CHA Sneak Peeks of Canvas Corp.

I'm so excited to show you some Sneak Peeks from the Canvas Corp. booth (#2871).

NEW Canvas

Check out these cute canvas banners-they have a whole new line of canvas products-circles, stars, hearts, squares. They have this great unfinished edge look.



Look at ALL the different shapes! And, canvas from 2 x 2 to 18 x 18. Seriously-how cute are those little tiny square canvases. I can't wait to play with those.


A 12 x 12 Canvas-I just used my scrapbooking circle cutters to trace around with a pencil and then painted.


And great canvas pillows you can decorate any way you want!

Paint Almost ANYTHING-NO sanding, NO priming, NO chemicals


And, for the thing I'm super excited to show everyone at the show-did you know their "Furniture, Cabinet and Trim" paint can be used to paint almost anything-yes, even metal, tin, or old vintage wood pieces!?! Look at these beautiful candle sticks-yah-I've got a few of those brass beauties sitting around in my closet. They painted them a gorgeous chocolate brown and it sticks! I can't get over it! That table they are setting on was one of those old 70's style dark wood with fake brass detailing-now a gorgeous white.



Maybe I shouldn't get quite so excited over a paint-it is JUST PAINT after all, but after all the years of trying to find a good paint to use on all the stuff I have brought home from garage sales and flea markets and finally finding SOMETHING that actually works without all the fuss and mess-well, it DOES get me excited.

Design Binder


This album was the perfect place for my Disney scrapbook because it comes with several different multi-photo pages already packaged into one album. There are 8 1/2 x 11 page protectors, 4 up and 8 up multi-photo pages and a great heavy duty zipper pouch. I really like the look of the wire album rings and they uncrew in a snap, so I could rearrange my pages anyway I wanted.


8 up with our Disney passes and some journalling boxes


4 up with some really cute astronauts.


Transparency Overlay



They also have black decorative hardware so while I use these to hang my original fine art paintings, I also think they are adorable on a scrapbook page with the Canvas black jute rope tied between the two.

Now, there is also some more way cool things...but I can't let everything out of the bag before the show so you'll just have to wait. If I get a chance later on tonight, I will try to post some more photos of some of the projects I'm finishing up on before hitting the plane early tomorrow morning!

CHA Designer Event

If you are planning on attending CHA, make sure you stop by the Canvas Corp. Booth during the last hour of the show on Day 1. From 4:30-5:30 pm on Jan. 25, they will be giving away product goodie bags and a $25 gift certificate to all the designers who show up. While you are there don't forget to ask for information concerning their designer endorsement program.

Here is a link to their Canvas Corp if you want to have a look around and check out all of their cool products. Can't wait to see you there!


"Bedrock" (22 x 29) Copyright 2008 Melynda Van Zee

I've been busy in the studio planning to head to market. It is good for me to have a deadline-helps me to sort out all the creating I've been up to and try to put some structure around it. I'd rather concentrate on the "just making stuff" but every now and then I have to come up for air and figure out exactly what I've been up to and figure out the best way to share it. That part isn't my favorite part of the process because for me it is the "process" where I find the most joy. I know, I KNOW artists need to be business people as well as artists, but I have to "work" at this part. People are always asking me "what will you DO with that after you make it?" And, I do go through a head and heart process...can I share this yet? Can I let go of it yet? Do I need to keep it around because it is still teaching me something? Is this project really done? Does this go right to the Galerie? Does it hang here at my house? Do I share this with people I love at church? Do I give it away to someone special to me? Will this piece never see the light of day- was it "just for me and God only"?
But, after a certain time-each piece or page has a different time span- it seems I'm finally in the place where I can really let it go. And, once I'm there, it really doesn't "matter" to me where it ends up...oh, I know it should. I KNOW I need to "protect" my work, market it wisely, store it safely, but to be honest, I'm letting go of all that control more and more. If someone else is blessed by my marks, by my color left on the path, great, but it is not what motivates me. Maybe that's the heart of what I'm trying to say. I've finally gotten to the point with my art that it is not the "where this will end up" or "who will someday SEE this" that motivates me, it is that I can't help myself from making it, from saying whatever it is that my brush or pen needed to say. It's been a long time in coming and it feels...well, it feel oh so right.