The art of being grateful - a mixed media canvas by Sandee Setliff

The art of being grateful is an easily practiced skill and, I believe, can have nothing but positive effects. Practicing gratefulness can help put you in a positive mindset, a mindset that will give you a stronger foundation to face daily challenges and be more present with the things and people you love. So keeping that in mind, I made a small canvas to hang up to remind me daily to cultivate the art of being grateful every day.

I knew what I had in mind for my canvas to become so I began by cutting a piece of deli paper to the size of my canvas to create a mask by using a craft knife to cut circles for where I wanted flowers. I am doing this because the stencil I am going to use to create the flowers has nothing to do with ... well, flowers!

And as usual, for me....one idea is always ahead of another idea so I have to backtrack and prep my canvas. I began to build layers by adding some background paint and using a dry brush to blend the colors together and then let that dry before adding my next layer which was the bottom half of the Celestial Grove stencil. I used a sponge to apply the Moonlight Duo Tint & Hue ink pad in Asteroid Umber ink through the stencil giving it a light but distinctive marking.

I don't know about you but I love to try and look at stencils differently like this Stylized Fireworks stencil by  June Pfaff Daley. Once you look past the firework motif you will see all sorts of wonderful designs that can be used to enhance your projects.

Now comes the part that I really enjoy which is making doodles on top of the 

stenciled patterns with my pens and adding in some rubber stamping like I did with the stems for the flowers with the Stampstacts 2 stamps by Kae Pea.

I wanted one more layer so I used Andrew Borloz's Wheel Spokes Set #2 stencil to create a bokea effect. (  Bokeh has been defined as "the way the lens renders out-of-focus points of light". ) And I used white and blue ink to create this soft effect.

My last step is adding a sentiment or quote to my piece. This is an important step for me as words always seem to tie a piece together. I know there are a lot of people out there who dislike using their handwriting and if you are one of them ( I know I am ) then embrace any flaws and make it whimsical!

Gratitude strengthens relationships, improves health, reduces stress, and, in general, makes us happier. So it doesn't hurt to make a project that you can hang up somewhere to help you to remember...

there is always something to be grateful for.

Sandee