Altered Shabby Chic Frame with Wild Orchid Roses

Hi, blog readers, hope you're having a lovely day!

I haven't blogged for a while as I'm really busy getting ready for my first craft event in March. My son's school is having a Treat Yourself Day, which will include crafts, jewellery, nail art etc. The event is been held at Wisbech Grammar School, Wisbech, Cambridgshire on 16th March 11.00am - 3.00pm, so if you're in the area on that day, why not come along. I'll be adding full details of the event on my facebook page nearer the time.

Shabby Chic Altered Frame.

I decided to see if I'd have any luck in finding some things for crafting in my local charity shops...and I was very pleased to find some nice frames for altering, some pretty lace, jewellery and a book box Yay!! So, the altered frame in the photo was my first find.

I painted the frame with white acrylic paint, then I used Tim Holtz Crackle Paint in Scattered Straw to cover the front of the frame, you can see a little of the crackle paint in the last photo, but I did end up covering most of it. The papers are Romance Novel from Prima, which are absolutely gorgeous!

I hot glued some beige lace around the edges of the frame, wrapping it around the back. I then used some flowers and leaves from Wild Orchid Crafts to embellish the frame. This was my first order from WOC and I was very impressed with the quality, and reasonable prices.

I tucked a tiny piece of crochet lace behind the flowers, which was from a larger vintage cloth. I sprayed the whole project with Tattered Angels Glimmer Mist in Pearl to add a light shimmer to the frame, then sealed it with Mod Podge in matte.

If you have any questions or comments please leave me a message. I look forward to hearing from you :0)

Olde Curiosity Shoppe Altered Box

I'm really getting into altered art at the moment, I think it's probably a natural progression for most scrapbookers to move onto. When I heard about altered art, I thought I'd have to be an artist to try it, but in fact it's very accessible to any crafter. You can easily learn new techniques by watching You Tube videos.

I also love steampunk and vintage at the moment, so my next project has that kind of theme. I couldn't get the Graphic 45 Debutante papers, which have the steampunk theme, so I used The Olde Curiosity Shoppe 8x8 pad by Graphic 45. These papers are like nothing else I've worked with, they are so easy to use and distress...and are very detailed with vintage colours.

List of Materials.

Cardboard Gift Box
White acrylic paint
docrafts acrylic paint in Pearl
Graphic 45 Olde Curiosity Shoppe 8x8 pad
Tim Holtz Distress Ink pad Walnut & black ink pad
Prima flower
Square lacy die cut from my stash
Black braid trim from haberdashery shop
Lace from my stash and old belt buckle

I used a cardboard gift box, that was given to me at Christmas...the type you can buy in a card shop. I painted it with white acrylic paint and docrafts Artiste acrylic paint in Pearl.

I covered the box with the Olde Curiosity Shoppe papers, distressed the edges of the box and paper with Tim Holtz Distress Ink in Walnut. I fussy cut some pictures from the papers and inked the square lacy die cut on top with black ink.

I added a Prima flower, skeleton leaves and a little bit of lace from my stash. The sides of the box were covered with black braid trim, an old button and a belt buckle from the 1960's.

I'd love to hear your comments on this project.

Have a lovely day,

Melanie :0)