"Special" Scrapbook Canvas

Hi Everyone, back again with another project completed.  First I want to say, however, do you ever have one of those days when everything is going like clockwork and then one thing just won't go right?  Well, I was working on the canvas below and everything was going along great.  I finished all of the elements that were going to go onto the canvas - the background piece was completed - I had ironed the linen and I was going to staple it to the canvas.  Here is where it all started to go wrong!  I am not a carpenter or handyperson by any means, but I am pretty handy with basic tools.  My father was an engineer, a master wood worker, a builder and general all around Mr Fix it.  I helped him with many of his projects from about the age of 12 on, so I can handle basic tools.  I have a hand held staple gun that I have had for YEARS, along with a box of staples that go to this staple gun (also - have had for years).  Well, the first 2 staples went in fine and then it just kept shooting out 2, 3 and sometimes 4 staples at a time without any of them going into the wood at the back of the canvas.  I took all the staples out, put new ones in.  Checked to make sure there were no staples bent and stuck in the unit - to no avail.  I never could get that sucker to work.  So you know what I did, I separated a bunch of staples and pushed them into the wood to start them and then hammered them in.  My Husband was not around to help me figure out what the heck was going on - but I was not going to give up!!  So, here's my finished project! 

These photos were taken in May this year when I went to the US to visit my son and my grand daughters.  My mother met me there and we had "3 Generation" photos taken.  I love how this turned out.  I cannot take credit for the design, though.  It is a Lynette Carroll design.  She came and taught classes at the Brisbane Convention Centre and I took her class entitled:  Hope Chest 16" X 16" Canvas.  We only completed a few things during the class.  Most of it we had to finish when we got home but she had packaged all the pieces for each element in a separate bag with a color photo of each element and a 4X6 color photo of the finished canvas so that we could do our homework.

The only things that I changed from her original design, was she had plain pearl stick pins inserted in every panel where you see a stick pin above.  I know, I know, I hear all of the time "Less is More" but when I look at something I always think "More is better!!".  It must be a personality flaw. LOL.  Anyway, I had to make stick pins with a little personality.  I also added a few more tags to the background than she called for and I added some tiny string bows to the flowers in the bottom right corner that have a slight pink color rather than her off white string.  Only because I did not have enough string in my packet and because the roses have a touch of pink.  The only other things I changed were, the two ScrapMatts chipboard windows had grilles in them and I cut them out because they hid the faces of some of the people in my photo - she had single people in her windows so she was able to offset their faces so that the grilles did not go through their faces - I could not do that with the photos I wanted to use.  Also, the frame with the scalloped edge on the "this is amazing photo" I pieced together with scrap pieces of chipboard from another project because I wanted a frame around that photo.  I also had to cut my title out of paper and chipboard with my Scal software and electronic die cutting machine because there was no "Special" letters included in the supplies - I guess they were left out of my kit.  I also changed the headings on a couple of the photos to match the feelings I was trying to project.  The list of supplies:

Pink Paislee Hope Chest Paper, paper tickets, die cut shapes, and journal label stickers.  The paper flowers in soft tones are from Petaloo Paper Blooms.  There was cream colored seam binding, cream colored string, Scrapmatts chipboard, cream/light tan paint, 16"x16" canvas and linen large enough to wrap around the canvas and staple in the back.