Hello friends and welcome to May! I’m happy to see this month come with all of the beautiful Spring things that pop out like the flowers and sun with the warmer temps! I look forward to going out and working in the yard soon! Hope that you’ve had a wonderful week and look forward to a great weekend! I’m getting ready for a fun crafty retreat and I’m really looking forward to crafting with friends!
I’m super excited to be a guest for this month’s challenge over at the Creative Artiste Mixed Media Challenge! If you’ve been around, then you know how I enjoy creating a few mixed media projects once in a while besides my Art Journaling that I do each month. The theme is always “Anything Goes” with Mixed Media, so this time, I decided to make some altered art with an old frame:
I thought this would be a perfect item to alter with a Spring theme in mind. I know the frame “looks old”, but it was actually a really old wooden frame that was stained/varnished about 30 years ago! I’ve sanded, painted, added some crackling paste, and painted over it some more to give it a Vintage “falling apart” look. I like the texture and the crackling from the paste that came out in it. The total frame size is about 9″x13″ and it’s shown hanging on my wall.
The center of the frame was done using a piece of cardboard sized to fit inside the frame. (I threw out the glass front as I didn’t have a need for it.) I had some papers that I thought was so pretty along with the sentiment. The sentiment was way too large for a card and I thought it would work great for this project. Of course, the size of the paper wasn’t quite large enough, so I worked on collaging some musical papers around the edges for a border. I also went over it with a floral stencil and paste, paint splatters and waterproof ink before inserting behind the frame.
Here’s a closer look at the top of the frame where you can see that I’ve added a butterfly ephemera that was painted with some clear glitter paint and attached next to the sentiment with glue and foam dots on the wings.
I have tons of flowers in my stash, so I’ve created an arrangement along the frame with a vine and different sized flowers that I’ve added with twirled vines. I’ve used more paint and even some art stones around the flowers as well as various places over the background for texture and interest. More paints and metallic wax was used over all of these places to keep the Vintage feel to the design. I tried to keep them coordinated with the papers in the background. (It’s weird how the colors vary so much when you take a photo compared to what it looks in person. The top frame photo looks more blue, but it’s actually more this muted green color.)
And as you scroll down to the bottom of the frame, you see I have this 3D arrangement with the painted chicken wire against the back panel with the papers. (the flowers were added on top of that.) On the bottom left you see I’ve made a “nest” for my bird with Spanish moss and even added a couple of twigs from my backyard underneath it. I’ve also added a pinch of green moss in there which is also what I’ve used over top of the white picket fence section to the bottom right. It actually sticks out in front of the flowers.
You can also see where I’ve added some more art stones and paints. I’ve finished the whole design with some Finnabair white gold metallic wax. This is hard to capture unless you get really close, but it adds a wonderful detail that brings out lots of the texture in your finished piece.
I really enjoyed creating this altered frame while I was thinking about Spring coming to life outside! It was also fun to be able to find something I’ve had for so many years and give it some new life! I hope you’ve enjoyed it as well and I look forward to seeing what mixed media art you make this month for the challenge!
Thanks for dropping in today!
Challenges:
- Crafting From the Heart – Anything Goes (NO CARDS) challenges are back after 4 years!
- Crafting Happiness – Flowers
- Pearly Sparkles – Anything BUT a card
- Simon Says Stamp Monday – Paint It!
- Love to Craft – Anything Goes
Stamped Smiles 
WOW, Vicki, what an incredible combo of things for your mixed media! I love everything but using the moss to make a nest for the bird was brilliant. Such a lovely spring frame. I’ definitely hang it in my house. 😀
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Congrats on being GD, Vicki. You have made a wonderful frame. Love that little bird in its nest.
xxx Margreet
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Congrats on the guest designer spot and wow on this project! Love the frame and all those wonderful details. The little bird and fence are precious.
Lynn
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You always do mixed media so well and this framed artwork is a great reminder that we should cherish each day that we’re here. I love the spring look of the nesting bird and the cute little fence with the wire accents/ You really did your GDS proud, congrats!
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Absolutely gorgeous! Love all those details! Great work, friend!
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This is stunning Vicki! Every detail is beautiful and nice message!
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Congrats on your GDT Vicki,fabulous mixed media love the shabby frame and great background,brilliant birds nest and love the picket fence and the added moss-brilliant-I winge about the change of colours every time I take pics!!!-enjoy the crafty retreat.
Carol x
Thank you for joining us at Pearly Sparkles
Carol DT x
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What a great addition to your wall! This is beautiful
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Absolutely adore this frame! You did an amazing job on that crackle effect. Thank you for sharing with us at Crafting From The Heart XXX
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It is a wonderful Spring scene Vicki, I love the distressed frame and soft colour, love the bird sitting in the nest and the fence with moss, chicken wire and stones, all of it, it is just beautiful and you have inspired me to colour more, my stones and even a frame which I ready, needs colour, so thank you for that..
Luv CHRISSYxx
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This is amazing Vicki. I love the little blue bird. And congrats on being a guest designer. hugs-Erika
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Beautiful Vicki. Love the way you crackled the frame and all of the details in your spring theme. Thank you for being our guest designer at Creative Artiste this month. Have a creative week and I hope you will join us often. Judy, Creative Artiste Design Team
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Oh Vicki what an amazing creation, crafted with love and affection around those bold words. A true statement of how precious life is and how we should love each and every day. The beauty of the bird nesting, white picket fence and how the flowers climb and surround the frame makes a stunning piece of home decor. I adore it…
How lucky we are to have you as GD @ Creative Artiste this month thank you so much for sharing this inspiring project.
Happy Crafting Tracey (DT) x
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A wonderful mixed media make Vicki,love your focal sentiment and beautiful layered embellishments
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WOWZA this frame is amazing! Gorgeous layers, texture, colors, images. Really beautifully designed and great mixed media too.
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This picture is stunning, Vicki! Creating mixmedia images is a mystery to me, but you’re really good at it. Both the background of the picture and the whole composition are stunning!
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Fabulous frame with lots of great details Vicki! This will look great on the wall. Thank you for sharing with us over here at Pearly Sparkles Challenge and best of luck with your entry. Love to see you join in each month. Thank you.
Gale DT for
http://pearlysparkleschallenge.blogspot.com/
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Wow, this is a stunning mixed media piece! I love how you transformed the frame and the textures and colours are perfect for spring 😊. This is an adorable springtime scene with the little bird sitting in the nest – amazing! Thanks so much for joining us as Guest Designer at Creative Artiste and for your wonderful inspiration. Happy and creative wishes! Hugs, Jo x
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Vicki, this project si so amazing. I love every single thing you have done! You totally rocked this. Hugz
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What a great job you did for the guest designer spot this month. I am always amazed at your talent for the mixed media. Love the bird and nest as well as the beautiful message. What a great addition this ill make to where ever you chose to put this master piece.
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This is beautiful – I love that gorgeous crackle paint around the frame and those lovely flowers. The bird in the nest is such a great added touch – perfect for spring. Thanks for being our Guest Designer at Creative Artiste this month.
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Simply breathtaking Vicki. So much eye candy to feast over here as eve7 just blends in so beautifully. Lovely to have you as our Guest again at Creative Artiste this month. I so love your work just don’t comment near often enough.
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Wonderful, love everthing about it, using frames is one of my favourite crafting hobbies.Thanks for joining us at Pearly Sparkles this month for Anything Goes but a card challenge.
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Loving this 3-D magic! A vintage treasure, Vicki!!
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That’s so pretty Vicki – I love the soft colours you’ve used. Thanks for sharing it with us at Love to Craft challenge
Deborah DT
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