Forever In My Heart- Part Deux

The last couple trips home, my mom asked me to find the photo that was taken during my wedding of her and my stepdad.  I didn't realize she liked that picture so much!  She told me later it's because he was wearing a tux and never did before.

I was a little worried because when I first started looking for the photo, I looked in my hard drive and didn't find it.  I thought I only had a regular print and was worried I wouldn't find it.  Then I tackled my hallway closet and found it in one of the photo storage containers that had everyone's wedding pictures, including mine.  I was soooo happy to find it for her.

Then I went to make copies of it.  Decided to enlarge one so I could use it on a project for mom.  Then I remembered that Mom's birthday was coming up, so I decided to use it on a canvas.  Here's what I came up with.

The first thing I did was choose the paper.  Because our wedding colors were red, pink, and white, I decided to incorporate red into the project.  Plus mom is renovating her "woman cave" and has opted for a earthy rustic theme. She picked out dark colored wood, rattan type furniture, so I thought the red would match nicely in her new room once its done.

So the paper I chose is from Prima's Stationer's Desk collection.  Lately I've been into the whole shabby chic colors (pastels) but I think it was a good break to go with some bursts of red.  I fell in love with the paper that I chose and love that the opposite side is that dark red.  Its good that the opposite side coordinates well with the side I'm using.... for the reason below... If you curl the paper as I did and the opposite side doesn't match, it will likely ruin your project.

To make this little peek a boo window, you figure out where you want your photo. I then marked it on the paper and then cut an X from corner to corner.  Then curl back each end to reveal the photo.  Oops forgot to add that I sprayed the edges of the canvas with brown before I adhered down the photo and covered it with the DP.  After placing the photo down, I could then start decorating.

Not sure why but I had a hard time with this layout.  It took me several days to figure out how I wanted to do it, but I finally just started gluing and this is what I came up with.

Below is the top left hand corner of the project.  Not sure if you can see, but I layed down a piece of burlap, then a crochet doily, then all the flowers and burlap leaves.  The keyhole was also glued there but the key is at the bottom by the photo.  Oh yes, and peeking out from behind one of the large roses is some bling I got from Downtown LA.  Still having a hard time letting go of my stash, but I think canvases are the perfect project to do so with since it won't be discarded at the end of the day.  The "Love" branch is an embellishment by Prima that I got from one of their warehouse box sales (good find!)

Over the photo, I added some black Prima swirl bling and then glued on another bling from Downtown LA.

Here's the key I told you about.

I think the hardest part was finding the right sentiment for this project.  Not sure if you remember but a few posts back, I shared the mother's day canvas that I made for my mother in law. I used the same sentiment because I felt like this captured my mom's feelings for my stepdad.. he will always be forever in her heart.  Of course I had to add some hearts right?  (Hearts are my favorite!) So I decided to part with one of my heart blings I got at the last Rubber Stamp Expo.  Also shown here is the other part of that black bling and another bling piece from Downtown LA.

Hope my mom likes this present.  I made her a regular copy of the photo anyway because she wanted it for a special frame she bought.  Gonna surprise her with this when I see her.  Happy Birthday Mom!