Monday, June 14, 2010

Quite possibly the most fun project ever.


My sister's birthday was this past weekend, and to celebrate the occasion I made a mini-beach-book for her using the photos she took of her kids in Hawaii. You'll recognize some of the pictures from the beach book I made for my nephew last month. There were so many other CUTE photos and I was dying to use some of the canvas and painting techniques I learned recently. So I decided to throw in another beach-themed book before I put my supplies away and move on to my next project.
I cut several pieces of canvas fabric (4" x 11") and gave each of them a coat of gesso. (You can see the beginning stages here.) Then I used acrylic paint on top of that to add background color.

When the pages were dry I sewed pictures onto some of them, and then sewed the canvas pieces back-to-back (my sewing machine really needs to be serviced now!!!).

Then I embellished.

The "sand" on these pages was done by using acrylic paint mixed with some gel medium, then I sprinkled some distressed embossing powder on top while the paint was still wet.

LOVE this picture of Presley on the bow of the boat!

And Stone, dripping wet, holding his daddy's arm.

Prima flowers with rhinestone centers.

Buttons. Of course.

{favorite color combo here!}
And as Presley says, "Here's the part
where Aunt Deb says she loves you."
This project was SOOOOO much fun!!! I already have plans for a camping themed canvas book to give as a Christmas gift.

And by the way, my sister loved her gift. :o)!!!
xo

23 comments:

Maria Ontiveros said...

Deb,
This is awesome!!! I love the structure (gesso'd canvas) and the way the rick rack looks like waves and twill looks like seaweed, plus all the felt fish.
Rinda

Dave said...

it's BEAUtiful!!! I LOVE it!!!

man, I wish I was your sister! ;)

Unknown said...

Love it! One of the coolest books you've done so far. :) Wish you would have shown all the pages...

Mom said...

This is amazing!! When Valerie called yesterday and asked me to bring in her mail, it took everything in me to keep from committing a felony and "tampering" with her mail! I was dying to see this book and believe me, seeing the pictures of it does not disappoint! Of course, I was gone by the time she got home so I'll have to wait till next week to see the real McCoy! Another successful project, my Sweet! xo

Amy said...

Utterly gorgeous!
Deb this is just beautiful and I bet Val loved it! I love the colour and the texture - well, the whole lot really :-)

scrappyjacky said...

This is absolutely stunning,Deb....a gift to cherish forever.
I just love everything about it..it just looks so touchy feely.

Sian said...

It's gorgeous!! What a gift! She must have been absolutely thrilled. I love the paint and the textured sand and all of it actually. I would love to be able to look through it in real life.

humel said...

Poor sewing machine! Well worth it though, what an *amazing* gift - would you like to adopt me as an extra sister? My birthday's coming up... ;-)

Ruth said...

Deb, I adore everything about this minibook. It is simply stunning!

Stephanie @ La Dolce Vita said...

You are amazing! this is fantastic!

debs14 said...

So that's what the canvas turned into! This is amazing, she must have been thrilled, so much thought and love has gone into it.
I absolutely love the colours and the textures - it is really just perfect!

Curly said...

Oh my God! A beach book? It looks so BEAUTIFUL!!!! Wow...
Thanks for your lovely comment by the way!

Denise said...

Absolutely gorgeous,the colours and textures you have used fit so well with the theme.awesome.

Anonymous said...

The pictures of this book are great--but it is even better--(if that is possible) in person! I LOVE it---such a great gift! I love having a talented sister! My kids both loved it too---they like pictures of themselves--espeically Presley.
Thanks again Deb--love you so much!

Cheryl said...

Wow Deb absalutely amazing love all of it x

Lizzie said...

It's definitely lovely, Deb! And even Val's logged in to give an endorsement - it's great that she's so pleased with her gift.

The textures, colours, sewing, embellishment... everything all combines to make this a great little book. I love how you have stitched the photos to the canvas before assembling the pages. The buttons are cute, the flowers add that bit of fun and bling, the rick-rack and braid make great "sea" and "seaweed", the "sand" is clever... well.. I'm running out of adjectives here!

Well done you!

traci said...

deb, that is amazing. she will love it. you are so talented. you try new things and i am in awe. you need to be on a design team!!

Anonymous said...

Wow Deb I stand back in awe at your amazing talent that book is just so gorgeous.

Anonymous said...

Oh, what a cutie! Have to keep that in mind!

MarleneMAZ said...

This book is just gorgeous :)
I love how you did all of it, what type of canvas did you use ? I would love to try something like this.

Micayla said...

Oh my gosh.....this really is gorgeous. I adore the canvas you used....I just love it all to be honest! You are so talented Deb.
Enjoy the weekend, lets hope the sun is shining.
xx

Margaret said...

This is really fantastic, just beautiful. You have one lucky sis.

Jana said...

WOW. This album is incredible. I love it. Thanks so much for sharing how you did it. I have to dig out the canvas I bought last year now...

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