GD: Keren Baker Project #2 Altered Frame

"Hi, Keren here with project #2. Today I wanted to do something different and took inspiration from the paper-cutting world. The skills these artists have are amazing; skills I don’t have, but with the beautiful Lynne Perrella designs and a good sharp craft knife, I could create something a little different".

I like to upcycle as much as possible. I had already decorated this frame but didn’t like it, so stripped all of the decorations off and sanded down the frame. It was a good old swedish store bought job. I couldn't take the photo without managing to get my silhouette in it!

By simply taping a piece of cream cardstock onto a self-healing mat, carefully cutting around the images, you can choose which elements to leave and which to remove. For elements that have no ‘anchor’(like the heart) I added little ‘struts’- that connect to the outer frame and so provided both structure and kept the element from being cut out. For delicate, intricate parts, press, rather than pull the blade. I experimented and loved the outcome and even survived without cutting any parts of my fingers off too! 

I then put this aside and got on with changing up the frame. Here’s the paints I used to create the effect on the frame.

I wanted an effect that didn’t include too much colour or it would detract from the intricacy of the papercutting. I had some black paint I’d already mixed with Snowflake, so thought I’d use that up rather than wasting it.

I wanted to use Crackle Glaze as I’d already tried this product and loved it. I did wish, however, that I’d watched Leandra’s video on how to use it FIRST! - ah well, I learnt plenty by trial and error, including the fact that Crackle Glaze is best used very sparingly for the best results. The frame looked a little bare so I stamped the pen image onto the matt side of some tissue paper with Tuxedo Black Memento Ink.

I trimmed the stamped images, being really careful (I ripped a few!!). Next I added a very thin layer of Snowflake onto the frame, carefully laying the images over them, and pressed them into the paint. You may get the odd wrinkle, but don’t try and smooth it out or you risk tearing the image. Once dry, the wrinkles will disappear (wish Snowflake worked on the wrinkles on my face!)

Finally, leave to dry before adding a thin layer of Metallic Glaze which gives a gorgeous sheen to the frame. I added a few buttons to the corners, and voila your frame is completed.

Now I just needed to use the old frame mount to position over the cut image, trace around and cut out.

And that’s it. I simply secured some bright cardstock behind the papercut image and adhered that to the mount so it wouldn’t slip. I wish I'd used a brighter colour for the background colour- but hindsight is a wonderful thing! The advantage of taking time over creating the frame is that I can change out the image when I get bored (which is quite often!!)

"Thanks for joining me today, I hope you’ll come back tomorrow for a project using some curtain offcuts"!

~Keren~ 

Leandra Says: That is such a cool idea. Love the papercutting technique and how you can easily select what to keep or not! That takes some serious patience though, and the grey/ white crackled frame looks wonderful!

Gillian Says: The crackled frame looks fab along with the bright pop of blue, love your altered frame, everything works so well in the overall composition.

If you would like to join in this week's challenge and play along with Liesbeth's techniques, then do link up your creativity here, and go in the draw to win some PA stamps of your choice! You need to link your entry by 17:00, Sunday May 18th 2014