Picture frame remake

I've been on a bit of a home design spree lately. Nothing major - I can't bear the thought of having to pull out paint brushes, I'm still too traumatised with the spruce we did at the Culinary Consultant's place three years ago. But small touches - flowers, candles, that sort of stuff. I'm particularly proud of a photo canvas I got for out downstairs loo. I couldn't find an image online that I liked so in the end I printed a picture I took myself in our garden last summer. Talk about individualised artwork! I also bought no less than five orchids today for the house as it seems like they are the only plants I can keep alive! I also got some cute little cacti and candles for my towel rain in the bathroom. Aren't they just the most adorable?

Anyhow, in my attempt to make our house a bit more of a home, I also want to add some photos to my craft room and our living room. So the first thing I need is some photo frames. I remembered I have a set of old cheap IKEA frames in the loft which I had painted bright pink many years ago. But they are nice little frame, so I thought why not try to work some of my crafty magic on them. Isn't this why I hoard all those weird mixed media things I don't really know what they are for - just in case I get inspired to do something like this?

I started by painting the frames white with Gesso to cover the pink. The for the lighter frame (at the top of the post), I added another quite thick layer of Gesso, let it dry for a while and then used some STAMPlorations stamps to create texture. I left the Gesso to dry over night. The following day, I painted the frame with Tim Holtz Distress Paint in Tarnished Brass, and let it dry over night again (the paint actually doesn't take that long to dry, but I was just getting in a few minutes of crafting between cooking dinner and then forgot all about it). After the paint dried, I tried adding some Distress Ink in Vintage Photo, but it didn't really stick to the acrylic paint. However, when I painted over everything with Distress Crackle Paint Rock Candy it moved the ink around a bit creating a nice extra vintage-y effect. After leaving the Crackle Paint to dry, I found that some of the crackling didn't stick very well to the frame, so I covered everything in a clear varnish. 

The darker frame was painted in Antique Bronze Distress Paint. After letting the paint dry, I inked Ground Espresso Distress Ink through an ARTplorations woodgrain stencil. However, as with the first frame, the Distress Ink didn't really stick to the acrylic paint surface, so when I added the Crackle Paint, the ink just reacted and flowed around but again I kind of like the effect here as well, as it just looks like the frame is really aged, even burned. As with the other frame, I finished everything off with a clear varnish to keep the crackle paint in place. And no, the Winnie the Pooh pictures are not what is going to be displayed in the frames - I just have no idea yet of what photos I want to use.

A few more pictures to show off the amazing texture of the frames, and particularly that gorgeous crackle. I really love the effect and I just bought a big bunch of other cheap picture frames, which I think will get crackled over too. I had absolutely no idea what would work and what won't but I'm quite pleased with how the frames turned out in the end.

I'm linking up with the following challenges:
Shopping Our Stash - Anything but a Card
Sisterhood of Snarky Stampers - N is for Not a Card
Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge - Anything Goes
Craft for the Craic - A Step Back in Time (Vintage/historic)
Creative Loops Challenge - Recycle

Materials used: Gesso, Old cheap Ikea picture frames bought years ago, Tim Holtz Distress Paint in Antique Bronze and Tarnished Brass, STAMPlorations Mixed Media Elements and Mini Mixed Media Backgrounds stamps, ARTplorations Weathered Wood, Tim Holtz Distress Ink Vintage Photo and Ground Espresso, Tim Holtz Crackle Paint Rock Candy, Prism Multi-Purpose Clear Gloss Craft Glaze Varnish