ... Holtz 12 Tags of 2014: August

A rare event ... two posts on back-to-back days.  I'm getting caught on some projects and blogging.  Here is a project that I finished last night.  The two canvases below are my birthday present to another niece, Meredith.  Meredith is a history major and a really great photographer.  These two interests led her to research our family's genealogy and collect photos of many of our ancestors.  She mentioned recently that she is planning to incorporate some of these vintage family photos into a focal wall in her home.  I wanted to make a couple of canvases to go on this wall. 

As I was thinking about (and drawing a blank as to) what I wanted to put on these canvases, Tim Holtz posted his Muse Tag for his August Tag of 2014.  He challenged us with:

so whether you’re obsessed with distress, or clean and simple is your thing, perhaps your happy place is bright colors, heck maybe even glitter is your sparkly obsession, this month i challenge you to create showcasing your own creative muse.   it doesn’t get any better than that…t!m

As I thought about Tim going around his studio to collect some of his favorite things and be inspired by those pieces, I did the same thing.  I went around my craftroom and collected some of my favorite vintage photo-related items that would work well with the idea of a vintage family photo focal wall. 

My muse is definitely distress.  If it sits still long enough, I will distress it.  Sometimes, I used to think that I was going overboard with my grungy creative process.  However, I have learned to embrace that part of me.  My projects look "well-loved" :)

So, how did my crafty collection and distress muse morph into these canvases?  Well, I started by giving both canvases a thin coat of gesso.  Then after the gesso was dry, I painted them with  Antique Linen Distress Paint.  I grabbed my heat tool and dried that layer paint.  Next I began assembling my first canvas.

I'm sorry in advance.  Since there are two canvases, there are several photos.  Here is Canvas #1 in the creative process:

While collecting all of my wonderful vintage photo craft goods, I found this vintage camera paper in my scrapbook paper stash.  I knew that I wanted to make these two cameras the focus of this first canvas.  I cut the 12x12 piece of paper in such a way that it fit my 11x14 canvas.  I use some Matte Multi Medium to adhere my paper to the canvas. I framed the paper with some of Tim's great latticework tissue tape.  To give this image more of a vintage look, I took some Vintage Photo Distress Stain and put it on my craft mat.  Then I took some of the Multi Medium and mixed it into the stain.  I brushed this mixture over the entire canvas.   It turned a nice black and white photo image into a really great vintage-looking photo. Multi Medium is soooooo incredible.  It gives my craft products so much more versatility.


Now to add some layers.  I took some of my favorite photo-related stamps and added some visual interest around the edges.  At the bottom, I double stamped "Photographs" directly on the canvas.  I used a Sepia ink for the "shadow" image.  When I tried to stamp the camera on the canvas, it was a mess because the canvas wasn't as tight as I thought it was there.  Not a disaster though.  I grabbed some of Tim's tissue paper and stamped the camera on it.  I brushed Multi Medium on the back. Since the tissue was translucent, I was able to line up the camera on the tissue paper with the partial camera image on the canvas.  I added a remnant rub "collector of memories" and stamped a "cracked" image over the top in the sepia ink.  I also brushed Vintage Photo Multi Medium mixture over all of this.

Next I wanted to add a vintage photo.  I found this "tin type" by Industrial Chic in my stash.  I backed it with a scrap piece of paper that got my "well-loved" distressing treatment.  You can see my favorite Tim stencil on here (Splatters!). 

 

My next image came from some of Tim's paper.  I added some stamped imaged ( a clock, "Tempus Fugit" which means "Time Flies" in Latin, and you can actually see "Time Flies" underneath as a shadow stamp.)  Because Vintage Photos remind us of how time does fly, I'm entering this in a Vintage Journey's Time Flies Challenge. I hung a Lifetime Muse Toke on my crinkle ribbon bow to go with along with this theme.

 I really enjoyed learning how to make tattered roses from Tim's pine cone die a few months ago.  I so wanted to add this vintage element to this canvas.  I found some fantastic burgundy velvet paper.  After die-cutting the paper, I tattered it a little more by rubbing off some of the velvet.  So cool. 

I used Tim's film strip die to create this filmstrip to showcase my "vintage" letters.  I added some tarnishing on my metal letters with a Black Soot Distress Marker.  You can see more of Tim's tissue paper underneath and used his idea of putting Distress Embossing Powder (a mixture of Vintage Photo and Walnut Stain) on the corners of the canvas. 

Now for Canvas #2:

 I took a little different approach to this canvas.  The vintage camera paper became a part of the background instead of the focal image.  The background papers became more of a collage.  The focus is the word "INSPIRE".   I used more tissue paper and stamping in the background.  I grabbed some scrapbook paper that sort of looked like vintage wallpaper as well.

I also grabbed some of Tim's vintage photography studio stickers for my background.

 I "found" some "relatives" in Tim's paper stash and adhered them with some Washi tape that I doctored with alcohol to replicate old masking tape.  I found some "Family" stickers by Mixed Media 101 in my stash.  When I saw the "Faces have strange resemblances", I knew I had to find a place for it on this canvas. 

The letters for "INSPIRE" went through many incarnations before I was happy with them.  I finally used Brushed Pewter, Spun Sugar and Antique Linen Distress Paint mixed with some Worn Lipstick Distress Stain.  I stamped some script in black archival ink on the letters as well.  The edges were sanded and inked Aged Mahogany Distress Ink.  I brushed all of the letters with a mixture of Walnut Stain and Multi Medium.

 To make the letters pop, I added a shadow with Black Soot Distress Ink and Multi Medium.  I even used a lighter version of this mixture to paint the blue print camera stamp below.  Tim's filmstrip made the perfect upper and lower border for my canvas.  A few weeks ago, I ran across a tip on Tammy Tutterow's blog about adhering ribbon to projects.  I used this tip on these filmstrips.  I put them through a Xyron Sticker maker (running both strips through at the same time).  I was amazed how well this worked with the filmstrip.  They stuck well to the canvas and still look crystal clear even with the adhesive backing.

 I think my favorite part of this canvas is Tim's Vintage Camera (Sizzix Die) that I cut out of Aged Mahogany Core'dinations paper. The body of the camera was sanded and inked with Walnut Stain Distress Ink.  I used some Brushed Pewter Distress Paint on the accent pieces.  When I found a clock face charm that was the same size as the lens cap on the camera, I almost fell over.  I colored it with silver alcohol ink mixative and added some grunge with Black Soot Distress Paint.  It adds the perfect finish to this piece that will accompany decades of vintage family photos. The camera got topped off with coat of Multi Medium as well and was mounted on the canvas with a piece of corrugated cardboard.

Both canvases were painted with Black Soot Crackle Paint on the edges.  After it dried and cracked, I went over the edges again with a Walnut Stain Distress Stain and Multi Medium mixture to keep the crackle pieces from flaking off the canvas.

 I've never entered two entries in a challenge before.  But I think this one fits Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge "In the Family" theme too.  So, I'm going to enter this as my solo project for the week to go with joint project I made with my mom. 

Can you tell that I'm feeling better?  I am and I am so thrilled to have the energy to listen to my Muse and create.  I hope you've had some energy and time to listen to your own creative muse this week! -- Mary Elizabeth