Word of the day is MAGIC!

I decided the really big flower from my last post, needed a great surface to sit on.  So I'm going to make a custom chipboard frame.  Follow along and I will show you how I did it.

Here are the measurements of my frame all based on how big I wanted the center to be.
Back: 7 3/4 x 9 1/2"
Center: 5 3/4 x 7 1/2" (this piece will be covered in patterned paper)
Frame: Two - 7 3/4 x 1" and two - 9 1/2 x 1"- each corner mitered

I cut the miter joints of the frame following a hand drawn pencil line.  No real measuring.  I just laid one piece on top of the other and made a tick mark, then drew a line from the tick mark to the corner.  Cut.  It's that easy.

You can see that my frame is not perfect on one of my corners. I'm not really worried that my pieces don't match up because I have a plan that will make all that "rough" work (as my dad would say) fade away.  And if you're wondering, I secured the 4 frame pieces to the back with Multi Medium.  I used some binder clips to secure each corner for about 5 minutes while the glue dried.  The one thing I did not want, was for the corners to lift.

Once dry, I'm ready to start the finishing process.  I probably should have coated the chipboard with gesso (that would have been smart) but I didn't.  So lets pretend there is a coating of gesso here and then we'll just move on, okay?
I painted on a layer of Wendy Vecchi Embossing Paste - gold.  This product is kinda like magic.  It is this very weird color in the jar...

But then when it dries (which is quick), it turns gold.  The transformation is nothing less than magic, I tell you!  Anyways, brush it on in a thin layer...remember, this is just the ground floor layer (okay, really gesso should be the ground floor but we're not going to talk about that).  Again, I'm not worried about brush stokes or the crack in the corner, just a nice thin coat.

Once the gold Embossing Paste is dry (I might have used a heat tool to speed things up), I added a coating of Wendy Vecchi Crackle Texture Paste over the gold.  I just spread it on with my plastic palette knife.  Super easy...not too much thinking.  Some places thin and some thicker.  I wanted to have some of the gold show through, so I wasn't worried about missing spots.  Once I had the Crackle Paste on the frame, I set it aside to dry, then washed my palette knife (don't skip the washing or you will be sorry).

And the result... 
Just like magic we have cracks!  Exactly what I was looking for.

I used my Sanding Grip to sand away any rough parts on the edges.  Because the Sanding Grip has a flat rigid surface, it worked perfectly to run right along the edge, leaving the top of the frame undisturbed.

I used Archival Ink in Watering Can and a Mini Blending Tool to add color to the Crackle Paste.

Then I took my Mini Distress Ink Blending pad in Vintage Photo a scuffed it over the first layer of Archival ink.

Back over the Distress ink, blending some of the heavy color into the frame...but just a bit.  I want the "rusted" appearance.

I decided to add a light coat of Multi Medium over the top of the cracks which I knew would make the Distress Ink come to life.  I was right, the color of the Vintage Photo ink  becomes rich.  Of course, because Multi Medium is wet, it can move the Distress ink around diluting the rich color too.  If this happens, just repeat the process (ink, mm, dry, ink mm, dry).
One thing you might note is how nicely the mitered corners turned out.  All the layers filled in my shoddy cutting job!

I added paper from the Lost and Found Paper Stash to the last chipboard piece with Multi Medium and adhered it to the center of the frame.

And there you go.
One frame with a really great Crackle Finish.  To be honest I was pleasantly surprised how easy it was to create this kind of texture.  Both layers dried quite quickly... all in all, it probably took an 1 1/2 hours to create start to finish (it will take me longer to edit photos and write the post about creating it).

Just love the texture and color of the frame.

Okay, so we have a really big flower and now a fabulous crackled frame. The next step is to put the two together and make it look cohesive.  I think this calls for vintage ephemera, something I know I have.  Stay tuned for our next episode of "The one with the really Big Flower"....
now carry on,
paula

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