2016 #23 Dream Canvas {by Corrie Herriman}

2016 Topic 23: Bleach Techniques

Hi everyone Corrie from MadeByCHook here, joining you this evening with a post about the 'bleach' technique. I had great fun with this technique and used it on denim fabric with a stencil. I made a canvas using my bleached denim and added a little picture frame on top. Here's a picture of the finished project and the different steps of how to make this canvas. 

Step One: I used an old cheap canvas with a picture of a bird on it. It hung on my mothers balcony wall for a year and was totally faded. I took it home and gave it a coat of gesso to give it a bit of 'tooth'. I also made a little photo frame from cardboard which I got from the backside of one of my paper blocks. I always save these to recycle. 

Step Two: I used stencil (PS023) by Clare Lloyd and some Grunge Paste to add some texture to the front of the frame. 

Step Three: After the Grunge Paste had dried I painted the frame with Gesso and then with Fresco Paint. I used Inky Pool mixed with Southern Skies to get a colour close to the colour of the denim I was going to use. 

Step Four: After this had all dried (I used a heat tool because I am impatient) I painted the frame with Crackle glaze and then Fresco Paint Honey Dew. I also added beads and some paper flowers painted with the same mix of blues ie. Inky Pool and Southern Skies. 

Step Five: Next the denim. I used stencil (PS023) by Clare Lloyd, a sponge and bleach to get the flowers on the fabric. I washed and dried the fabric after this to get the smell out. 

Next I stamped the word 'dream' from stamp set (ECL03) also by Clare Lloyd with Cobalt Archival Ink in the middle of each bleached flower. I then adhered all the pieces to the canvas using a gel medium as glue. 

ECL03

Step Six: I used one of the lovely girls from Clare's (ECL03) stampset to go in my photoframe. I used Copic Markers to colour her. I used Fresco Paint in the colours Honey Dew and Sage to colour the background. I also used Clare's stencil again with Granny Smith Fresco paint to add the polka dots. When they had dried I used a white gel pen to doodle around each dot. 

Step Seven: When everything was to my liking and dry I added the coloured image to the frame and the frame to the canvas. I used gel medium as a glue for this. I also added the same polkadots to the edge of the canvas to give it a finished look. The little extra sentiment I did as an afterthought as I thought it needed something else. So I painted a piece of scrap paper the same way as the background behind the girl and stamped the word 'dream' once more with the Cobalt Archival ink. I then added this to the canvas as well. 

This technique is great fun even if you really don't like bleach like me. I did my bleaching outside so the house wouldn't smell of it. It is so much fun to see the colour just vanish. You could do this technique on paper too. For instance on an inked background. Why not try this too, I'm sure you'd enjoy it as well. 

I particularly enjoyed this project because it had so many different techniques in it. From the bleaching of the fabric, the making of the frame, the crackling and the colouring of the image. The nicest thing of all was putting it all together to make a pretty and cohesive canvas . 

Thank you for joining me today! 

Corrie 

Blog: MadeByCHook

Instagram : corrie.herriman

FaceBook : corrie.herriman

YouTube : Corrie Herriman

Thanks Corrie, this is a great combination of techniques. i love the bleached denim patchwork. i can see how that would work brilliantly in all sorts of projects. I am thinking i want a bag made with them. ~Darcy

All of our bloggers love to see your twist on their ideas, particularly if you were inspired directly by their post; so please spare a moment to comment or make your own creative item. They all love to see your feedback and what you can do more than you realise!

We would love to see how you interpret this Bleaching Techniques topic by linking what you make to our 2016 Challenge #23: Bleaching Techniques on this page HERE. The Bleaching Techniques link will close 17:00 (London Time) Sunday, Dec 11th 2016. The winner will be announced 2 hours later at 19:00.

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