Frame Using Trudy Sjolander Stamps & Papers

Welcome to the “Friends of True’s – Swirly Spring” BLOG HOP!

If you are here from Suzanne Dean’s blog, ScrapBitz, you are in the right place. If you just happened onto my blog you will want to head back to True’s blog, True’s Gifts From The Heart, where it all starts. There will be a prize package donated by Inky Antics that includes True’s entire, newly released, Swirly Spring stamp line. Now, let’s get to the project!

(click to enlarge, it’s really pretty big LOL)

If you’ve seen my past projects, you know that most wouldn’t be called “cute.” I tend to gravitate to old pieces of metal, wood and dark colors instead of swirls and flowers. But when I saw Trudy’s latest line, bright colors, fun lines and whimsical kept popping in my head. When I read her sentiment, “Hope Your Day Just Sparkles!” I immediately thought GLITTER!

This little photo frame jumped out at me during one of our many thrift store excursions. It was ugly, but it screamed whimsical to me. I thought it would look adorable with Trudy’s papers and her dragonflies. For $1.91, it was worth trying, right? I got it home, took it apart, and coated the entire piece with white gesso. It probably wasn’t necessary, but I just tend to start every re-purposing project with gesso. I think it gives me a “visual” clean slate.

Next, I painted the piece with Perfect Pigments™ – Pure Liquid Acrylics™ from USArtQuest. I have used the Metallic Lt. Gold often and always love it. But this was my first time to use Magenta, and WOW! is it beautiful! It’s such a rich, deep, saturated color!!

While the piece was drying, I worked on the embellishments. A strip of flowers cut from Trudy’s papers would make a border. Her sentiment stamped on a small mat would fit perfectly on the base.

I wanted Trudy’s dragonflies to really stand out. So, they were stamped on acetate and one side was colored with colored Crystal Lacquer from Sakura Hobby Craft. Once that was dry, the other side was covered with clear Crystal Lacquer which was then covered with white glitter. After that was dry, they were cut out. To give the dragonfly on the base some feet, I attached a small spring with clear Crystal Lacquer.

A scan of the wooden flower was the start of a pattern for my Zing Electronic Cutting Machine. I tweaked it a bit and then cut out the pattern from Cut Bond Create – double sided adhesive sheets from USArtQuest. The finished cut out fit perfectly on the flower. I peeled off the top layer of adhesive and covered it with glitter. I punched out a small flower from a scrap of the Cut Bond Create, attached it to the small flower and covered that with gold glitter. Last, I wrapped the base with Great Tape from USArtQuest and covered the exposed tape with gold glitter.

Put it all together, adhere the dragonflies with some Crystal Lacquer and you have a whimsical frame. This one has a picture of my friend, Carole Lassak‘s, grandaughter, Chloe. I can’t wait to give it to her as a gift!

Now, after you leave me a comment, it’s time for you to move on to the next blog in the hop.  Here is a list of all of the links in case you get lost along the way.