DIY Confetti Canvas Art – How To-sday

This post is brought to you by Design Memory Craft Gelatos®, compact acid-free pigment sticks that glide on creamy smooth for vibrant color and coverage.

As if I didn’t have enough art in our tiny apartment already, I decided we needed something extra! These canvases are tiny (like fit in your hand tiny), but they’re exploding with color and texture!

Read on for the full tutorial to find out how to mix vibrant color with texture and various mixed media techniques. These would be really sweet little housewarming or holiday gifts, and the best part is that you can make a set in any color palette you’d like!

Paper Crafting Workshops at Michaels

Do you want to try Gelatos®, too? This Monday (September 14), Michaels stores across the US are hosting paper crafting workshops where they’ll teach you to different techniques on a variety of surfaces.

You’ll create a cute little swatch journal (pictured to the left) that you can add to later, or it’s pretty much a piece of art all by itself! Find a class near you and sign up here.

P.S. Join us for a Twitter chat on Tuesday, September 15, from 9-10:30 PM, EST, to talk about these little guys and to pick up your exclusive discount.

Supplies

• Mini canvases – 4″x4″ and 2″x2″
• Gelatos®
• 1″ tissue confetti or tissue paper
• Paintbrush
• Mister bottle
• Water
• Decoupaging medium
• Paper towel or sponge
• Texture medium – I used Whipped Spackle
• Scrap cardboard or plastic
• Hole punch
• Old plastic gift card
• Spray sealant

1.   Scribble a heavy layer of Metallic Icing Gelatos® all over both canvases. Rub it in and remove excess using a sponge or paper towel.

2.   Here’s the fun part. The most fun, as far as I’m concerned…

Use a butter knife or palette knife to shave off a really small amount of Gelatos® into a paint palette or onto a plate or something. You just need a surface that you can add water to.

3.   Drip a little bit of water onto the shavings, and use a paintbrush to stir it all up. Use a dropper* or a paintbrush to transfer the liquid into a little mister bottle.* Spray randomly all over both canvases, saturating some spots and leaving others bare.

5.   Repeat the process with 2-3 more coordinating colors. For this part, I used Cotton Candy, Snow Cone, Blueberry, and Metallic Mint Gelatos®.

6.   Use a sponge, paper towel, or your fingers to sort of dab and blend the colors a little bit until you like the texture.

Set it aside if you’re patient, or hit it with a blast from the blow dryer if you’re not (like me!).

*These items come with the starter kit.

6.   Use a hole punch to cut a random assortment into a piece of cardboard or thin plastic.

Scoop some whipped spackle or other texture medium onto an old gift card, and use that to spread it through the holes in the cardboard onto the canvas. Smooth it out a bit, and then carefully lift away the cardboard.

Let it dry.

7.   To add some depth to the design, pull out one of the colors you originally sprayed the canvas with. I wanted to emphasize the greenish teal, so I used Metallic Mint here.

Dip a paintbrush in some water, and then really rub it into the Gelatos® stick to pick up some color. Dab color around the raised dots you just created to highlight them, and then just go back in with the brush to blend and smooth everything.

8.  Cut small circles from tissue paper, or use premade tissue paper confetti. I used three pieces of one-inch confetti, one of each color, on each canvas.

9.   Use a decoupage mixture, gel medium, or some sort of glaze to wet the surface of the canvas where you want your confetti to go. Carefully apply the confetti where you want it, and paint over each piece completely to seal it on. Apply the pieces one at a time, and overlap them for fun color mixing effects.

10.   To add a bit of depth and color variation, you can go back in with the original colors your sprayed, and just draw them onto the edges of the canvas in a thick layer. Use your fingers, paper towels, or a blending sponge to distribute the color and take away any harsh lines.

11.   To protect your finished work, spray it with a thin, even coat of sealant. I like a glossy one for this project, but matte works fine, too!