I had to shelve my lamp project for now because it turns out that the spray paint I wanted to use does not, in fact, look anything like the cap indicates. Sooooo, I will have to come up with a new plan.
Instead, I decided to make some photo canvases!
Here's how I did it: 
Edit and size your pictures to fit your canvas. I really love the texture of canvas so I chose to print my photos out on textured acrylic paper instead of smooth photo paper because the canvas loses the texture once you cover it with the paper. I had one small picture printed on gloss photo paper and you can really tell the difference in the picture above. We'll solve that problem in a bit. 
Then, I used an assortment of old canvases and wooden blocks with picture hangers attached to the back and used gel medium to adhere the pictures to them. I accidentally picked up the extra heavy gel medium last time I bought it, and it is too thick for my brushes so I spread it with a paper towel. On the plus side, it made much faster work of it!
(yes, I see the missing "I", but I didn't feel like redoing the whole collage!)
Once the photos were glued on and dried, I painted all of the sides black and covered the whole thing with modge podge. Unfortunately, I also goofed and got black paint on one of the pictures that left black smudges. Again, we will solve that problem in a bit.
Problem solving time!
Problem 1: The canvas with the red background was an online order that ended up too bright for me so I made a glaze using mod podge and a drop of antiquing gel (dark brown paint works also) and painted a coat over the top only of the canvas to tone it down a little. I also used this technique on the one small picture that I printed on glossy photo paper, and since my modge podge is matte, it toned it down and reduced the glossy finish.
Problem 2: How to fix the paint smudge. Since I gave most of the pictures a vintage-y filter in editing anyway, I decided to make another darker glaze using black and brown and distress the edges of all the pictures so that it made the smudge on the one less obvious.
I am really pleased with the finished grouping! Now I just need to find a wall to hang them on!
Here's how I did it: 
Edit and size your pictures to fit your canvas. I really love the texture of canvas so I chose to print my photos out on textured acrylic paper instead of smooth photo paper because the canvas loses the texture once you cover it with the paper. I had one small picture printed on gloss photo paper and you can really tell the difference in the picture above. We'll solve that problem in a bit. 
Then, I used an assortment of old canvases and wooden blocks with picture hangers attached to the back and used gel medium to adhere the pictures to them. I accidentally picked up the extra heavy gel medium last time I bought it, and it is too thick for my brushes so I spread it with a paper towel. On the plus side, it made much faster work of it!
(yes, I see the missing "I", but I didn't feel like redoing the whole collage!)Once the photos were glued on and dried, I painted all of the sides black and covered the whole thing with modge podge. Unfortunately, I also goofed and got black paint on one of the pictures that left black smudges. Again, we will solve that problem in a bit.
Problem solving time!Problem 1: The canvas with the red background was an online order that ended up too bright for me so I made a glaze using mod podge and a drop of antiquing gel (dark brown paint works also) and painted a coat over the top only of the canvas to tone it down a little. I also used this technique on the one small picture that I printed on glossy photo paper, and since my modge podge is matte, it toned it down and reduced the glossy finish.
Problem 2: How to fix the paint smudge. Since I gave most of the pictures a vintage-y filter in editing anyway, I decided to make another darker glaze using black and brown and distress the edges of all the pictures so that it made the smudge on the one less obvious.
I am really pleased with the finished grouping! Now I just need to find a wall to hang them on!
2 comments:
what a great idea Malissa! I need to try to remember this. A set like this would make a great gift for someone!
happy saturday!
xoxo
vivian
Hi Vivian,
There are different tutorials I've seen, but they mostly involve a photo transfer of some sort and I thought this was the easiest method. I think they would make great Mother's Day or Valentine gifts!
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