Vintage Mail Box with love notes by Joan

Hi .... Joan here today. I have this vintage mailbox and when we lived at our old house it hung in the hallway at the top of the stairs.  I usually put a flower arrangement in it that changed with each season along with some type of little banner across it.  When we moved to the new house I found the perfect spot for it.  It hangs in our modern farm house bathroom right above the claw foot tub.  I thought it would be fun to use it as a mailbox, where my husband and I could leave each other love notes or words of encouragement.  If I do say so myself it has been one of my better ideas.  I love leaving him a weekly message of some kind and truly look forward to finding my messages from him.  When I received this card from Randy, I knew I wanted to use it on a canvas to capture the cuteness!

So that's the reason for creating this canvas and this is the process ...

1)  I painted the canvas with a light coat of white Gesso.

2)  Next I applied a coat of  Delta "Passion" Acrylic Paint.

3)  I then randomly applied Tim Holtz "Brushed Pewter" Distress Paint.

4) I used Mod Podge and applied some printed tissue paper to the canvas.

5)  For the next step I covered the entire canvas with a light coat of the white Gesso and then wiped it off with a baby wipe.

6)  I started randomly applying a variety of different mist and letting them run down the canvas (Heidi Swapp White Color Shine, Tim Holtz Hickory Smoke Distress Spray Stain, Tattered Angels Boardwalk Mist and Shimmerz Sapphire Spritz).

7)  Wanting to add some texture to the canvas, I tinted some Modeling Paste with Tattered Angels Pewter Paint.  I then haphazardly applied the paste to the canvas using a stencil.

8)  I adhered the front of the greeting card and the saying to the canvas with Mod Podge.  Adding the cluster of flowers completed the canvas.

[ I love seeing how many layers I can add and still have a canvas work for me.  When I'm done, I find it interesting to see what I have chosen to conceal and reveal.]