Altered canvas clock

I created this clock as a gift for a very good friend. We had our little get-together tonight so now that he has it, I can post it here. :)

He's a very busy person, though doing much better at taking time to do other things besides work, I think he sometimes needs a reminder. So this clock has no numbers, as it's not meant to help him keep track of hours. Instead I hoped it would inspire him to take more time for other things that can be just as important as working.

I found this quote and thought it was perfect for this project. The frame is cut from Gypsy Wanderings, on grungeboard, which was inked with Distress inks, then stamped and heat embossed with gold embossing powder. Then I filled the frame in with Glossy Accents.

This large flower was made using the flower tutorial over at StuckOnUSketches. I absolutely love how it turned out. I bought music sheet printed paper at Hobby Lobby which is appropriate for the recipient as he taught himself how to play hammered dulcimer; then cut the layers on my cricut with a flower from Graphically Speaking, inked with Distress Ink and adhered them together. The center is a word charm and spinner from Tim Holtz.

He's also a garden enthusiast, especially growing their own veggies. So I put this little "green man" in the foliage for his interest in gardening sustainably. I just used the same sun cut as the sun on the clock, from Life's a Beach for the green man face, just cut off the rays and glued leaves from A Child's Year on.

The rest of the foliage is from A Child's Year and Lyrical Letters. The flourish is from Home Decor. The tiny blue flowers are from Accent Essentials. There's some bling pearls in the centers of the flowers. The letters are Calligraphy Collection, the moon is from A Child's Year. The background shape is Gypsy Wanderings.

The first thing I did was glue a thick piece of 8.5x11 chipboard to the back of the canvas to stablize the canvas and keep it from warping the canvas due to it's weight. Then I painted the canvas a green to match the papers, and glued on the base papers and background shapes. I then drilled a hole for the clockworks, and put the clockworks together to make sure it worked. I also wanted to see how high the clock hands were so that I didn't put any embellishments where the hands would hit.

Then I cut and glued down the words around the clock face, cut and assembled the embellishments and glued them down.  After everything was done, I took the hands off the clock again, covered the shaft of the clockworks with a lid from something and sprayed the entire thing with a spray that is supposed to protect the surface of paper projects, giving them water resistence, UV protection, etc. I just wanted to make the clock easier to dust later. After the stuff was dry (it dried quick) I replaced the clock hands.

I loved doing this project and I'm really proud of it. But I'm glad it's done and gone! It was very time consuming, LOL!

Thanks for looking!