Getting my canvas back into it's frame - Helmar Creative Team

One of the things my Mum absolutely treasured was this portrait of me.  It is by the first artist/photographer to ever put photos onto canvas and I think it was in 1978/1979 judging by my age in the photo.  He had a ground breaking technique for putting photos onto canvas and making them look like a oil painting and my portrait appeared on TV as there was a special on it late at night.  I remember Mum telling me about how Grandma stayed up late to watch it.
I have no idea who the artist was but I would love to find out.

Unfortunately the way Mum stored it and the way it was transported during multiple moves caused it to come out of it's frame but thanks to Helmar I was able to glue it back in.


I wasn't sure which glue was best so I asked Helmar and as always they had answers and advice to help me get this done.  Helmar Super-Tac Glue was what was recommended and it definitely did the job.
I cleaned the frame and the edge of the canvas with a damp cloth.  Then I applied Helmar Super-Tac Glue to the edge of the canvas but I would realise this was a mistake and it was better to apply it inside the frame to get a proper adhesion of the canvas to the frame.

I got a really good seal using this glue. 

As you can see in this photo the print is starting to come off in tiny spots, it is also really faded (my dress had sky blue flowers on it), etc due to being on a wall for 30 years so I have wrapped it up in bubble wrap and packed it into a picture/mirror box to keep it safe.

After packing it away I realised I should have given it a coat of Helmar Chrystal Kote Gloss Varnish (gloss as it was glossy when new) to provided added protection, so I will have to get it out of storage and do that asap.
I am so glad that I was able to get this back into it's frame and hopefully it will last longer thanks to Helmar.

Explore Space Canvas - Helmar Creative Team

I wanted to do a scrapbook layout with a galaxy background and using this cute iron on patch set from my stash and some chipboard stars to build dimension to the layout.  It quickly changed to me reusing a old canvas that the kids tried to paint a Christmas tree on years ago to create a item suitable for wall decor for a child's room.
I love painting Galaxy/Nebula paintings as the technique used is one that I am able to easily do with my hand issues.

I started by coating the old canvas with a coat of Colour Blast Heavy Black Gesso, I got great coverage from this Gesso.

While the Gesso was drying I coloured some gauze in the colours I wanted the nebula to be as I wanted to experiment and see if I could add it to the painting to give the nebular dimension. 
I simple dabbed some distress ink on my craft sheet added water and rubbed the gauze in it.  I repeated with some Colour Blast Mica Powder in Wisteria.
There are not photos of this attempt as it really did not work so the gauze quickly became another aspect of the piece.

Once dry I wrapped some space themed washi from Scrapping Fun Kits around the outside of the canvas on the edge using Helmar 450 Quick Dry Adhesive to ensure a strong stick as the adhesive on the washi would not be enough to get a long term hold.

Next I started working on my Galaxy but gradually sponging coloured paint onto the canvas in a sort of nebula shape.  I used some old paints in red, yellow, purple, blue and white.  I blended the red and yellow together where needed to get hints of orange.
Then I flicked paint with a brush all over the canvas mainly in white but also some of the blue and purple to add to the space effect.


Once the paint was dry I adhered some of the coloured gauze behind the rocket ship patch then I adhere it and the planet patch that came in the set to the canvas with Helmar 450 Quick Dry Adhesive.

Finally I used the last of my Studio Calico chipboard stars I got from My Scrapbook Room randomly on the canvas using the Helmar 450 Quick Dry Adhesive.







Once everything was dry I gave the entire thing a coat of Crystal Kote Gloss Varnish to seal it all and protect it.  I sprayed a bit closer in some spots to see how that would affect the finish, I was hoping it would enhance the night sky feel of the piece and it did.















I love how it turned out.