Canvases and maternity cards

Hello again,
Once more time has run away with me and I have been sucked into real life instead of being able to wallow in the world of creation and art, where I would prefer to be.  Both my daughters started school yesterday, so we've had the preparation and getting their school packs delivered and finding out which class and teacher they will be having.  And especially there is the calming down of two under 10s who have been on holidays for almost two months - arrrgghh!  Still, we have managed to accomplish the impossible - so I can strike it off the list of six things to achieve before breakfast :)

One of my bosses went on maternity leave today.  Monday was the farewell "high tea", and I was asked to make the farewell card, which needed to be big enough for everyone in the branch to sign (I work for a government department and our branch is small, but it still needed to have room for almost 30 people to leave a message).  I ended up folding an A4 card in half and using a digi stamp from Bugaboo stamps for the front.  I love the way you can manipulate digi images so they can be as big or as small as you require.  Then it was out with the trusty Copics and here she is:

Then it was onto making the card itself:

I was very happy with how it turned out, and, more importantly, so was my boss :)

The recipe is as follows:
Copics: E11, E13, E15, E25, E47, E49, E55 and YG97 (green for the eyes)
Ink: Colourbox Chalks in Lavender
Stamps: Bugaboo "JJ Grow People" and Hero Arts "Lots of Wonderful (D4644)"
Cardstock: Stampin Up! More Mustard
Paper: Scrapbook Walls "Butter Dahlia (Item #20722)"
Flowers and brads from stash.

The only other thing I have been doing was to actually drag out one of the two canvases I had leaning against the wall and give it it's first coat of gesso.  I have a before and after pic for you to see.  In the before photo, I have blurred out all the words on it - it was a canvas advertising my old company and I was unsure of the infringement implications, so I'm playing it safe LOL.

 As you can see, the canvas is leaning against a three drawer filing cabinet, which will give you an idea of the size of it.  Don't ask me why I chose to start with a canvas which is over a metre high (120 x 85cms to be exact) - I must be a sucker for punishment!  And, of course, I have now stalled, because I have no idea what I want to paint.  Do I do trees, or flowers, something modern, symmetrical, geometric? Do I doodle or sketch something recognisable (I am not a good drawer, so I guess that answers that particular question!).  The possibilities are overwhelming and so it now stands in the same spot, altered only by one layer of gesso:

I will get around to painting another layer one of these days and see if I get inspired along the way.

Nothing much else to report, I'm afraid.  I will post again later - it's off to bed for me now!

Happy crafting,
Bron