Here are the full instructions as sent into us by Susan, to create her gorgeous canvas: winning entry in our Stamper of the Year contest 2009.

“The canvas was given a thin coat of gesso before sponging on some Scattered Straw, Spiced Marmalade and Tea Dye Distress Inks. The Prima music image was stamped onto tissue paper using Archival Ink and, using a watered down PVA, was then glued on all four edges making sure the music was the correct way up! Further inks were lightly added on top when this was dry along with some Distress Crackle Paint in Tea Dye and Scattered Straw. Walnut Stain ink was added over the top to bring out the crackle effect and give a little more definition to the edges of the canvas.

Baroque music paper: Antique Linen ink and a smidge of Dusty Concord ink with a hint of Cosmic Shimmer red bronze were mixed together and sprayed onto cream parchment effect card. The Cherry Pie music stamp was firstly inked up using an embossing pen, marking only the wording, stamped and heat embossed with gold powder. Then the whole stamp was inked with walnut stain and using a stamp positioner aligned the image just off line to get a shadow effect and enhance the aged look. I layered this firstly onto black card and then burgundy card and added the fancy metal flower embellishment that had been coloured with Alcohol Inks in Espresso and Terracotta with an added touch of Copper mixative.

Polka dot papers: Pink parchment effect paper was heat embossed all over with a distressed dotty stamp using clear powder. Distress Ink in Walnut Stain was dragged over and the excess wiped away for a resist effect. The same was done with another piece using Shabby Shutters instead. Alcohol Inks in Espresso and Terracotta were used to colour the square brads and then the papers were firstly layered onto black card and then burgundy.

Ballerina panel: I drew an outline of a ballerina which I transferred to my Serif graphics programme on my computer and typed up a dictionary definition and printed out over this onto white cardstock, cut out the ballerina and then inked the edges with Frayed Burlap and edged with a black permanent marker for definition. Inked up a bit of card with Worn Lipstick and stamped the wording in Archival Ink to make it look a bit like a ticket and cut out the bodice shape, then used Distress Crackle Paint Rock Candy over this and attached with silicone glue.

Using a piece of yellow parchment effect card as a base, Distress Inks in Frayed Burlap and Scattered Straw were sponged on. I stamped the Tim Holtz/Stampers Anonymous skeleton with Impress Chocolate ink, stamping off the first image to add to the time worn look and then roughed up the edges a bit and added Walnut Stain ink. The acrylic black sticker was made from scratch by printing out the word dance onto card and cutting out the stencil letters by hand, then inking the piece with black and triple embossing with clear powder. The ballerina was shaped a little and attached with silicone glue with three chocolate pearls to the lower corner of the panel. This whole panel was firstly layered onto a black panel that had been roughed up around the edge and then onto a piece of cream card that had been heat embossed roughly around the edge with pewter powder.

The wings were hand drawn, cut from Grungeboard and covered with a thin coat of gesso then stamped and distress embossed with Worn Lipstick using a Tim Holtz/Stampers Anonymous script stamp. The edges were then inked with some Walnut Stain and edged with a black permanent marker for definition

Distress Crackle Paint in Cranberry was used to cover the dance chipboard letters and I used Adirondack acrylic Terracotta to roughly cover the chipboard label holder. The same alcohol ink mix as used on the brads was lightly dabbed over the distressed chipboard letters and the label holder.

I printed off the label wording onto textured cream cardstock and stippled a touch of Tea Dye and Scattered Straw over, attached label to back of holder and filled with Distress Crackle Paint Rock Candy, added the black brads and attached with silicone glue.”