My Adventures in Canvas - part 1

When Little Yellow Bicycle sent me some Game On Canvas Colorables I knew they were going to be fun. However, I'm not the queen of altering canvas, so I used a lot of trial and error and took lots of notes so I can pass a few of the things I learned along to you. I'll share some of those tips today in this post, and some in Part 2.
First, a little info on the Canvas Colorables: They're 5" x 7" with an extra 1" edge all the way around. It comes wrapped around a piece of thin cardboard that you can leave in or take out depending on your project.
Since I decided to use one of the  Canvases as a mini album cover, I left the cardboard in. I did add some Glue Dots® to make sure it would all stay attached through a lot of handling.  I colored the cover using a variety of techniques, just to see what would happen. My biggest tip here: if you're not sure something will work well for coloring, flip the canvas over and test it out on the 1" extra overlap on the back side. Anything permanent (Paint, paint pens, alcohol inks, mists, alcohol base markers (think Copics)) seem to work really well. Anything not so permanent (water based inks and markers) tend not to work, as they don't dry completely or smear when touched. 

Anything colored in blue was done with Copic Markers. All the letters filled in with light green were also done with a Copic. The plus side to using Copics is that the cover very well, give nice bright colors, and allow the original print work on the canvas to show through. If you're looking to do the same thing with a more antiqued look, I would suggest trying to sponge or brush on alcohol inks. The gold was applied with a paint pen. Works great, but does not allow the printing on the canvas underneath to show through. The dark green was applied with a Sharpie. The up side is I just happened to have a few Sharpies lying around in colors that I didn't  have Copics in. The down side is they don't go on as smoothly as Copics and they tend to cover up the printed lines as well. The green spray up in the corner was done with Tattered Angels Olive Vine Glimmer Mist.
One more note about the canvas and then I'll move on to the insides of the mini album. It held up very well to me punching holes in it for the binder rings.

Here are the inside pages and back cover of the mini. Note that the big blank spaces will be filled in with photos when my son starts playing soccer next season.

Here are a few of my favorite details from each page:

I added Glossy Accents to the stars on the paper to make them pop.

 I created a pocket to stash journaling and memorabilia.

I LOVE these pockets from LYB. It comes as "10 things I love about Sports" but can be customized to soccer, football, baseball, or basketball as well.

Another thing I love from LYB: spinners. They're such a fun way to add to the theme of a layout or mini album.

There are so many great accessories in Game On (chipboard, stickers, banners...). The possibilities are endless for layering and creating your own custom embellishments.

Thanks for stopping by today. Please feel free to ask any question you may have about the Canvas Colorables. I'm by no means an expert with them, but I did try lots of different things out just to see what would work.

Supplies:
Album Cover - Little Yellow Bicycle Game On Canvas Colorables (Soccer)
Paper - LYB Game On (Game Day Words, Game Day Words Blue, Baseball Field, All Stars, Game On Pennants, Baseball Collage, Soccer Collage, Playing Field Green, Grey Bleachers, All Star Red)
Accessories - LYB Game On (Stickers Favorite Pieces (Baseball, Soccer), Chipboard Shapes, Mini Banners (Baseball, Soccer), Tearout Ticket Book), Ranger Glossy Accents
Tools - Fiskar's Upper Crest Punch, Fiskar's Diamond Border Punch