Saturday, August 2, 2014

Saturday StepXStep - A Sweet Vintage Shabby Chic Metallic Frame Tutorial

We are delighted to share a post with you by the fabulously talented Candy Colwell who is sharing a wonderful StepXStep with us...

Good morning Funkie Junkie Boutique Addicts!  Let me introduce myself.  I am Candy Colwell of "Creativity Is Contagious".  I was thrilled when Linda asked me if I would be a Guest Designer for Frilly and Funkie.

I have to say that I am in love with Linda's appropriately named on-line store, The Funkie Junkie Boutique. It's funkie and it's fun!  Her boutique carries so many unusual and hard to find embellishments that I dearly love. From her Venise Laces to her Filigree Metal Pieces and everything in between, she's got what I'm looking for to create some special pieces.


I love everything vintage and I love shabby chic. So I combined the two to create this sweet little piece that could be used as a pendant or an embellishment for a book, card or in an album.
 

Typically when I create, I have no idea what I am doing before I start. I start pulling out items and see where they take me. In this case, I pulled out a 2"x2" metal Memory Frame and a glass insert. That would be my beginning. I also went into my "stash" of metal pieces, including several from The Funkie Junkie Boutique, a piece of Venise lace and some beautiful old text from a booklet I bought while in Germany last week.


I measured a piece of thin cardboard into a 2"x2" square and rounded the corners.You can gently pull the Memory Frame apart so that you can add your completed insert and then close the metal frame. Here you see the frame, the glass and the cardboard insert. (You can also sandwich your insert between two pieces of glass if it is flat enough instead of using the cardboard backing.)


I covered both sides of my cardboard with the book text.  I found this sweet little girl on-line and sized her to fit my background. I used a Chestnut Roan Cats Eye Ink Pad to gently darken the cut edges around her. You don't want to see white paper cut edges when doing vintage work! I cut a small piece of my beautiful Sheer 1/2" Embroidered Lace from the boutique for the top and a piece of German scrap I have had forever for the side. I also inked around the edges of the flowers after I cut them out. 


For a bit of color and sheen, I added some Peacock Feathers Distress Ink and a spritz of Mint Perfect Pearls Mist to both sides of the text covered cardboard.


Next I temporarily put the little girl on the background and using that one small little piece of German scrap, I cut it into pieces to create the floral setting around the little girl. I glued them into place, leaving the rose bud at the top so that I could place my piece of beautiful lace underneath it. I added the lace with a piece of 1/8" Wonder Tape. This is a clear double sided tape that is perfect for adding laces and trims when you do not want the adhesive to show through.

The other items were glued in place using Glossy Accents. This is a wonderful product made by Ranger that can be use as a clear glue or as a clear filler. Later you will see that I decided to add "LOVE" to the lower right corner. These letters are from Tim Holtz' Words Remnant Rubs. I love his Remnant Rubs. There are several to choose from; all with great images and words and I don't seem to have the problem of all of the images not transferring that I sometimes encounter with rub ons. Now that my insert was ready to go, it was time to create a frame to compliment this sweet little girl.


I began with these pieces:  a 2"x2" Memory Frame. This happens to be a copper one but any color of metal on any of these pieces would work. You will see why shortly. Next is one of my favorite pieces from Funkie Junkie Boutique; an Antique Bronze Filigree Metal Piece at the center top. Why do I love this piece so much? It's so versatile. You can add something to the center to dress it up or leave it as delicate lacy piece. It's small enough to work on intricate pieces and the best part... you get FOUR of them for $.89! DEAL!! I also added a Funkie Junkie Boutique Antique Bronze Heart dangling from the bottom on a jump ring. The other metal pieces are ones I had in my stash.


Here is why the colors of your metals make no difference; they will all be covered with paint! I find metal can sometimes be tricky to paint over. So, I first gave all of my pieces a light coat of white Gesso to give them some "tooth" to better accept the ivory colored acrylic paint I would put on them next. Thoroughly let the pieces dry in between layers of the gesso and paint or heat set them and let them cool before picking them up. Metal gets hot when it's heated and you don't want to burn your fingers!

Next I dabbed my Gathered Twigs Distress Paint on my Non Stick Craft Sheet and using my finger tip, I lightly added the brown tones to the cream colored base of each piece, including the frame.


Here are the pieces after their transformation. I have to say that I was not totally pleased with the dangling heart at first. I thought it should have more brown as a contrast so I completely covered the heart with the Gathered Twigs paint and added cream highlights. That is what is shown in the picture here. But, I changed my mind again and covered the heart with the cream paint and added Gathered Twigs highlights. That is what is showing in the final picture. I like it a lot better than the heart being darker. I also had taken the little circular pieces and stacked them using Glossy Accents to join them together. This gave them a little more dimension for each of the corners.


