transforming frames...

On the gallery wall project goes. It is great to be able to plug away at bits and pieces of it when I feel well. However, at 32 weeks I better start plugging a touch faster...

So the frames are on their way to transformation from this... 

Starting with the dollar store frames, I removed the glass and laid them out to paint with acrylic metallic gold paint. It gave them a great brushed gold look which adds some texture. I used two colors of gold to add some dimension and variance. Also, Martha Stewart craft paints are where it is at. 

In between coats, I whipped up some artwork in Adobe Photoshop using water color brushes and then making clipping masks of illustrations with gold foil. 

Also introducing Bert the Moose, my hubby's find from Home Goods that he insisted went in the nursery. What can I say - love his taste. 

The frames from the resale shop were disassembled and spray painted antique white in a satin finish. Two thin coats made sure there was plenty of coverage. 

Then on to the shadow frame, I removed the current art work and spray painted the existing double mat with the same antique white paint as the other frames. This saved me from having to buy another one and tied in the multiple shades of off whites. The final product turned out great - I just love it! Very girly, but still with a hint of the woods. As one friend pointed out, we've equipped her with a quiver plus one. Always good to have another arrow on hand, right? 

To make the arrows, I used a 1/4" dowel painted with acrylic metallic craft paint cut to the size desired. From there I cut triangles and fletching from the pad of paper I found at Michael's {below}. It had a variety of pink/gold/cream prints to choose from. Folding both pieces in half gave them some great dimension. Each cut out was secured to the dowel with hot glue. For the fletching, I cut little slits to add some texture. For a finishing touch, I added a white feather with a gold dipped tip and secured it to the arrow with some twine. 

After all the arrows were made, I laid them out on some left over mat board I had from graphic design classes. Playing around with different directions and spacing, I ended up with the final product you see and secured them all to the mat board with some hot glue under the arrow tip and fletching piece. I started to think about making more arrows for a mobile or something, but then I was getting a little over kill. 

We still have a Bible verse to select and add to the oblong frame on the left that I am going to calligraph in gold writing. Brett is drawing an ink piece for the oval frame, and I am creating a floral wreath water color with her initials on it for the squarish frame on the bottom right. Here is how the layout looks so far. The best piece of advice I found for creating a gallery wall is to lay everything out on the floor beforehand so you can move things easily.

Since my crafty bone was going strong, I also repurposed some hooks that my dear lumberjack knocked off the wall and broke. The wood platform once had a little knob secured and a hanger on the back. Well, a little white wash and some gold paint later, we have a gilded fox and moose to put on the dresser or shelf. All of the foxes and moose items stem from nicknames that Brett and I have for each other. It is the little bit of both of us that we wanted to add to the space.