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Canvas Art
Canvas Photo Transfer

By: Mary Shoebridge
Scrampin’ Love Bug
Beginners Scramping Team Designer

Photo Transfer projects are fun and offer many possibilities for exploring creative ideas.  Collect your heritage photos and try this experiment.  The technique could, also, be applied to regular photos copied and use in paper crafts.   

Supplies:
Burnt Umber Palette Hybrid Inkpad (Stewart Superior)
Shimmer Chalks TAC
Wood Plaque 6’ by 12” to be altered (Michael’s)
Canvas Panel 5” by 7” (Michael’s)
Several varieties of neutral colored text weight paper for transferring the photo image
Heritage Photos-4 or 5 images depending on size of photograph
Photo Copies (Konica Color Printer)
Folk Art Acrylic Paint: Tapioca 903, Linen 430, Coffee Bean 940 (Plaid Enterprises, Inc.)
Ceramcoat Timberline Green (Delta Creative, Inc.) 
Liquitex Acrylic Matte Medium (Binney & Smith, Inc.)
100% Acetone Finger Nail Polish Remover (Onyx Professional)
Waxed Paper or Freezer paper
Cotton Balls
Masking Tape
Wooden Alphabet Tiles
Brown Wire
Old Buttons
Decorative Brads (Michael’s)
Plaid Ribbon Hanger (Michael’s)
Tools:  Awl, Scissors. Bone Folder, paint brushes small and medium size flats, sponge
Clear Blender (Tombow)
Aleene’s Quick Dry Tacky Glue (Duncan Enterprises)

Instructions:

1.      Altering the Wooden Plaque:  The plaque was originally white with wooden decorations.  Take off the decorations and sand the board smooth.  Paint the plaque with the Linen color Folk Art Paint.  Sponge on some of the other colors olive and brown to give the board a military look.  Paint both sides and edges. Set the plaque aside.

2.      Paint the canvas panel with the same colors as above.

3.      The Photo Transfer Process used in this project:

     a)  Copy your photos to copy paper.  Use a good quality Laser machine and not an inkjet printer. Konica is the
          kind of machine I used.

      b)  Transfer the photos you have copied using the following method.  Cover your work surface with wax paper.
           Cut your images apart. Transfer the photos one at a time to the text weight paper. 

      c)  Place the photo face down on the text weight paper. Take a cotton ball and saturate with the acetone and
 apply it to the photo.  It is best to tape down the photo so it does not move. Rub the photo with the
 acetone until you can see the photo transferring to the paper. Burnish it with a bone folder. Lift a corner of
 the photo to see if it is working well.  A good transfer might require several applications of acetone to the
 photograph. Different papers give a certain result.The main soldier image was done on a linen type paper
 and the others on a neutral color. Experiment with this technique until you have achieved the desired
 transfer.  Do this with each of the other images. Set aside to dry.

4.     When you have completed the photo transfer step, plan where you will be placing each image in the background and on the canvas panel.  In this design, the soldier image predominates and the other pictures are in the back ground.  Glue the background images in place on the plaque using Aleene’s Quick Dry Tacky Glue.  Also, glue the other images to the canvas panel.

5.     Wire the wood tile letters together to form a design around the images.  Twist some sections around awl to curl it, and glue to the canvas panel.  Refer to photo.

6.      Glue the panel to the plaque using the Tacky Glue.  To make sure it adheres, weight it down with a heavy book. 

7.      Add any embellishments you choose.  In this sample, there are buttons and brads that have a military look.

8.      Attach the ribbon hanger.  Push an end of the ribbon through the hole in the plaque and tie it in a knot on the front.  Measure a length of ribbon about 10’ and twist to make a loose cord.  The ribbon should form a hanger 4” above the plaque.  Draw the ribbon through the other hole and pull it until it is in a good position to hang the plaque.  Tie the end in a knot a couple of times.

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