Altered Quote Frame

Today I want to start us off with an easy yet very elegant project that you can either make for yourself or to give to the Mother/s in your life...

I love to frame quotes. It’s the next best thing to pictures and adding paper flowers to the sides just makes this frame scream Mother to me.

I used the elegant Couture line for this project. I found the quote here.

The layered flowers were scrunched up to create more texture and I also inked the edges.

The quote is tucked behind the glass which means that you can enjoy this frame and the quote for a long period of time.

But wait! There’s more….I decided to make this post a tutorial. Read on to know how I made the frame…

First I start of with collecting all my supplies.
• Couture line papers
• Printed quote on white cardstock
• Die cut machine and cartridge
• Frame to be altered
• Pearls
• Paint (white)

Plus these tools…
• Ruler
• Pencil
• Paper trimmer
• Scissors
• Border punch

*Although I usually have a game plan before I start the project, I usually end up changing things up a bit. I’ve organized this tutorial in the way where you can end up with the same final project as I have but you might notice that in the pictures I’ve jumped around a bit.

Step 2
I paint the frame white. I got the frame for 99 cents at Goodwill. Although the frame has cute things written on it already, I felt like it was lacking some color so I opted to alter it. Let the frame dry and continue on to the next step.

Step 3
Start cutting your flower shapes from your die cut machine. I wanted the layered effect so I cut the flowers in graduating sizes- large, medium and small. I love how double sided pattern paper helps with the layering, it gives you coordinating designs every time with less time cutting.

Step 4
Layer the flowers the way you want them to look. Make sure you take into consideration the paper that you will be using to cover the frame. You don’t want the flowers to blend with the background. You want them to stand out, that’s why you made them after all. I inked the edges to make them pop out more.

Step 5
I used a pencil and my hands to scrunch up the flowers and make them more dimensional. Take your time in creating the different layers of the flower; it’s worth it at the end!

Step 6
Flowers that doesn’t have any centers just doesn’t finished to me, so I added buttons with baker’s twine threaded through them as a finishing touch to each flower. Set aside your flowers.

Step 7
When your frame have dried completely, measure the length and width of it. Cut a piece of pattern paper that will cover the entire front of the card. Although we have painted it, we will still cover it with pattern paper. The white paint just gives the edges a finished look.

Step 8
Lay your cut out piece of paper onto the frame and turn it over. With pencil, draw out the opening of the frame and cut it out with either scissor or paper trimmer.

Step 9
The inside edges of the frame didn’t look so perfect to me so I added a punched border to it. I did this by punching the decorative edge on paper first and then cutting them in strips.

I then laid them the way I want them to be. I decided to only perfect two corners since I’ll be covering the other two with flowers. I made the corners perfect by aligning two strips and then cutting one edge diagonally.

I then inked the edges.

Step 10
Adhere the paper onto the frame and ink the edges.

Step 11
Trim your quote to fit the frame. I used the glass panel to make sure my quote match up perfect in the frame.

Step 12
I then added the flowers- Two on the top left and two on the bottom right. I used pop up adhesive for two of them to add more dimension to the flowers.

Step 13
I wanted to add more feminine touches to the frame so I hand drawn a swirl on both top and bottom sides of the frame and then added pearls over the swirls. After adding them, I carefully erased the lines.

And there you have it! A frame that you can be both inspired and proud of.

See you tomorrow.
Grace

Nice Decor

Thanks for hanging in there with me everyone! It's been a great week so far!

I live in an old (120 year old) farmhouse. We've been renovating and decorating for over 10 years now. I love decorating. I love my house and making it a home is a big part of who I am!

I've had this project on my to do list for a long long time. I've loved random cut letters in banners and as art for a while... they're just so charming. I don't have the wall space for something large so I made some small ones instead. I planned to frame them at first (the colors worked so well for my daughter's room) but I decided to attach them to the mirror as little inspirational messages instead.

I considered “Smile” and “Go Get 'Em” among others but finally settled on “It's Nice To Be Nice”. A little funtac and the bedroom mirror is all dressed up! I totally forgot about the layered effect the mirror would have on the letters, but it's really cool!

I plan on switching this up often with different phrases and reminders! A very cool and simple addition to our home.

Marcy

Home Sweet Home Altered Canvas

Lori's project for today is completely adorable. Since it's a little different than usual, we thought we would let her explain her process.

"When I was lucky enough to receive my goodies for SEI I immediately fell in love with the Corinne Collection!! The colors were so pretty and I just loved all of the elements on the sticker sheet... I was so excited to sit down and create with it!! Recently I have been following and falling in love with all things mixed media. I have been participating in some classes (with a few coming up) and this has really taken me away from my normal style of scrapbooking and I've learned to have fun and just create. I have had these cute 6" x 12" canvases in my collection for awhile now and when it came to this months assignments - I just couldn't wait to play and experiment!!"

"Here in Canada we got a little sneak peak of spring last week and with more snow and storms in the forecast I needed to surround myself with bright colors and reassure myself that spring is indeed on its way! With that I started playing - and I came up with a cute little canvas that incorporates most of the the Corinne Stickers, Borders and I snuck in a tag from the Romance Collection for my cute pink house!!"

