Making your Own Canvas Fabric Bag

Tamara Dinius loves creating things from her own accord which she comfortably does from her studio. Out of her own imagination, she attempted to create a functional mixed media tote bag using canvas fabric and Tattered Angels High Impact paints.

This is how she did it after gathering her items which included spray bottle, Tattered Angels High Impact Paints, stencils, brushes, and permanent markers:

• On the left and right sides, Spray your canvas fabric with water and then apply your yellow paint in a haphazard motion.
• At the bottom left, and while it is still damp, apply your orange paint using a stencil and stencil brush.
• At the bottom right, add water and your yellow paint using a stencil of your choosing. 
• On either side, you can add the writings of your desire using a stencil. 

At the finishing stage, use a contrasting thread to topstitch the seams you want. At this point you are allowed to add some freestyle quilting to the bag using different colored threads.

You will then add long handles to the bag using the same red canvas fabric that you used at the middle portion.

With any form of creativity and imagination, this project can turn out to be really fun. For example, Tamara used permanent markers of varying colors to add various writings on the bag. According to her, creativity is a way of life in which you can experiment so many styles.

Going the Zentangle Style with Canvas Pens and Wash

Jean Mullins is not only a mixed media artist but also a craft teacher, teaching many different mediums, including book making, crochet, patchwork and quilting, ceramics, porcelain doll making, sculpting in clay and mold making. She has created paintings pen and wash style using both oils and acrylics having started out many years ago. With a lot of knowledge gathered over the years she considers it a pleasure and privilege to share. If you are interested, this I how she advises that you do it:

• Draw your design on the canvas using a pencil very lightly. You can always trace a design if you are not a so confident drawer. 
• Using the permanent pen draw over your design, alter the pressure for thicker, thinner or lighter, darker areas. 
• Let it dry for a couple of hours or overnight if possible then spray thoroughly with hair spray or a sealer. Give it 3 coats drying between each one. 

Note: Use liner brushes or small rounds for applying the paint with the idea that you are having fun and being creative and in the long run you will be happy with your canvas. Her parting short is that “Any form of meditation is a wonderful stress reliever”.