photo canvas project

If your family is like my family, your budgets are getting tighter and tighter as gas, food, and other cost of living prices keep going up. With birthdays, anniversaries, and of course the holidays coming up we need to take a look at how we can give meaningful gifts, but still stay on top of our finances. Making handmade gifts is a great answer to all of this, but I also want to give something meaningful, something the recipient will treasure. And, as much as I would like to spend hours making gorgeous scrapbooks and detailed projects for everyone, I have to be realistic with my time as well.

One of the projects I had an idea to do was to make personalized photo canvases for family and friends. With all of the high costs one of the things I like to keep in mind is how lucky I am to have my family and the things that we do have. I made up a canvas of my own family to bring my idea to fruition. I love how it turned out and it has already become a part of my home decor.

I picked up a prestretched canvas at my local crafts store. The canvases come in so many sizes, I know you won't have trouble picking just the right one for the project that you have in mind! I painted a base color with acrylic paint and let that dry.

Next, I took a single polka dot from the Polka Dot Basics set and randomly stamped all over my base with white acrylic paint. For more about stamping with paint, see this newsletter post I did back in May. I did find that because of the give of the canvas, it's not easy to get a clear consistent image with a larger stamp. Using a small, simple image will give you the best results.

Next, I punched squares with my Giga Marvy Punch out of the Dark Chocolate cardstock. The edges are brushed with my white ink pad, and you will notice that I added a little white edging with acryllc paint to my canvas with my sponge brush as well.

I attached photos of my family with little clips (the pictures are cut 1 3/4" x 1 3/4".) I didn't adhere the pictures down to the squares because then I will be able to switch them out when I want to.

Before attaching the squares to the base, I adhered Spring Moss stitched ribbon and Dark Chocolate polka dot ribbon across the canvas.

Then, I attachedthe picture squares to the canvas with dimensionals.

Next, I stamped some branches to add to my project. I think most of the time when we stamp in the 2-step method, we tend to stamp the base (lighter image) first and then add the outline (darker image) over the top (I know I do.) Instead, try doing just the opposite: stamp the outline image first and then the base image over that. You will find it so much easier to line up the images!

I trimmed my branches out - I tend to trim quite close to the edges of my images, but you could easily leave a little bit of a white border to make it a little bit easier to trim.

Here's my project all put together. You will notice that I added a little "thankful" sentiment in the bottom right corner. My family is definitely something I am thankful for everyday, and now I have a little bit of "us" to add to our home decor.

It fits perfect on my photo ledge shelf! I am excited to put together more canvas projects for gifts! I know that it is something that my friends and family will love. I also think that this would be a perfect thing to have as a project night for friends. How much fun would a night of crafting and conversation be, not to mention that you will walk away with several completed gifts!

Thankful for Family Canvas Project

stamps: Rustic Branches, Polka Dot Basics (Papertrey Ink)

ink: Spring Moss, Dark Chocolate (Papertrey Ink), white pigment ink

cardstock: white, kraft, Dark chocolate (Papertrey Ink)

accessories: Spring Moss stitched ribbon, Dark Chocolate polka dot ribbon (Papertrey Ink), word window punch (Stampin' Up!), library clips (Stampin' Up!), Giga Square punch (Marvy), prestretched canvas, acrylic paints, dimensionals