Wednesday 14 April 2010

Dressmaking Themed Canvas


I made this 'Shadow Box' which is really a reversed canvas yesterday. One of my favourite stamp sets ever, is the Sewing Plate from the Artistic Stamper, and I had wanted to use it in conjunction with this wonderful Torso art mould from Krafty Lady, called Mini Torso Front, which you can get from The Stamp Bug, and also I wanted it to be a canvas to use the tissue paper technique as I had some of this dressmaking tissue which I thought would work well. I cut the bit of tissue I liked best to do the stamping part for the centre of the canvas, and cut another good bit to fold to make a sort of folded pattern embellishment for the top left corner. I used Viva Gold Precious Metal Paint on the canvas, which you can get from the Artistic Stamper, then a crackle paste I got from somewhere else as an attempt at a substitute for crackle paint, but I'm afraid I wasn't happy with it. I then sprayed the lot with glimmer mists.

I have been crazy about the shadow boxes Hels has been making but had found it difficult to source them, so I thought I would use a reversed chunky canvas so that I had the sides, and the edges, to work with. All around the sides I stamped a selection of the smaller images from the set, which gives you a lot of images to work with. I made up the torso with some flesh coloured pearlescent friendly plastic, and stamped a bit of twill to wrap across it using a tape measure stamp, and put a strip of gold card on the end the way tape measures sometimes look, and stood it on a mini wooden cotton reel. The adorable iron sewing machine, which reminds me of the one my mum inherited from my grandmother and used when I was a child, is actually a dolls house item. There was a story to this as I bought it years ago when I was in a craft shop with a friend and she thought it was expensive and I would never use it and I shouldn't buy it. I was in love with it and virtually had a trantrum in the shop and lay on the floor kicking my legs! In the end I sloped back to the shop on my own a few days later and bought it! Big confession - it is not stuck down to the canvas as I can't part with it for one particular project so I will re-use it. Likewise the dressform as the mould itself is out on loan to a friend so I only have this one left that I had already moulded.

Around the edges on the tissue layer inside the canvas I have used various items to embellish it. A shrink plastic tape measure, made from the ruler in the Artist Plate (from the Artistic Stamper) and a black and gold shrink plastic sewing machine from the Sewing Plate, and then a needle threader, and some poppers, a special silver button I had been saving, a dinky minute zip, and a pair of scissors from one of those novelty button sets. Around the edge of the canvas itself I have added some buttons and a piece of tea dyed lace, with a hat pin pushed through it which is a lovely little touch I have copied from my dear friend, Lynne, so I hope she doesn't mind!

Here's a close up of the Torso mould:-
I have also taken close-ups of the dolls house sewing machine, and also the shrink plastic one made from the Artistic Stamper stamp.

14 comments:

  1. I love, love, love your shadow box!! All of the stamping, combined with 3D objects and ephemera - just beautiful! Every detail is wonderful.

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  2. How fabulous! Love all the little embellishments, the sewing machine is so sweet! xx

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  3. Wonderful Lucy - I love your attention to detail x

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  4. What a brill idea using the reverse of a boxed canvas, never thought of that and I have a few.
    Love what you've done,x

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  5. This doubles up fantastically as a shadow box and looks fab ! Your embellies are super too !

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  6. How Fun!!! What a wonderful 3-d project.

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  7. Would never had thought to reverse a canvas this way, what a wonderful idea. Love your sewing theme, it too is wonderful. Thanks for sharing your talents.

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  8. Love the theme really cool hun


    love Dawn xx

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  9. Totally beautiful, Lucy!

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  10. That is really a cool project! Tured out FAB!

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  11. This is really, really fabulous!!!Great little details everywhere!

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  12. beautiful Lucie, love the depth, texture and images!

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  13. The canvas makes a great shadow box, this looks fab Lucy - love all the little details!

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  14. It's a wonderful piece and I don't blame you for not gluing the sewing machine in place. I've been thinking of using the "wrong" side of a canvas for a while; you've definitely made me want to give it a go. Thank you so much.

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