Creative Carte Blanche - a Tropical Summer Canvas

I love taking part in the Creative Carte Blanche adventures/challenges, because I find they always push me to try new things and experiment. It forces me to step outside my crafty comfort zone and make discoveries. I love that.

The July creative adventure theme is "Blossoms & Book Pages" from Hels Sheridan, our pal across the pond. You can read about this challenge and give it a go for yourselves, then upload your creation (anything goes as long as fits the monthly theme) here at the main challenge post.

For my creation, I decided on a canvas for a Summer decor piece. I found that I didn't have much to display (I like to change it up according to season) in the way of Summer around the house, so the timing was perfect for something fresh and new!

Here's a look at the finished canvas which measures 8" x 10" and the steps to make it.

I adhered decorative paper onto a 8" x 10" black canvas I had in my stash. The paper is the B-Side of Graphic 45's "Jungle Expedition" from their Safari Adventure collection. I distressed the edges then inked them with Gathered Twigs Distress Ink. The palm branch is real, from my backyard. I adhered the paper and the palm with Ranger's Collage Medium, Matte, then brushed two coats over the top of everything. I don't know if the palm will stay green or not (the first question my daughter Jamie asked me). Time will tell.

Next, I adhered four hitch fasteners with strong metal glue to the four corners and let them dry for about an hour while I worked on other things.

Once they were fully set, I wrapped some red jute twine around them two times and tied them off in a knot. This creates a unique frame around the collaged pieces (coming up).

I tore out a book page from my old OLD dictionary and cut a rectangle in the area where the word Journey appeared. After blending Fossilized Amber and Carved Pumpkin inks over the surface, I stamped the words with Jet Black Archival Ink.

After inking the edges with Gathered Twigs, I adhered the stamped book page to a piece of adhesive-backed burlap from Tim Holtz's Textured Surfaces pack. I frayed the outer edges of the burlap and inked them with Gathered Twigs.

I die cut two leaves and the tiki head from the "Tropical" die set. (Brand new, just received it a few days ago!) Then started to layer elements to the canvas. The parrot cut-apart is from the same Graphic 45 paper, only from the front side.

I originally cut the tiki head out twice from two different browns to see which one I liked best, then ended up choosing both; using the lighter pieces to fill in the darker main piece. Fun, right?

Also, from the Tropical die, I cut two different sized Hibiscus flowers from several colors of pattern paper, then stamped each one with a book page stamp. I used ink colors compatible with the flower colors.

To give the flowers some shape and dimension, I flipped them face down on a soft mat and gently "stirred" the outer areas of each petal with a large ball stylus. I like to use the tool kit from Elizabeth Craft Designs.

After shaping each flower, I inked the edges with compatible inks.

I layered them onto my canvas, filling in the centers with the pieces from the die and adding the stamens on the larger flowers.

As a finishing touch, I added tiny flowers (also from the Tropical die set) cut from the same colors of pattern paper as the larger flowers and added a itty bitty sparkle gem to their centers.

Here's another look at the finished piece. This really adds a great pop of color and adds the perfect feel of Summer on my foyer table.

I hope you'll join us over at Creative Carte Blanche for this fun challenge. Be sure to check out the main challenge post here and upload your creation! And keep watching the Creative Carte Blanche blog to see what my other creative friends have come up with. Like Candy Colwell and her amazing art journal spread. (I love following Candy and watching her process. Talk about inspiring!)

Thanks for stopping in today. Have a fabulous weekend!