My Handmade Cherry Blossom Canvas


I was inspired several weeks ago by a magazine article I read about creating your own wall art. Some of the ideas were really fun! The cherry blossom canvas, pictured above, caught my eye right away. I was longing for spring {who am I kidding? I still am!}, and the bright pinks jumped right off the page.

But... it was a little too... something. For my taste. So I used the idea simply as inspiration, and this is what I came up with:


I love it! I also love how frequently visitors notice the canvas. It's fun to talk about--and, well, it makes me proud.

I don't really think a TRUE step-by-step is necessary, but read on for some pointers and ideas.


My canvas was damaged, and required a little bit of "repair" before I could apply paint. I didn't need perfection, since the bad spot was mostly covered by a strategically-placed flour, so I simply used some decoupage to attach a paper "patch" on the back side. I applied some white tempera as a base.


Two colors of blue, haphazardly applied and without waiting for coats to dry.


Branches were penciled on, and then painted free-hand with a small brush and brown paint.


I used these round sponge brushes in two sizes. Larger, for the lighter pink part of the painted blossoms, and smaller, for the darker part of the blossoms and for the leaves. Apply paint to part of the round sponge {as pictured} to get a leaf shape.


The painted blossoms and leaves...


For the dimensional blossoms {plucked from a branch purchased at Joann}, I used an exacto knife to poke holes in the canvas, then applied a bit of hot glue to the hole, then shoved the flower in.

Work slowly, stepping back to look at your whole project. It's easy to get ahead of yourself and add too much in one area, or not enough in another.


The birds were traced onto scrapbook paper from an online template, cut out, and attached with more decoupage medium. You could try butterflies instead of birds, or...?

Do you have any handmade canvases in your home? Have I inspired you to make your first?? I'd love to hear about it in the comments, or maybe see a photo!

5 comments:

  1. I like yours better! Very pretty!

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  2. Hey--thanks! ...I like mine better as well, though I may be biased ;)

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  3. I picked up this magazine too :) Love your painting! I am totally doing the cynder block lawn furniture LOL

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  4. Oh I am also going to do the celery stamp...I've always admired the pretty shape and wanted to do something with it!

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  5. Love this!! This will give my teen daughter and I something to work on together for the baby nursery!! :)

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