Love is in the air

My grandmother is probably rolling over in her grave right now as she thought shabby was something that should have been replaced, wasn't clean, looked worn out, etc.  Oh well, she'll just have to spin because I happen to like the look.  I'm not a stark white, ironed sort of person.  (Giggle)

Of course I forgot to take a picture of the frame before I altered it.  I found it in the clearance section of Michaels.  There was crackle paint on it, the key I took off and the sentiment at the bottom said 'Love is patient, love is kind'. 

All that aside, here's what I did to make my shabby picture frame that houses my grandparents' wedding day portrait.  The photo is on very shiny paper so it was hard to get a good picture, even without the glass.

I painted over the entire frame with Claudine Hellmuth's Traditional Tan paint then added another layer of color with Antique Linen Crackle Paint.  Weathered Wood and Black Soot distress inks were rubbed into the cracks.  I love Wendy's new background stamp of German text (Botanical Art) as both my grandparents came from strong German families.  This was perfect stamped in Sepia archival over much of the frame.

The main sentiment is Wendy's from Love to Make Art; first lightly stamped in Coffee Archival then overstamped with Black Archival ink, giving it a slight shadow.  The month and date stamps were stamped in Black Archival but I don't remember the manufacturer.

Using Tim's Tattered Florals and rose leaf from Tattered Leaves, I punched out quite a few sets from cream cardstock.  Some flower layers were overstamped in Sepia Archival with the German text background.  I lightly inked the flower layers with brown distress inks and Bundled Sage distress ink to the leaves.  I spritzed them all, scrunched with my hand, then let air dry.  I spritzed again with Biscotti and Pearl Perfect Pearls and water using the Ranger mini mister.  Again, scrunched and let dry.  I found some white satin roses that were the perfect fit so they got swiped across a brown distress ink pad and hit with a spray of water.

I smeared the Pebble Paint Dabber on the key to antique it.  I added 3 rows of vintage lace - mimics grandma's dress.  We still have her dress and displayed it at their 70th wedding anniversary party.  It's made of very thin fabric; virtually see-through so she must have worn an industrial strength slip underneath!  As my grandparents are no longer with us I hope they're able look down and be pleased with my work.