Create inside a frame at AVJ

Wow it's the first Friday of the month and it just so happens that it's September - hey who stole the rest of the year away and especially the summer?
Anyway, it goes without saying that there's the most amazing post over at A Vintage Journey today with lots of inspiration to tempt you to join our new challenge called 'Create inside a frame'. Go read the details and hopefully you will join us.

I used a small 15 x 15 cm balsa wood type frame that is only £1 from the Range and although it is only little it took me days to get it to a point where I am now happy with it.

Process steps

1. Cut card to size to fit inside the frame.

2. Give the card a coat of gesso to seal it and when dry apply white modeling paste tinted with burnt umber through a stencil. Dry for a 30 secs to a minute (depending on thickness of paste) then spritz an embossing folder with water and press into it. Let it dry

3. Take a piece of card and emboss whth the same embossing folder. Scrape over some texture sand paste and dry. then give three separate layers - burnt umber, paynes grey and dripped raw umber. This will be cut up to form the frame.

4. I then played with lots of colours and layers both dry brushing and spritzing until I had something that looked quite Moroccan in style. To seal it and enhance the colours I gave it a coat of gloss varnish.

5. Take the frame, mix some black and white gesso and paint the frame with the grey that you've made. Then add washes of the same colours and some dry brushing that was used on the textured card.

6. Dry the frame and give it a coat of transparent crackle glaze.

7. Take the embossed card - drip titanium white and titan buff paints through the textures, dry and then dry brush with burnt umber.

8. Sand the edges, blend ground espresso distress inks around them and then spritz ground espresso on the mat with water and dip and dry the card. 

9. Take a couple of moulds, I used resin plaster for them, and paint with viridian, blue green light, transparent yellow iron oxide, titan buff, burnt umber and raw umber paints and also both paint and rub in champagne, iced espresso and lavish green metallic lustres.

10.  Collect together other embellishments and alter them using rusty and painty techniques so they fit in with the style you are creating.

11. Assemble and give everything a thin coat of matte varnish.

Rather different again for me isn't it but I love the way it turned out.

Have fun with the 'create inside a frame' challenge, I hope you will be able to join us over there and be in with a chance of winning a fabulous DecoArt prize.

Have a fabulous weekend.

hugs Brenda xxx

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