Designer Craft Connection Blog Hop: May Flowers Mother's Day Glittery Picture Frame
May is certainly a busy month - what with May flowers blooming and Mother's Day to celebrate. I thought I'd share a project I made for Kool Tak a while back which would make the perfect flowery gift for Mother's Day. I used a technique that I learned many years ago for preparing designs for sandblasting. You cover the entire surface with a resist then progressively peel away parts to expose them for sandblasting. Well, this technique works great with glitter when you use double sided adhesive sheets! It allows you to control exactly where you apply different colors of glitter while keeping the colors separate and bright. As a final touch, I added a picture of my mom and myself to the project. I laugh because my last name is Flores which is Spanish for "flowers" so that makes this frame "A Bunch of Flores".
Here's how:
May Flowers Mother's Day Glittery Picture Frame
Materials:
- Kool Tak™ Clear Adhesive Sheet - 8” x 10” (1)
- Kool Tak™ Sparkles Bonus Packs - Pink, Blue, Green, Gold
- Wood picture frame - 8” x 8”
- Acrylic paint - white
- Your favorite photograph
Tools:
- Kraft knife
- Permanent marker
- Paint brush / plastic dish
- Cookie sheet with sides and sheet of paper (to catch the glitter)
Instructions:
1. Paint both sides of the wood picture frame with the white acrylic paint. Let dry.
2. One side of the Ultra Clear Adhesive Sheet is backed with a white release paper and the other side is backed with a pink plastic release liner. Peel the white release paper from the Kool Tak™ Ultra Clear Adhesive Sheet. Carefully adhere the sticky sheet to the front of the wood picture frame. Smooth the sheet with your hand firmly to remove any air bubbles. Use the kraft knife to trim all the excess adhesive sheet along the outside frame edges and from the inside frame opening. (Tip - put the trimmed pieces of adhesive sheet back on the white release paper and save them for another project.)
4. Cut all the flower shape outlines with the kraft knife. But don't peel anything yet!
5. Let's glitter! I like to work from the darkest color first to the lightest color last to keep all the colors bright. Working in small sections, use the tip of the kraft knife to lift and remove the cut background pieces of the pink release liner to expose the adhesive. With the cookie sheet under the picture frame to catch all the excess, sprinkle the exposed adhesive with blue micro-beads. Press the micro-beads with your finger to ensure that they are adhered well onto the frame and tap to remove all the exess. Continue removing the pink release liner pieces until you have glittered all the blue sections. (Tip - before moving onto the next color, carefully tap all the excess micro-beads from the cookie sheet back into the Sparkles plastic tube.)
6. Repeat the same steps for the green sections, the pink sections and the yellow sections using micro-beads. Last of all add the yellow glitter to the flower centers.
(You'll get a very interesting effect with the glitter because it is very fine and so looks almost embedded when placed next to the thicker micro-beads.)
7. Add your favorite picture to the frame.
I love this technique so much! Try it in different colors and designs to decorate other shapes such as bird houses and recipe boxes. And if you're a glass fuser, try it on glass using frits. It's a lot of fun!
---------------------------------
You can see lots more fun crafts ideas by following along on the Designer Crafts Connection Blog Hop. Just click on the "hop forward" or "hop back" buttons on the badge to visit the next site. You'll be inspired when you see all that the Designers have created!
