For June at Creating the Craft Life our theme is FRAMES! Frames are so fun because there are so many things you can do with them. I have covered them in fabric or paper, glued all kinds of junkies to them, and painted them. Next on my agenda will be to try mixed media on a frame, but I'm still standing on shaky ground when it comes to mixed media, so for my inspiration project, I opted to alter a frame to make it look like one of those nifty photo trays. I got my divided frame at my local thrift store for $1.99! Score! I had tons of fun adhering little trinkets and goodies to it to dress up the gentlemanly vintage theme I was going for:
I started with the frame itself, and sprayed metallic inks and pearl inks all over it. Then I sprinkled embossing powder here and there and heated it to give the frame a grainy look. ((This technique would work really well on a whitewashed frame in a beach theme... the sprinkles look kind of like sand!)) I knew I was going to use photos of my sister, mom, and myself dressed in tuxes and gentleman 'staches, so I wanted add vintage items, such as bottles, keys, and timepieces. I was very happy with the look I achieved.
You can buy those really nice photo trays at any of the big craft stores (be sure to always bring your 40% coupon, as those bad boys are pretty costly!) but be sure to also check your local thrift store(s) for a cheaper alternative, as well as some uniquely shaped frames that can be turned into faux photo trays.
'Til then,
Krolli
