PARIS in Springtime, Paris in Winter - for Imagination Crafts

Today, I'm giving you two canvases - Paris in the Spring and Paris in the Winter. All products by Imagination Crafts.

Paris in Springtime

Here are the closeups, what I did - and how I did it!

I painted the entire canvas with a mix of gesso and Starlights paint in Antique Pink, fading it lighter towards the top (added more gesso).

I used Decoupage Plus to glue the rice paper car and butterflies to textweight paper, then fussy cut, shaping with my fingers for dimension. I also painted Starlights paint in Sky Blue, Pink Sunset and Rich Gold onto textweight paper, then used a generic circle punch to cut out 3 shapes. I made a hole in the window of the car to bring out 3 pieces of gold thread, then glued down with glue gel. Once completely dry (I was worried the threads would pull out) I was able to position the circles over the top and fix down with foam pads, so it looks like my balloons are flying out the window.

While the rice paper decals were drying, I stencilled roses directly onto the canvas with Shabby Chic Relief Paste in Ashy Rose. Once dry, I highlighted in areas with Inca Gold Finger Wax and a touch of gesso, to knock them more into the background.

I added portions of the lovely 'wallpaper' stencil with gesso, applied sparingly with a sponge. Next step was to trace round areas of my rice papers with a damp paintbrush, which helps to tear the images out and leave a feathery edge. Once glued down with Decoupage Plus, the edges go completely invisible. 

The trick here is to use plenty of glue on the canvas, place the rice paper on top, then use more glue on top of the image. Smooth down from the centre to the outer edges (you can lift up gently if you need to add more glue underneath) for a virtually seamless finish. The rice paper will also go into any nooks and crannies if encouraged with the bristles of the brush (smooth down, don't poke, so you won't tear anything).

Finishing touches

I also added Finger Wax in black around the edges of the canvas to bring everything together, and added just a touch of Sparkle Medium in Gold Shine here and there, and also on the woman's hair.

Paris in Winter

I decided to use the same layout, as far as possible, with lots of added 'snow' and icicles to create that wintery feel. Brrrrr!

Again, I painted the whole canvas with gesso mixed with Starlights in Mediterranean Sky, again shaded lighter at the top (more gesso). I used s stencil with gesso to add icicles.

 The car was glued to textweight paper with Decoupage Plus and then fussy cut, as before. I used a damp paintbrush around the Eiffel Tower, words, corner and border strips of rice paper, so I could tear them out, and pasted directly onto the canvas with more Decoupage Plus (under and over the images).

Again, that background stencil - this time I wanted it to show more, so used Structure Paste and a palette knife for dimension, adding randomly around the Tower. More Structure Paste added a touch of snow on the Tower itself.

The next step was to add the car, using glue gel for dimension. I used just a little gesso, watered down, to paint inside the window areas so it looked frosty. I used a stencil over the top of the Eiffel Tower to add a sun ray effect, and sponged in lightly with gesso, going over this with Starlights in Rich Gold. The final touch was more Rich Gold paint applied with a palette knife and dragged out, to really emphasise those rays.

Finishing Touches

Using a palette knife, I added a heavy layer of Structure Paste  everywhere I wanted snow. I threw on Art Stones while the Paste was still wet, pressing in lightly with a flat paintbrush. I used all three sizes of Art Stones. Any gaps were filled in with Transparent Relief Paste and more Art Stones (the small ones) and Cracked Ice Sparkling Glitter. I also added a few sequins, using Magi Bond Glue (which dries transparent).

Again, I had a great time. This was WILD, lol!

All products from Imagination Crafts.