Guilded Photo Frame

As some of you know I have been making Altered Art / Mixed Media items for a local Art Café for display and sale. I am also thinking about holding workshops there.  One of my items is going to Print!!  Ssshhhhh can't say any more yet - I don't think???

Yesterday I read Barbara Gray's Blog (well I read it EVERY DAY)  she did a tutorial on a card with the Clarity Stamp Guilding Flakes. Barbara then put on an offer for a set of three of her favourites - so I whizzed off to the Clarity Stamp Website to take her up on the offer. which is still on by the way!

Then I rememberd that someone had asked me if I would show a tutorial on a Photo Frame I altered for the Art Café with Guilding Flakes on it and I promised I would.  So here it is. 

 This is the very reason I wanted to stock up too.

Altered frame using Clarity Stamp Sentiments Stamp  and Clarity "Variegated Green"  Guilding Flakes.

This was a basic white wooden frame. Which I undercoated in black
and then dry rubbed in white - using a cloth and chalky paint.

I then decided what was going to go in the middle of it.
Its for as a picture frame but I wanted to fill it with something lovely
in case people just wanted to use it as it is. How many of us have
photo frames hanging around the house with that white shiny label in the middle
and the full intention of one day putting a photo in it??? Oh is it just me then???



There perfect colouring don't you think. The variegated Green has just
the right colouring for this project too. But I make my projects according
to the Colour and feel I want. Shabby chic looks great in creams and browns with a
 hint of Red or Gold.  Gold on its own just gives a richness to a project - Opulent,
- now there's a word I like!  All these are coved in the offer pack. There is a
Glue too that I am going to try. 

 

T

You can see here and in the picture above that I have added a little of
the PaperArtsty Paint "Pansy" to get the colour even deeper and more
Vintage looking.

So how did I put the Gilding Flakes on the frame you may ask? Well a lot of people
 will be  screaming  NO at this picture but if you look above you will get a little hint. !!



Yes I used Glue & Seal.  Now I am not saying this is the best way to do it!! But it was the best that I had at hand at the time. ALSO on this project I wanted it to look anything BUT perfect. However, the Glue & Seal worked better than I expected it to so I had to be quite random with my application.I let the Glue & Seal go slightly tacky before I put the Flakes on and then Rubbed them on with my fingers to embed them in the glue.  Then let it all dry completely!



You don't have to be this messy if you don't want to be?? On the Flowers at the top
I brushed the Glue & Seal on bits I wanted to highlight and then used a dry brush to
push the flakes into the deeper parts of the flower.





See the more random the better.  I did actually add some all around
the edges after this photo was taken. Once you feel the glue is dry
and the Gilding Flakes are set, just rub all over the Gilded areas with
the Sponge as normal to "clear the area" and see what you have left underneath.





Then I got out my Archival Ink pad and the Clarity Sentiments Stamp  "Kind Hearts" and stamped round the edges
as you can see here.  I held the stamp in my hand so that I could "move it along" as I stamped it.
You wouldn't want the bits down the edge to keep saying the same thing, so stamp from the beginning
of the verse, then move to the middle for the bit underneath and so on. On the bottom piece I stamped
straight along the bottom three times with the stamp. Still not lined up though.

 





And here it is - The finished result.  I love this verse as it is but it also makes a brilliant
background stamp because of the type of  text it is. Of course now we have the
Clarity Word Chains too so you try and stop me!!!! You will be finding them all over my work.

So to me every element of this frame has a purpose. If any one thing was missing it just wouldn't work. But the Gilding Flakes take it to another level.  This has been the most popular thing I have made for the Art Café, along with my Rolling Pins,  both by my friends & family,  people in the Café and on here too.  So do any of you fancy doing a Gilded project?.  I have applied this technique to quite a few Tags I have done too. It looks great on MDF. I fancy trying it on some flowers I coloured the other week too. But first I have some lovely Clarity Word Chains to play with. !!

 

I have been neglecting my Blog again but no point me coming on here if I have nothing to show you, but I will make it a little more regular.  In fact I might have a little challenge coming up soon on my Crafters Only Blog    http://samshomecookeddesigns.blogspot.co.uk/.!!! Are you up for it? 

 

So Bye for now, hope you like my Picture Tutorial. If you have a go I would like to see the results please.  Someone was telling me that she had a go at one of my projects and is now thinking of making them to sell, I was so happy to hear that. I love that people might be inspired by an idea that I have.  But it is worth noting that a lot of my inspiration comes from the products I use and techniques I have learnt, its good to share!!!

 

If you are at the NEC this week, have a great time. Say Hi to all the lovely people on the Clarity Stand. I can't make it this time but I really enjoyed working on the Clarity Stand at Harrogate and it was lovely to see so many of you, in fact Sunday was a very sociable day.
By for now
Carry on Crafting
Luv Sam xx