Tissue Paper & Stamps = Instant Art

About a week or so ago I got a big ol' box of amazingness from Canvas Corp...

AND, Canvas Corp recently acquired 7Gypsies & Tattered Angels, so...hello, even better. 

I was instantly inspired to make this...

Here's how it started...

*7Gypsies Creme Frames tissue paper

*7Gypsies Conservatory Stamps

*Canvas Corp stretched canvas

I saw those stamps and I was immediately drawn to them. You see, I love nature...not as in "becoming one with...," or living off the land, etc., but as art. 

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I was a biology major in college and I used to love to go to the ancient museum on the top floor of our Natural History Building to see the beautiful, long-ago pinned insects and animal specimans. And I've always thought that the sketches in antique science books were so lovely...

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So I took those items, and I added these supplies...

*DecoArt's DecouPage

*black stamp ink

*A clear stamp block

*a little cheap brush

First I stamped the images I liked into the frames I liked using regular old stamp ink...

I waited about 10 minutes for the ink to dry...then I tested the images by dabbing a damp finger on them to make sure they didn't run...I didn't want smears when I decoupaged them...

Then I covered my canvas in DecouPage and placed the tissue paper on top. As soon as I got the tissue paper where I wanted it, I carefully spread a fairly thick layer of DecouPage over the tissue...

I got a little careless & tore the corner of the tissue a little, but it was no big deal.

I glued down all of the edges and folded the tissue paper behind the canvas like I was wrapping a present. Then I let everything dry overnight.

The next day I grabbed some decorative wood Canvas Corp Push Pins and some black Canvas Corp Jute Cord...

I simply tied a square knot with the cord around the pins and pushed them into the top of the canvas to create a way to hang my art...

And that was it...

I think my new art is lovely...and subtle...and it reminds me of that old museum at school...

I think you could probably do this with any old tissue paper you have lying around...whether it has graphics or not. But I really think the 7Gypsies paper is gorgeous...and leaves you with so many possibilities...imagine these frames wrapping a gift with the name of the recipient stamped randomly inside them...cool, huh? I'd love to receive a gift like that.

Or how about a super-large canvas decorated with this paper? I can just see this hanging over a bed or leaning against a wall on top of a vintage dresser...in fact, I think I may do just that with the rest of my paper...

How would you decorate your tissue paper art?

Here's where I'm linking up this week...

Aaand...this is
my entry into Wow Me Wednesday sponsored 
by Appliances Online and Bosch Washing Machines