...Ways To Use It Challenge #147 & Limited Supplies Challenge #149

This was my submission for Thursday's Ways To Use It (WT) and yesterday's Limited Supplies Challenge (LSC). I have had many people wanting me to make more altered projects, so this was the perfect opportunity to do just that...an Altered Chipboard Picture Frame. The WT was to use flowers in any way we wanted, so I built this flower using Silk Flower Arrangements around the house. Ten petals of various sizes were arranged, and were then held together with a beautiful Pearl Brad. The LSC was to NOT use any shade of white or vanilla...Jen actually named this challenge "What?"...and that said it all! The Chipboard Picture Frame (by Creative Imaginations) was painted with Black Acrylic Paint and a Sponge Brush. Once dried, the front was covered with a piece of designer paper from BasicGrey's Scarlett's Letter collection. Mod Podge was used as an adhesive, and a generous coat was painted onto the frame with another sponge brush. Special care was taken to remove any air pockets or bubbles that appeared under the paper. The frame was placed upside down onto the table with a couple of heavy books on top until it had dried completely. A Sponge Dauber was used to sponge Basic Black ink around all of the edges (the outside of the frame and the frame window). The outside edges of the frame were sanded down with Sanding Blocks to make them more uniform. Another coat of Mod Podge was painted over the frame front, and was then set aside to dry.

The sentiment (from Shakespeare's "Venus and Adonus") is one of my personal favorites . It reads, "Love comforteth like the sunshine after rain." PhotoShop was used to configure the layout and font of the sentiment, then printed onto an 8-1/2" X 11" piece of Gray Vellum Paper. The wet ink on the vellum was allowed to dry completely, then the vellum was cut down to the exact size of the frame window. A piece of thick, clear plastic was used inside the frame window (instead of glass), so the sentiment panel was placed behind it. The flower was secured to the lower left corner of the frame window with Pop-Up Glue Dots.

That's it for today...so what do you think? I had a blast working on this, so I have made plans to make at least one altered project a week. You all have made some wonderful suggestions in your blog candy comments, and I am going to try to honor each of them with my creations tis upcoming year. Thanks for stopping by today, and don't forget to leave a comment on the post above to win some BLOG CANDY if you haven;t already made one. Thanks also for all of your kind words and encouragement! You are my inspiration, and I love creating artwork to share with you. So until next time...Hugs ~ Mercy

Supplies

Paper: Scarlett's Letter paper (BasicGrey)

Ink: Basic Black, Gray Vellum

Accessories: Chipboard Picture Frame (Creative Imaginations), silk flowers, pearl brad, acrylic paint, foam brushes, sponge dauber, glue dots, Mod Podge, computer and printer