Collage Canvas

I signed up for a class for this project. I learned many different techniques and the class lasted about 5 hours. I am delighted with the end result which fits in perfectly with my decor in my living room.

I'll do a step by step process below:-

You will need 2 wood boards of different sizes. Position the small board in the centre of the big board and make a pencil marking around the small board. Add lines for your napkins in the upper left and bottom right corners. Add a frame around the centre block for your grouted area.

Choose 2 different napkins to colour co-ordinate with your choice of paints.

Paint the 2 corners with 2 coats of white paint so your napkin will show clearly.

Open out your napkin on your board to see layout of design. If your triangle area is too big, you will have to add pieces of the napkin to fill the area. All edges must be torn. To do this take a clean wet paintbrush and draw a line where you want to tear the napkin. Each napkin has 3 layers. Pull the back layer off. The middle layer will be quite hard to separate so use 2 small pieces of Prestik on either side and pull the layers apart gently. Allow your torn pieces of the napkins to dry.

In a small container make a mixture of grout, craft glue and a dab of water. Mix till you get a toothpaste thickness and paint thickly onto the area around the small block. Dry till it is soft and almost dry.

Take a wet crochet doily and press very hard into the partially dried grout to get the imprint of the doily.

 

 

While this dries apply a thick coat of Smooth Texture paint to the small board using your own pattern in the texture paint.

You are now going to take tissue paper and crumple it up and then open it out again. You will decoupage the tissue paper (any colour) to the remaining outer areas of the large board. To decoupage tissue paper, you first paint Deco Podge on the area and then position your tissue paper and immediately paint more Deco Podge on top of the tissue paper in an outward motion. Don’t worry about the creases. Those will add the texture you need in this area. You will remove all the outer edges once everything is dry.

Position your napkins in the white painted triangles. To decoupage napkins, place it in position and using a flat paint brush, brush Deco Podge from the centre outwards removing air bubbles and creases.

 

Top left napkin. You can see where I've added pieces to fill the triangle.

 

Bottom right napkin

 

Use a hairdryer on a low setting to dry each process. Dry everything now.

Add corner embellishments. I’ve used cardboard laser cutouts which I’ve glued with craft glue.

Apply a coat of craft paint over the tissue paper and corner embellishments. To get a leathery colour I’ve used a base light tan colour.

 

Top right corner embellishment

 

 

Bottom left corner embellishment

 

Once this is dry apply a coat of Tough as Nails varnish to everything.

 

You are now going to start layering with colours. Start on the grouted area. Mix equal amounts of paint, Scumble Glaze and a dab of water together. Paint over certain areas of the doily imprinted grout. Wipe off excess paint with a damp cloth  allowing the white to show through while the colour seeps into the crevices. After each colour is dry, apply a coat of Tough as Nail varnish. Apply the next two colours in the same way. I’ve used a green, pink and turquoise.

To layer paint onto the tissue papered area, I’ve used a copper colour mixed with glaze and applied in the same way. To allow more paint to stay on, use a dry cloth and don’t remove as much paint. Remember to apply varnish after each colour to prevent the colours from lifting when you remove excess paint.

 

 

 

Apply your same colours to the small board ending with the colour you wish to be the accent colour. I’ve used the turquoise.

Everything will look quite gaudy now, so you need to apply a colour wash over everything. I’ve used a khaki/brown colour mixed with glaze. Wipe off all excess paint and this will tone everything down leaving a distressed look. The glaze allows the paint to dry slower giving you time to clean as much off as you like.

Using a stencil in the same khaki/brown colour, apply with a dry brush dabbing the paint onto the stencil.

 

Note the texture paint

Glue a piece of patterned lace around the sides of the small board. Apply the same dark colour with a dry brush to accentuate the pattern of the lace.

 Dab the corner accents with the same colour so they stand out.

 

 

Apply a coat of varnish to everything.

Once dry use a file to remove all the tissue paper and napkin edges around the big board. Paint the sides of your board. I’ve used a mix of the copper and light tan.

 

Using a strong craft paint, glue your small board onto the big board in the centre.

 

 

I’ve added a piece of trim using a hot glue gun to hide any imperfections and open areas around the small block.
 

Your picture is now ready to hang.