Thursday, June 22, 2017

Guest Designer - Cathy Frailey

Please say hello and give a warm welcome to Cathy Frailey who is our Guest Designer for the 'With This Ring' challenge. Cathy was the top pick for our 'Sound of Music' challenge and can be found on Facebook.  Edit:  Cathy just started a blog called It's Oddly Appealing so pop over an give her some love and become a follower so you can see all her new creations.


Hello everyone ~ I'm really excited to be a guest designer for Frilly & Funkie this month & was really honored to win the Sound of Music challenge! I love anything grungy, vintage, shabby, steampunk, and out of the ordinary. I like experimenting & sometimes my mistakes turn out to be something amazing! I'm by no means a professional - I just putter in my messy craft room & create what makes me happy!

Since the challenge this month is With This Ring, I decided to do a decor piece that's a little shabby/grungy in the spirit of love.


I had this box frame/lid in my stash (Approx 6x6 - I think it had another box inside it at one time - I keep everything!) and cut a piece of cardboard to fit the open square in the back snuggly (no gluing). I then painted it with a few coats of white gesso, not really worrying about brush strokes or perfect coverage.


I had some white Mulberry paper so I tore it into various sizes and laid it in different areas on top of the wet gesso. I wanted to see what kind of texture would come out of it in the end when I started dribbling paint. I then used a Prima damask stencil with white crackle paste in various places - again, no perfection here!



Then it was time for the messy stuff! I dribbled some Dylusions black spray & then spritzed with water to let it run, turning it various directions, dabbing some off here & there, leaving some areas white. Using a baby wipe to dab here & there gave it a gray cast with some purple undertones - it melded the gesso together with the black. So I went with it!


I wanted to use a heart somewhere and didn't have one - so I cut one out of cardboard, covered it with crackle paste, and doused it in fine glitter. I also dribbled on some glass glitter & distressed it when dry. Then it was time to layer my embellishments & tie it all together!


I used some cheesecloth, a resin flourish, some black & white damask tissue paper, and some pearls on wire. I printed out a vintage couple & attached it to the heart. I also had a roll of amazing metal trim (from Etsy) that I cut to fit as an interesting vertical border. A love quote was printed & glued onto a piece of cardboard to give it height. A splash of silver micro beads & a highlight of silver rub 'n buff around the edges & my motley creation was complete!





* * *
Thank you to Cathy for her fabulous inspiration. Cathy doesn't have a blog so she has provided all the details for her project here but do pop over to her Facebook page where you will see some of her other creations.

We hope you will share your wedding themed project with us and you have lots of time because the 'With This Ring' challenge runs through 11:55 pm EST on July 4th and can be found here.

17 comments:

  1. What a fabulous altered box frame Cathy! Love the monochrome look and the layers of gorgeous texture. Thank you so much for sharing with us at Frilly and Funkie xx

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you - I enjoyed the experience. I'd like to do it more often!

      Delete
  2. This is just wonderful, Cathy! I love the black and white color palette...so classic. The way you added the gesso and sprays created a wonderful faux marble effect. That altered heart is fab, too. Thanks so much for being our guest designer!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you, Kathy! It was fun to create. If you guys want another DT member, let know. Lol

      Delete
  3. WOW Cathy! What a splendid mixed media decor item you've created. I love the die you used and how romantic it looks, similar to corset lacing. The monochrome palette and gorgeous texture are fabulous. What an inspiration! Thanks so much for joining us! Hugs, Autumn

    ReplyDelete
  4. Really beautiful project. The monochromatic color scheme is perfect for your design.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Wow, Cathy! This is one beautiful mixed media decor piece! I love the black/white scheme and all of that amazing texture! The metal trim piece is a fantastic detail! Thank you for all of your hard work and for being our Guest Designer this month! Hugs!

    ReplyDelete
  6. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Beautiful! Thank you for guest designing with us! Love the beautiful texture and the shades of black and white!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks, Suzanne - I'd love to do it again sometime!

      Delete
    2. This comment has been removed by the author.

      Delete
  8. Thank you so much! I'm in the middle of a craft de-stash of old items that I no longer use and I'm trying to keep an eye out for anything that can be upcycled or altered.
    Because of this post I've realised that a couple of gift boxes I've hung onto, without knowing what I might use them for, would be perfect for this sort of altering and now I shall set about changing them.
    Cathy your project is beautiful, I love the colour scheme, so very controlled and the pop of beautiful silver really makes you look inside. The texture is wonderful and the black and white with silver is so very classy too!
    Thank you for sharing your process with us, I'm a recent MM newbie and creator and your art is really inspiring and enlightening too Karen x

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Wow, Karen - thank you so much for the kind words! I'm glad I inspired you to recycle & upcycle - boxes are the easiest ways to make shadow boxes & decor items. Have fun & thanks again! XOXO

      Delete