Here is the beginning of the frame being put together. I slipped the glass on top of the collaged piece and slipped it into the frame. Then I joined the frame together.  You can see the little metal tab on the lower left corner. I chose to put the circular bale at the bottom of this piece so that I could add my dangling heart. But, you could just as easily have the circular bale at the top and string a chain through it to create a beautiful pendant. At this point, you could be finished but I think adding all of the intricate little metal pieces adds so much charm.


I first glued all of the circular corners in place. Next I added the lacy filigree piece at the top. I decided to add a small butterfly to the center, complete with little cream colored pearls for the body. Each of the corners also has a tiny cream pearl at the center. All of the gluing of the added metal pieces was done with Glossy Accents. Next I added the three other side pieces.


Finally, I added the dangling heart with a jump ring that was also painted to match the frame. In this case, I think painting each of the pieces individually, highlighting them and THEN gluing them onto the frame is a whole lot easier than trying to paint everything and highlight them after they are glued in place. I could add a bale to the top of this piece and add a chain to create a pendant. I could add a pin to the back and it could also be a piece of jewelry. But as I said in the beginning, this could also be a pretty embellishment on a card, an album, or so many other things.


A huge thank you to Linda for asking me to share my art with all of you at Frilly and Funkie.  I hope that my piece will inspire you to have some fun and experiment with metal pieces in your work. I am quite sure that I will be ordering more of them and also more Venise laces from Linda right away!

Have a great week! 

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A huge thanks to Candy for providing us with this fabulous StepXStep this week.

Craft like Candy!  You can find many of the supplies in Candy's project at The Funkie Junkie Boutique where Ranger/Tim Holtz and most other name brand products are always 20% below MSRP.


21 comments:

  1. Candy this is an amazing idea!!! LOVE the way you've constructed that frame and added the heart to the bottom and I'm now buzzing with ideas. Thank you SO MUCH for this wonderful tutorial. What a perfect way to start the weekend. Jenny x

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  2. Omg! So much of work on a 2x2 piece! This is such a fabulous tute Candy....will def give this a try with some tweeks!

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  3. Candy this is gorgeous, what a beautiful and clever creation x hugs x

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  4. Oh my goodness I didn't realize you added the charms yourself Candy. Love that idea. Another beautiful piece. Karen.x

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  5. Exquisitely gorgeous! You've packed so much into this dainty piece, love it!

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  6. Gorgeous piece Candy, I love how the sweet image is framed beautifully and I adore the dangling heart. The effect on the metal is stunning. This all works together beautifully . Tracy x

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  7. I am absolutely drooling over the way you altered the metal pieces, Candy! I love altering metal and can't wait to give that a try. What a lovely unique piece you made - brilliant work with the tiny vintage image and the German scrap Thank you so much, Candy, for providing our visitors with this fantastic tutorial!

    Hugs,
    Linda

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  8. What a fantastic piece. I love the way you altered the frame and filigree pieces! A total transformation!

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  9. So impressive! I am in awe of creative people who look at a simple piece like that frame and come up with a work of art! Love this!

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  10. Well Candy... another BEAUTIFULLY created piece of ART... I love it.. and the size is just perfect for so many wonderful things... Love it... but I love all your elegant creations... Love, Light and Peace...Bonnie

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  11. This really is a very impressive piece of art Candy, your step by step is excellent and I absolutely love the finished result! Anne x

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  12. Gorgeous piece Candy ! Love the distressed metal pieces and the image is just adorable. Sue C x

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  13. This is absolutely beautiful Candy and made all the more fabulous given its size. All gorgeously collaged and designed. Thank-you for sharing all your fabulous ideas in this terrific tutorial. Nicola x

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  14. This is wonderful. I have some of those frames and glass pieces. You made me want to get them out and do something with them. This is suchba creative blog and I love the store!

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  15. Love this vintage shabby look. I knew Glossy Accents was good for paper to plastic but didn't realize I could use it to glue metal to metal or that gesso is a good metal primer for acrylic paint. Thanks for sharing the beautiful pendant and the great tips.

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  16. Oh my goodness! What an amazing piece! I can't believe all the detail you've included in your beautiful charm!! The way you have altered your metals is so lovely and shabby chic!! Gorgeous!!
    Hugs,
    Nancy

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  17. An absolutely delicious tiny masterpiece, Candy... that altered metal looks just sensational! Love it!
    Alison xx

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  18. Thank you everyone for the very uplifting comments. I really appreciate them.

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  19. Gorgeous, Candy!! It's fun to see you here at Frilly & Funkie!! LOVE how you've altered all of the metal goodies--So antique-y!! I remember my Mom painting my childhood furniture like this--coats of white, then light brush strokes of neutral/metallic paint to age it all! Your technique brought back the memories!! FUN FUN FUN!!! XOXO-Shari T.

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  20. Beautiful, thank you so much for the step x step!

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