My Family Tree

I made this family tree as part of the Compendium of Couriositis Challenge at Studio L3 but it took me too long to make to enter the challenge. I love how this turned out! I have plans to frame it and maybe add a title or phrase. I purchased most items at Michaels:

* Tim Holtz Fragments

* Tim Holtz Alcohol ink

(added to the green paint for more texture effects)

* Glossy Accents

* 16x20 canvas

* Chaulk Ink

* Acrylic Paint

* Wire

* Leaves (these were given to me, Michaels sold them a long time ago.)

* Stretch beading string, clear

* E6000 (to glue the leaves)

I painted the canvas edges green and the middle a champaigne metallic beige. I just kept playing with it until I liked the center shape, where the tree will go. When the green color was dry, I used Alcohol ink around the edges to give it a bit dirty look and to add a bit of darker green to it. I can't tell I used the Alcohol ink very much, but I did and it is the look I liked.

I printed the photos as wallet size through Snapfish.com . I put the Glossy Accents on the fragments and the placed on the photo. I let them dry overnight and then trimmed to fit.

I then cut about 10 pieces of wire a little bit shorter than the canvas. I twisted the wire in the middle to form the trunk and then formed the branches and the roots.

I sewed the tree onto the canvas with the clear, stretch beading thread to secure it. Then, I sewed the fragments onto the branches. I put my family on on side of the tree and my husbands on the other side. I glued the leaves onto the fragment to hide the thread and I glued leaves all around to fill the empty spaces. While gluing, I moved the branches into better positions so none of the faces was blocked.

I really like how this turned out! I am going to date it and add some more, I will update this post when I do but I wanted to share with you my little masterpiece. This was a lot of fun because I didn't use a pattern or template, I just thought about what I would like and took it from there. I am usually looking for inspiration around the web but this time I looked to my family and was inspired!