An Altered Wooden Photo Frame with 'Nightfall' and an Owl Shaped Mini Album with 'Harvest'

I have two projects for today's post.  One is this wooden photo frame that I altered with the 'Nightfall' collection by Authentique.  The second is a throwback project made with the 'Harvest' collection also by Authentique.

 The frame holds a 4" x 6" inch photo.  The photo frame was unfinished raw wood.  I painted it, adhered the designer paper to it, sanded it down & embellished it turning the frame into a super decorated Halloween frame.

The picture is of my son from 2015.  He was a scarecrow that year & it was a year that I actually made his costume instead of purchasing it.  A personal accomplishment.  :-)

The 'Nightfall One' paper from the collection provided the perfect background to my frame.  It was a quick way to transform a plain frame & I only had to add a couple of more embellishments to finalize the project.  

I added three 'streamers' tucked in within the Halloween spray.  They are 12" inch strips cut from the coordinating solids measuring approximately 1/4" of an inch in width.  I simply curled them with my scissors & hot glued them within the Halloween spray.

The frame is sealed with a glittered specialty finish by Martha Stewart.  I've had this type of medium in my stash for a long time & have used it to seal on various projects.  I like the fact that it seals but also provides a shimmery effect to your project which you can see in the photo above.

The orange glittered border seen around the photo opening was created by adhering double sided tape (1/8" inch).  Once the tape was applied, I sprinkled the orange glitter on top & pressed down.  The glitter adheres to the tape creating an even border along the edge.

Here are the steps I took to create my photo frame.

I painted the entire back & sides of the frame (not shown here) as well as the front border of the frame with black acrylic paint.  Once the paint dried I traced the design of the frame (including the oval opening where my photo will be placed) onto my designer paper with a pencil.  Then with scissors I cut the design out.  

Next I adhered the designer paper to my frame with Decoupage adhesive & ensured the paper thoroughly adhered to my frame--especially the edges.

Next comes the sanding.  I sand all the edges of my frame to give the edges a nice finished look.  For this process I use a couple of sanding tools shown here.  You can probably use nail files for this process if you don't have craft ones on hand--I don't see why these wouldn't do the job as well.  

This is probably what takes the longest when creating this sort of project since you have to go around all the edges--including the photo opening--with the sanding tools & remove any & all excess paper as you sand.

Once the sanding was done, I applied the specialty finish shown here.  I let that dry & the last step I did prior to embellishing the frame was to ink all along the edges of my frame with black distress ink in order to make the edges stand out.

My second project is this owl shaped mini album made with the 'Harvest' collection.  This collection came out a few years back for Autumn.  I created this mini many moons ago but had simply never shared it.  I decided it was time to share.  :-)

The base of the mini was made with the use of a Sizzix Owl Bigz die (Item# A10165).  Mini measures approximately 4 3/8" x 3 1/2" inches which is what the owl design measures once cut.  

The album consists of 6 pages & the pages are adhered to the spine with hinges.  This mini can stand on it's own & be displayed on any shelf, table or desk.

Mini is held closed with a piece of jute string.

I have not yet embellished the pages.  I did leave about a 1/4" inch gusset in between each page which will allow for some dimension to be added to the pages of the mini.  Even though this mini is small, you can still do a lot with it.  It depends on how creative you want to get.  You can add pockets, mini frames, belly bands, tuck spots, envelopes & other bits & bobs in addition to the small photos in order to embellish the pages.  It's a work in progress.  :-)  Mini album will eventually be available for sale in my Etsy shop, The Midnight Kraft Desk.  Feel free to subscribe to my shop's FB page in order to stay up to date on the latest items added to my shop.

I hope this project inspires some of you to use your dies in new ways.

Supplies: Paper - Authentique, Embellishments - Authentique, Dies - Sizzix, Flowers - The Midnight Kraft Desk, Other - Mulberry Paper Flowers, Mini Pine Cone, Fabric Flowers, Jute String

Thanks for stopping by!