"I started with applying the 'With all my Heart' Paper with Mod Podge to the canvas and then went over it slightly with some blue paint. I used bubble wrap and some sponges to give it some depth and texture. I then placed various borders on the canvas for my sky and grass and started placing some of the adorable Corrine Stickers all around. I am in love with the clouds...they are my favorite! The cute little hearts I used as flower centers and when everything was dry used a regular black pen to doodle in my flowers. I typed out one of my favorite quotes my computer and applied it with mod podge as well (all elements are applied this way even the stickers). To finish it off I went back in with some yellow paint to add some sunshine by applying it with some simple bubble wrap to add just a touch of sun!"

"This sure was a fun project for me.... it was just the touch of spring I was looking for and I smile when I see it hanging in my scraproom."

Decorate for Valentine's Day!

It's almost February and Valentine's Day will be here before you know it. You don't have to spend a lot on decor to make it fun and personal. Kate has two great ideas for you.

First, aren't these Valentine's garlands beautiful? They could be hung just about anywhere!

Kate made them by cutting several circles out of papers from the With All My Heart collection. Then she folded them in half and adhered each one to half of another circle, while stringing them along.

For her next idea, Kate used paper clips to hang some of her favorite photos, love quotes, and heart accents from a wire.

The garland strung along the wire, is the perfect finishing touch, don't you agree? How do you decorate for Valentine's Day?

Framed Christmas Art

Has everyone finished all of their holiday decorating? If you haven't started or need a special finishing touch, Lisa has a great project idea for you.

She created this framed Christmas art using papers from the Kris Kringle collection and felt accents. As usual, she snuck in just the right amount of stamping. Notice the snowflakes at the bottom of the Christmas tree?

Wouldn't this be fun sitting on an entryway table? You could also hang it with some ribbon to greet your guests as they enter through the door.

On the 7th & 8th Days...

On the 7th day of Christmas, Julie gave to us, a super sweet spool tree!

 
Here's Julie's tree making advice:

"I created the altered wood tree by painting raw wood spools with green paint and then spritzing them with some gold mist.  Next I covered the body of the spools with a variety of green patterned papers from SEI's Kris Kringle line.  I attached them to one another in rows of 4, 3, 2, and finally 1 spool to resemble a tree type pattern.  Finally I covered a wood star with patterned paper and a few hand-cut, pop-dotted, patterned paper elements and attached this to the top spool.  The spool tree is an easy, fun home decor project that will look great amongst your holiday decorations!!!" We want to give them away to our craftiest friends, too! Thanks Julie!

On the 8th day of Christmas SEI gave you a free printable download to help spread the joy!

4 x 6 / 5 x 7 / 8 x 10

With three different sizes, we think you'll find many uses for this cheerful holiday greeting. Trying cutting the 4x6 into a card for starters!

Turkey Table-Setting

Is anyone still looking for a centerpiece or place-setting idea? This idea from KSL Studio 5 is a perfect way to use a Moonrise paperpad for a festive Thanksgiving table-setting. The video explains how they did it. For more instructions, templates, and a supply list go here.

Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween Everyone! We hope you are having a fun weekend.


Today we want to share a halloween wall hanging idea from one of our design team members, Audrey Yeager. This is how she did it...

"I made this wall hanging by take a 8x10" canvas board and covering it with pages from an old dictionary using Mod Podge. I then painted the edges black and added some glitter while the paint was still tacky. I used a piece of paper from the 6x6" Spooks pack and cut out some elements from the border strips. A ribbon on the bottom and another stapled to the back for hanging complete this simple project!"


We hope this will get you excited for next month. November we will begin featuring the projects our new design team has been busy creating for you.

Spooky Garland + Giveaway [CLOSED]

I just love me a cute bunting/garland/banner. Whatever you like to call them. I have them for almost every season/holiday.

I made this spooky ghost garland simply by sewing through the tops of these cute sparkly ghosts with white thread on my sewing machine. Easy peasy!


I think they look pretty creepy hanging under our family silhouettes!


I have a tutorial on my blog for this autumn bunting:


They're also easy to make with paper-I used some twill tape and paper triangles for this one-from the Spooks line.

Just had to share the bunting/garland/banner love. What DO people call them?

Thanks for having me this week-I had a blast! :D
Jess

Thanks a million, Jess! You so talented and we have enjoyed having you this week. We really appreciate all of the great ideas you shared with us.


Readers, be sure to stop and visit Jess at her blog, Craftiness is not Optional for more fabulous ideas. Would you like a chance to win an assortment of some of the Spooks goodies, including the glittering ghosts Jess used? Then leave a comment on this post by Sunday, October 17th at midnight MST. All you need to do is tell us which post was your favorite this week. We will announce the winner Monday. Be sure to check back to see if you are the winner because if we don't hear from the winner within a week we will pick a new one.

Although the giveaway is now closed, you are still welcome to leave Jessica comments.

Make Your Own Silhouette

Silhouettes are so hip happening these days-and so easily customizable! well, here's the way i like to do them. simple, easy, and quick.


you'll need:

a piece of thin white paper
pencil
black paper
frame

first, take a picture of the person's profile. (or your pet-even a favorite piece of furniture would look cool) then, print it out to the size you want.

trace the outline on the white paper (holding it up to a window works great) around the head and shoulders, make sure to get little hairs, etc. this makes it look awesome.


staple your tracing to the black paper-don't staple inside of your tracing!


then, carefully cut around your trace, catching all the little hairs and details.


tada, a cute silhouette!


then pop it into your frame of choice. soo cute, huh?


This is Sadie's baby one. aww my little conehead.


for reals! thank goodness her head looks normal now.