Window Frame Project

   I am officially 31 weeks pregnant today! I can't believe how fast this pregnancy is going! I feel great and have no complaints. I feel very blessed so far, and hope it lasts through labor as well!

   Today I have a very special project I want to share with all of you! Back in April I had a lady I met at last fall's craft fair contact me. She was wondering if I could help her with a graduation project that she wanted to complete for her daughter's party in June. We had talked about it briefly at the craft fair last fall, and she was following up in hopes that I could be hired to design this project for her!

   I was flattered! I love doing projects for people, and this one was right up my alley! She had 2 windows with 9 panes in each. She was hoping that I could design a project so that she could showcase her daughter's photos from birth to 11th grade in each pane! She wanted a shabby chic type of feel, and she wanted to use a coral color and tiffany blue color as the many accents. She also had these burlap 8x10 boards that she was hoping to use on the back of each pane for each picture to sit on.

   So I met with her at the end of April before we left for New Orleans, and then started working on the windows a week after we got back! I finished up the final details Memorial Day weekend, and her other daughter picked them up from me last week!

   It was a little challenging trying to figure out the best way to attach the burlap boards without showing a lot of glue or adhesive from the front side, but I think I got it figured out after trying a couple things! 

   I am really pleased with how they turned out, and I wanted to share pictures* of them with all of you so you can see some of the stuff I have been working on lately!  I'm sorry if the pictures are a little blurry. It is hard to get a good picture against glass!

First Window Pane Completed

Close-up of the Name Banner I put in the upper corner of the frame. These were chipboard letters that I painted in white acrylic paint and then coated with Avery Elle Sea Glass pigment ink. To make sure the ink didn't rub off, I then coated each letter in a Matte finish Mod Podge.

Here is the first row of pictures. I used My Mind's Eye, Heidi Swapp, and Core-dinations papers for the whole project. I cut the branches and paper flowers on the Cricut using the Art Philosophy and Artiste cartridges. I then embellished the photos with brads, pearl gems, mini clothespins, Base & Bling charms, lace ribbon, and a border punch. 

Here is the second row of pictures. I tried to keep the theme similar throughout both windows, but accented and laid each pane out different for contrast! These pictures were embellished with more of the same die-cuts, pearl gems, paper doilies, hemp twine, Base & Bling charms, and some hand-stitching over vellum!

Here is the third and final row on the first window. I embellished these pictures with paper butterflies, paper flowers, pearl flourishes, lace ribbon, and a stick pin.

Here's the 2nd window completed!

Here's the burlap banner on the second window.

Here's the first row of the window at a closer view. I embellished these with similar items as the first window frame! I have pearl gems, a die-cut doily, hand-stitching, Base & Bling charms, hemp cord, and the same papers from the same lines as before!

Here is the second row of pictures. You can see that I embellished the panes very similarly between the two windows. It made it easier to tie everything together!

Here is the last row of pictures! I love the feminine feel of the whole project, and the vintage look with everything put together.

Here's a close up picture of the paper flower detail that I put on both bottom corners of the windows. I cut the rolled flowers from CTMH's Art Philosophy and Artiste cartridges, distressed the edges in Cashmere ink, rolled them using my quilling tool, and glued them together with Liquid gold (I mean glass)! Then I added some distressed branches, and some pearl finishes, and that was it! These were super fun to make!

The "titles" under each picture were stamped with White Daisy ink on chalkboard paper. Chalkboard paper isn't very porous, though, and the ink takes a long time to dry. So to make it smudge proof I embossed it with clear embossing powder and a heat gun. The two font stamp sets I used to create these titles were the "Glamour Lowercase Alphabet" and the "Artfully Sent Alphabet" both from CTMH!

   I hope you enjoyed looking at my finished project! I had a blast making it, and can't wait to hear how it's received at her graduation party in a couple weeks! If you have any questions on products used or techniques, please let me know! Otherwise, have a great rest of your week, and until next time:

Here's to life, love, and creativity!

*I was given permission by the mom to post these pictures to my social media sites.