A Pretty Little Frame

I've got a pretty little frame for ya'll today. I took a simple (and cheap) frame and attacked it with lots of Prima goodness from YMH. I covered the frame with some Prima paper using Glaudine Hellmuth's Multi-medium. After I did that I went back and forth about sponging on ink or not. I finally decided not to. The next step was to for some bling to act as leaves in a way. I took several swirls and just cut them apart and layed them down where I wanted them. The flowers were colored using some glimmer mist except the cream color one. That came from a flower/butterfly combo. I had used the butterfly on a previous project and haven't known what to do with the flower. Today I took the center bling off and layered my other flower onto it. Now I need to find a quote to go in to for my home :)

Balance Prima style

I am back. It's still upsetting to think that I will never be able to see my uncle again in person when I visit my family there, but I know I will see him the stories we share and the memories I have. We didn't have a service but a celebration of his life. It was amazing to see the police being represented from the surrounding communities as he was a police officer for many years before going to Boeing. He was an Eagle Scout, retired Air Froce and police officer, father, son, uncle, brother and so much more. He and I were the only red heads in the family and for many years when I was much younger people would think I was his daughter. Thank you for ya'lls prayers and thoughts while I was gone.

I wanted to share this project that was posted over at Your Memories Here. My OLW for 2011 is "balance" and I thought it would be nice to have a pretty reminder. The frame was created from a wooden frame that got the edges painted with black paint and the front covered in some yummy Prima paper fround at YMH. The letters were some random chipboard alphas I had that I painted in turquoise and then added a layer of Glossy Accent to make them shiny. I added a black "mat" that was dry brushed with white on the inside to distinquish it from the picture and the black strip was crinkled and then dry brushed with white paint to give it some texture. To balance the word I added several Prima flowers (LOVE these flowers). I used Lilliput Roses - Lemon, Lilliput Roses - Turquoise, Mini Rose - Bright Turquoise, and Mini Rose - Sunrise Yellow. Since the mini flowers come on wire steams I used those steams to add some texture to the flowers and act like leaves. After the flowers were glued down I discovered an opening that looked off in the bunch so I added some Prima half pearls in a creamy yellow to act as filler. LOVED how quick and esay this all came together and now I have a beautiful reminder sitting on my classroom desk as a gentle reminder of my 2011 OLW.

My DH took the picture of me standing againt a black cloth I use for photographing my white projects. I decided I wanted to represent a scale. In PSE I softened the picture and worked each layer to give it a B/W effect while having my turquiose shirt pop just a tad. Then I added the words of what I am trying to find a balance in/with this year. I have this same photo printed, with the definition and a scripture verse added, to my bathroom mirror as a reminder each morning and evening.

I hope to have something for ya'll Friday, but since I just got back and my youngest is not sleeping well at night I can not promise just yet.

Framed Art

I haven't done too many altered projects but I saw a challenge and thought I would give it a try.
The frame was a plain wooden frame from Michael's that I used a cream acrylic paint as a base coat and then distressed it with some Crackle Distress Paint (Walnut Stain). The Distress paint was applied in thin and thick areas to vary the degree of cracks it would produce as it dried. I really liked how it turned out and can see me using this product some more (although some of the bigger cracks grabbed the base paint and then flacked off as I brushed against it so I painted the exposed wood with some brown paint). The sentiment is computer generated (it's one I used before too). The cluster of flowers is a stamp from Waltzingmouse Stamps in the Free Spirit stamp set. I stamped the image three times so that I could layer them to add deminsions. Since the quote involves the sun, I thought I would use the rays from Practicing Creativity's You're Dandy stamp set. The twist is that I stamped them on red cardstock instead of yellow or orange which are the more normal sun colors, but I like the punch the red gives the project. The other flower stamps I used on the background came from a stamp set that matched some summer paper I used last summer maybe but I don't remember the company - sorry. For the background I did the stamp off method and love how it gave the flowers a watercolor effect to them. To help add to the distress/vintage feel of this project I used my sewing machine and sewed the red strip on. I really liked how it turned out and should use the machine more than I do (I think this is only my third time, lol).

Now let's talk about the beautiful flower (wouldn't it look great as a pin too). I am in love with this flower and am so glad I got the chance to create one AND use it on a project. I first fell in love with the flower at Sherrie of Card Creme blog. She has some amazing work and you really do need to check her out. She didn't create a tutorial for this particular flower, but Sherrie does have a great tutorial for a felt flower (which I can't wait to try out myself). I used the wide twill ribbon for the petals and discovered yet again just how great Fabri-tac is. Once the flower was pieced together, I sponged Fired Brick and Dried Marigold Distress ink over it to give the flower some color and even more depth. The leave were created with Peeled Paint and Shabby Shutters sponged over a medium width twill ribbon. It did take some time to make this but the outcome is oh so worth it :) I might go back and try something else with the center of the flower.

LOTS of challenges used:
City Crafter Challenge Blog - photo inspiration (I focused on the colors in the photo)
OWH - photo inspiration (although not a card to use for Operation Write Home, I loved the colors)
There She Goes - use orange, red, & brown (I didn't use much orange but I promise it is mixed in)
Creative Belli - alter something
One Stop Craft - Distress (the crackle paint and the sponging I did)
Unscripted Sketches - use a quote (I choose one of the many they had listed as I think that's what your suppose to do)
Creative Card Crew - die cuts (hope useing my nesties work)
Lil' Red Wagon - use your nesties (my ovel for the sentiment)
Truly Scrupmtious - sketch and theme of garden - sometimes I get the urge to try to use a sketch on something other than a card/scrapbook page
Play Date Dafe - photo inspiration
Crazy 4 Challenges - use 2 or more ribbons (I used at least 9 for my corner flower)