Planting Happiness

Darkroom Door's Gardening Vol. 2 surprisingly lead me to painting and embroidering upon canvas.

The basic technique was as follows:

1.  Layer Gesso onto a small panel of torn canvas.  

2.  Stamp image (i.e. watering can) onto canvas.

3.  Paint image using acrylic paint.

4.  Re-stamp image over the paint and heat set.  I'd recommend using a stamp-positioner if you have one.  I didn't and it was a bit tricky.

4.  Embroider stems and flowers.  I used lovely variegated threads by DMC.

5.  Stamp sentiment, affix to card and embellish with lace.

Don't be too worried when you don't end up with a perfectly crisp image.  Stamping on canvas can lead to a more painterly effect.

I used simple straight stitches and colonial knots to create the pot full of flowers.

Random dabs of green helped fill out the second flower pot and I added some dashes of green onto the pots to balance the work.