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Frame your own artwork

Framed artwork

For a while now I have wanted to make an art piece of my own to place above our humble dining room table. The problem? I am no artist. That's right, sometimes crafty girls cannot paint or draw.. or it may just be me. Either way, I have created a fabulous piece of "art" using scrapbook paper, ribbon, fabric, cardstock, embellishments, and any other scraps you have laying around the house. It's beautiful and sophisticated, and I didn't have to use a paint brush! Do you want to make your own? Let's get started.

What you need:
  • Large Frame with the piece of glass insert (I got mine on sale at Hobby Lobby. But I would suggest trying thrift stores or Goodwill for a large frame and spray painting it because these larger frames get pretty pricey.)
  • One sheet of poster board in the color you want your background to be (I chose white to go with my black frame). 
  • Hot glue gun and Elmers glue (or some other kind of craft glue). 
  • Scissors
  • Pencil and a ruler
  • Two sheets of 8 1/2" X 11" card stock in the color you want to "frame" your individual pictures  - like a matting (I chose black to counter the white background and match my black frame).
  • Scrapbook paper, ribbon, buttons, embellishments, fabric, pretty much anything you want to add. This is your project!
measured out frames for your artwork

Here we go!
  1.  Trace on your poster board how many "frames" you want to have. I like the 3 X 3 look, but it was difficult to find a square frame, so I went with 2 X 3. Make sure you measure exactly how thick you want your background border to be (I chose one inch of white) and how thick you want your matting border to be (I did half an inch of black card stock cut out into strips and glued on to the poster board). 
  2. Next, lay out your designs for each individual frame. Think of different textures and give some of the elements a 3-D look by adding pieces of thick cardboard behind them. Glue each of the elements in place.
  3. Now cut the poster board to the size of the glass in the frame and glue it right on top of the glass. And you're done! 
    Here are some close-ups of the different types of textures I used. It's hard to see in this picture, but in the frame on the right, I gave the design an illusion of being 3-D. I accomplished this by adding a card stock backing to the design to make it sturdy (the design was cut from a piece of fabric) and then glued on two pieces of thick cardboard stacked on top of each other to the back. When you are creating your frames, try to use different textures and add some dimension to make your pieces more interesting and visually stimulating.

    framed artwork

    Here is the end result. I was very happy with how it turned out.
     This project is a little time consuming, so mommies - plan accordingly! Even though it takes a little time to make, it's super easy to do.. especially for a "non-artistic" crafter like me! I hope you will give it a try!

    framed artwork

    This is where the completed artwork will hang. It isn't hung yet, obviously, but when my husband gets home from work it will be. It's not that I can't hang a piece of artwork myself (I hung my whole frame wall by myself, for crying out loud), my husband just likes to be "involved" in my crafts. And that means leaving little things for him to do like hanging things. He says it's his way of "crafting" with me. Ha! I love him.

    Hope you try this fun project. Let your imagination run wild! 
    And let your husband hang your framed artwork up. ;)

    Ciao bella,

    19 comments:

    1. I just love this, especially that it has 3-D elements. I am trying to come up with ideas for artwork in my foyer, right now it's a blank slate!

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    2. Sharon, this is awesome!! Your best yet. I'm impressed!

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    3. Sharon- I been passing your blog out around work. We are secretly obsess with your work. :) This is amazing, I'm defintely going to try to make something similar for my work office.

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    4. PS Anonymous is me, Tonya. I can't sign in to my account at work.

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    5. I saw your project One Pretty Thing and I love it! I'm definitely going to explore your blog a lot more, but I was wondering if you used particular tutorials to make some of these pages/squares (especially the paper flowers)? They look really unique and I'd love to make some! Can't wait to dive into your blog more! :o)

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    6. Thanks "thecraftyscientist.com"!

      I didn't use any tutorial, I just had an assortment of different materials and put them together in ways I thought looked good. For the flowers, I cut out rough, curvy "flower" shapes of different sizes from scrapbook paper (although looking back now, I would use old, worn book pages). I stained the edges just a tad using distress ink so that you could tell where the petals end. I stacked the flower shapes on top of each other, and then embellished with buttons.

      I apologize for not including specific tutorials. I didn't take very many detailed pictures throughout the project, therefore I didn't include any intermediary steps. Let me know if you have any other questions, and I'd be happy to answer them! Thanks for stopping by! :)

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    7. Found you on craft gawker. Love this idea!!!! Thanks so much for sharing. I am going to make this today. Have all my supplies already!

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    8. love the whimsy of this idea there are so many ideas running through my mind now

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    9. I am in love with this! Awesome job!!!

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    10. SO pretty...I'm jumpin' up and down I'm so happy I found your blog.

      Jessica

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    11. I've put together a round up of great wall art ieas on Craft Gossip today and included your post. :) You can see it here
      http://homeandgarden.craftgossip.com/25-awesome-wall-art-ideas/

      If you would like a Craft Gossip badge showing you've been featured, you can grab one here :)
      http://homeandgarden.craftgossip.com/grab-a-craft-gossip-button/

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    12. Amazing !! They look so beautiful :) I am going to make something like that

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    13. I love this idea because although I love looking at arts and crafts, I suck at creating them! So hopefully this will be an easy craft for moi!

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    14. i had made some scrapbook frames, but love your idea of embellishing the paper with pretty much anything - thank you for the post!

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    15. I absolutely love this. I would not have thought to use scrapbooking paper to make framed art like this.
      Sarah
      www.budgetfriendlydecorating.com

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    16. Saw this on Pinterest. Really beautiful! Love the table and chairs, too.

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    17. If you don't mind me asking, what size frame did you get from Hobby Lobby? Love this idea and am thinking of recreating it to match the decor in my two youngest daughters' room.

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