gcd studios altered art project

Hello hello! I am soooo excited to share my first gcd studios project with you! yay!! I can honestly say, these papers and embellies are so gorgeous, they are delightful to work with, and my creation turned out so perfectly because of the quality of the papers! 

My project is a little involved, but you are going to just love the finished project so much, it's worth the extra time!

This project is to be based on a theme- to me this theme was all about weddings and love and anniversary! So I made my project designed to be given to my hubby- this year we are celebrating our 19th anniversary together. yep- he was flirting with me in kindergarten! lol!!

My project is very light and airy feeling, with some pinks and light greens, and has flowers and a tiny bit of bling.

Don't forget you can click the picture to enlarge to see it better, but hopefully my close ups will provide that as well. 

You are going to need the following-

8x10 inch frame

an embossed double mat, for an 8x 10 frame with a 5x7 inch inside opening

gcd studios products

Homespun Chic collection papers (Laquer, Petit Blossoms, Pink Redwork, Homespun Mod, Pink Stitchery, and Homespun Garden)

Homespun Chic embellishments-Vintage Buttons, Gem Brads, Fabric Brads

Artsy Urban embellishments- Glitter Transparent Shapes & Tags

glue

scallop scissors

three small clear or pink gems

computer font- century gothic

twine

Now to make this rose heart frame, there are  different parts.

Part One- paint an 8x10 frame black, then cover with a crackle medium ( you can find this at most craft stores) and then allow the crackle medium to dry, about 2 hours. Then using plenty of paint, paint the frame again with white paint. The thicker the coat of paint, the thicker your cracks will be in your top coat. 

At this point, you can finish the frame with a top coat of clear varnish, to protect it. or leave it flat for that more authentic distressed look.

Part Two-

When picking my papers to make this project, I used both the 12x12 papers and the 8x8 paper pad from the same collection. I also made sure to use papers with a background of white, helping keep everything feeling light and clean.

Making the flowered heart- the first thing I did was to cut my heart out to fit inside the frame. I used a piece of Pink Redwork, and hand cut my heart. It is about 3.75x4 inches big. To make the roses, first cut a 3x3 inch piece of paper into a rough circle. Then either freehand or draw on a spiral, spinning down to the middle of the circle. Cut along the line. Now take the center point of the circle, and begin rolling it up along the spiral. Basically each rose is a large rolled piece of paper. When you are at the end of the spiral, glue the end piece of the paper on flat to the roll. To make a bigger flower, simply allow the paper to relax before you glue the end in place, and it will enlarge itself. I also punched a small circle about 1/2 sized, and glued my rose bottom to that, it helps to give the rose more stability.

Continue making roses, smaller and larger to fill in on your handcut heart. 

Part three- 

Putting it all together. Using your computer, print out your wording on a sheet of patterned paper. Mine says "You are my everything."  I also took and cut thin scallops from the Homespun Mod paper with my scallop scissors, then added the green scallops in between my two cut photo mats. 

These photo mats were precut and embossed mats that I had purchased. 

( Yeah, that might be cheating! LOL!) 

I then adhered my heart of roses to my background sheet.

To finish the heart, I added two brads, one with a large pink gem and one pink gingham fabric covered. I also added three small gems to several of the rose centers. I also added this glittered transparent bird, adding a vintage button and a bit of a twine bow to the center.

To finish your frame, insert your papers and photo mats into frame . Hang on wall, or use stand in back to stand in place.

Thanks for dropping by today, I really hope you have enjoyed my altered art project.

kris