Make A Wish Picture Frame

Hello again fellow scrappers!  Today I have a wooden picture frame that I altered with the use of Authentique's 'Wishes' collection.  I felt that this collection was just right to alter a wooden frame that I've had in my stash for quite some time now.  Some of Authentique's papers are so well embellished that it only takes one of the sheets to complete a project.  That was the case with this frame.

With Star Dust Stickles I further dressed up the cupcakes & balloons.  Adding a bit of shimmer to any die cut always adds just a bit of interest to the eye.

My cluster is composed of flowers from my own stash plus flowers from Petaloo & Manor House Creations.

The entire frame was made with the use of the 'Crave' paper from the 'Wishes' collection.  The design of the banner fit perfectly along the top & the cupcakes were fussy cut from the paper.

From the remaining scraps of paper I cut out a few of the banners & placed them over a couple of the ones on my frame with pop dots.  This gave my banner just a bit of dimension.

I applied some iridescent yellow wired tinsel all around the border of the frame.

With a balloon punch I punched out three balloons & added a bit of thin wire to the back.  The pinwheel & the 'Wishes' sticker are all elements from the 'Wishes' collection.

To finish the frame off I applied two types of ribbon.  A bright silk red ribbon & a sheer cream ribbon.

All that's missing from this frame is that perfect birthday photo!  This frame is up for sale in my new Etsy shop--The Kraft Nook.  Feel free to visit if interested.

Thanks for stopping by & enjoy the rest of the week!

Chickadee Altered Picture Frame

Hello again fellow scrap peeps! Today I'm posting yet another picture frame that I altered many moons ago--but never got the chance to display here on my blog.

This is actually a plain wooden circular picture frame that I bought at my local Michaels that I altered. I used pink paper by Basic Grey plus beads, vines, fabric flowers & mulberry flowers from my stash.  The chickadees are actually a stamp that I colored in & then carefully cut out.  All of the edges are inked with Tea Dye distress ink by Tim Holtz.

I actually sold this picture frame in my Etsy shop some time last year.


Here's a closeup of the stamped cluster of chickadees at the bottom. I colored them in with Prismacolor markers and then added a bit of Star Dust stickles to further decorate each chickadee.

The fabric flowers & beads are actually pieces that I pulled apart from a larger cluster of flowers.  You can find these at any local arts & crafts store.  Sometimes I find them on clearance and purchase them with the intention of pulling them apart in order to decorate frames or boxes & even layouts.  I randomly added mulberry flowers here & there to further embellish my frame.

Thanks for stopping by & enjoy the rest of the week!

Altered Shabby Chic Picture Frame

Good evening fellow scrappers!  This is an altered wooden picture frame that I made a few months ago.  It was actually a Christmas present for a good friend.

The wooden picture frame was purchased at my local Michaels.  Amazing how one can turn a simple frame into your very own personal 'artsy' masterpiece!

The vine is by Prima.  I added additional flowers from my own stash here and there in order to make it into a fuller vine.  The mushroom bird, large green fabric flower & small white wooden fence is also from my stash.  The glass vial is by Tim Holtz.  I filled the glass vial with small black beads from my stash and tied a bit of twine around it.

A sheer white ribbon was added at the top of the frame.  I used a bit of hot glue to adhere the ribbon and to add the loops in order to give it more dimension.

I used a bit of iridescent light green garland from my stash to decorate the border of the inner frame.

The background was first painted with white acrylic paint.  Then I added a layer of clear crackle paint that I purchased at my local Michaels.  Once dry--I added a third layer of fuchsia acrylic paint.  As the fuchsia paint dried it 'crackled' and revealed the white paint beneath.  Neat effect huh?

The random script seen throughout the frame is actually a stamp by Donna Salazar titled 'All My Love'.   I stamped the image on a transparency with black Staz On ink.  I then cut out the stamped image & adhered it randomly on my frame with clear dry glue.

The crystal flourish is by Prima.  I cut it out of the original packaging & adhered it with clear drying glue.

Another closeup of the floral arrangement.

Thanks to all of you who stop by for a visit!  Your time is always very much appreciated.