Altered canvas tutorial- Cherish

My handsome (if not a biased opinion) toddler after his surgery getting a bath, he was stinkie as he would say himself!

This was a cheapie canvas I bought today and I gessoed it fo prime it...funnily enough I did that in the car but that's another story! I gave it a layer of medium and shredded a 12x12 sheet (it was double sided) fitting them in like a jigsaw. 

While it was still wet I added a thin layer of gesso again, not covering completely but taking the colour out of it. I just want to add some texture to the canvas.

Then using a stencil I added medium paste in a few different areas, I LOVE this affect and it holds the colour so much more vivid than paper. You can stamp into it or use stencils but feel it's so versatile I would recommend it to anyone!

Using sprays I sprayed all over using a blue, green and black. I let dry and then finished it with the heat gun to make sure I could stamp on it. Using some TH background stamps I dabbled a little and added the word cherish which I covered in shimmer, then glossy accents. You can't see here but it's the more amazing cobalt blue/black colour.

I sprayed some binding and ruffled it along the edge of the photo, added an E embellishment and think that was enough. I finished the edges with a strip of wasabi tape as I call it. It's on my wall already and I love it!