The Road Less Traveled

Hello stamp fanatics, it's Amy here today, to share a small wooden canvas I made, with some of my favorite Viva Las VegaStamps!

For this project, I began by covering the wood background (a scroll album page from Genuinely Jane Studios) with a layer of diluted copper acrylic paint, spread very thin using a putty knife. Over the top of the painted page, I stamped the coffee ring stain and Cursive Writing Background stamps randomly, using Clearsnap Mix'd Media Inx in Black/Noir. When this was dry, I sprayed fixative over the top; and repeated the thin layer of paint (other colors included gold,silver and aqua), stamping (with the same stamps), drying, fixative....five times. This created a nicely textured background with lots of depth, without much texture.

Over the top of my background, I added plenty of paint and ink splatter, and then began to layer my paper, including a vintage photo.
 
I layered up some of my favorite new papers from 7 Dots Studio's "Nature Walk" collection, and adhered them, and my photo, using miracle tape. I also stamped several images, including: The Road Not Taken, Hands Pointing, No.5 Tag (the top only), coloring them using Stamper's Big Brush Pens from Faber Castell on library cards, and cutting the images out. The lighter I colored, the more of a watercolored look I achieved, which was fun and added interest.

For the top right corner cluster, I used a chipboard gear from UmWowStudio (all dolled up with copper embossing powder), and placed the Moon Circle stamp behind it. The bee on top of the "moon gear" is from the Italian Sonnet Background stamp; this was also colored using Stamper's Big Brush Pens from Faber Castell Design Memory Craft.


 Finally, I added a bit of subtle stamping to the edges of the papers, using the checkerboard background, and after embellishing further with metal bits and bobs, as well as some flair, I stamped the UmWowStudio layered circle chipboard with the word "lost" from the Let's Get Lost stamp.

I'm very pleased with the way this canvas came out, celebrating a photo I found in a bin at an antique mall.....wondering who the baby was, and where they went in life.....years later. The photo was lost, but found its way to a new home, where it became a piece of art. I bet that was something the photographer, or the parents of the baby never thought would occur, when this was taken over 100 years ago. :)

 Supply List:
Viva Las VegaStamps!: Let's Get Lost, Checkerboard Background, Italian Sonnet Background, Moon Circle, No. 5 Tag, Hands Pointing, The Road Not Taken, Coffee Ring Stain, Cursive Writing Background
Adhesive: Miracle Tape
Chipboard: UmWowStudio
Paper: 7 Dots Studio
Ink: Clearsnap, Tsukeniko, Faber Castell Design Memory Craft
Embellishments: 7 Gypsies, Bead Landing
Stickers: Tim Holtz