Choose Joy Canvas Tutorial

My creative life has given me plenty of opportunities to choose joy instead of bogging myself down with all the "glass is half empty", negative ways of thinking. It's a blessing I'm thankful for each and every day of my life. It's also something I hold dear and want to expand into every aspect of my life.

That's why today, I'm sharing joy with you. You aren't just my audience, you are my inspiration, motivation and dear friend and it is my honor and privilege to share my life of creativity with you. I'm not here to be famous or make millions of dollars. I didn't start my blog to reach billions of people. I just want to share creativity and joy with others and if my journey inspires or helps even one person than I've done what I set out to do.

To create your own "choose joy" canvas start with 3-4 12x12 pieces of cardstock you absolutely love. Choose which one you want for each layer or through in a bit more whimsy and mix them all up, the choice is up to you.

Once you've made your decision, tear your background page into chunks and pieces. Spread a layer of gel medium onto the canvas and start collaging the background together. Make sure you cover each piece with more gel medium to keep it in place.

After your background is complete and dry add some interest with household items and acrylic paint. I used an old toilet paper roll to create circles around my canvas. Get creative & try out sponges, bubble wrap, wine corks, etc. With acrylic drying takes all of two seconds so you can move on pretty quickly.

From here you'll attach your center heart with your gel medium just like you did with the background. It's a good idea to add your smaller hearts (or other shapes if you'd rather) at the same time....saves on drying time.

Now you're ready for the finishing touches. Grab a fine tip and flat edge brush and get to it. I outlined each of my hearts and added a couple more background circles. Then I hand-wrote "joy" using my flat brush. I'm not really a fan of my handwriting though so I opted to use a stamp set for "choose". If you go for the stamps make sure you use StazOn ink...otherwise it'll just smudge off the gel medium.

Don't forget, this is your piece. Wanna use a metallic/glitter gel pen or paint? Go for it! Wanna throw some glitter into your gel medium or maybe a small bit of acrylic for additional color? Give it a try!! Creativity is all yours and it's the best way to love life and always choose joy.

Happy Crafting,

Misty

If you loved this free tutorial look into booking one of my creative workshops.