I love collecting little embellishments whether they are made from glass, acrylic, metal, wood or a card, they enhance any project and add an atmosphere to help tell the story behind it. I also like printers trays, collecting small items of vintage ephemera, curious and old collectibles that represented a moment in time in someone’s life. So I thought I would combine my love of these things and make a mosaic frame using small pieces gathered from all sorts of places.  Some of which are modern in that they are easy to buy on-line from those auction type sites etc. but given the rusting treatment they can all combine to look aged and like timeworn found trinkets.

I also need to tell you that I am an intuitive artist and throughout this project (and most of the others I make) I instinctively changed course and added in more layers than I had perhaps intended. I have highlighted these to you and if you follow these process steps I am sure you will do the same. Enjoy and have fun.ADD ALL TO CART

Items Needed:

• DecoArt Media Mediums and Specialty Products - Gesso - White (DMM18-71)
• DecoArt Media Mediums and Specialty Products - Clear Matte Medium (DMM20-71)
• DecoArt Media Mediums and Specialty Products - Crackle Glaze - Clear (DMM16-71)
• Water Spritzer
• Sanding Block
• Mini Misters
• Paint Brushes
• Sizix (Tim Holtz) Easel Die
• Various Other Embellishments To Alter And Add To The Mosaic Shapes
• Walnut Stain Distress Ink
• Metal Embellishments For Rusting
• Sizzix (Tim Holtz) Flourish Embossing Folder
• Sizzix (Tim Holtz) Mosaic Bigz Die.
• Mount And Cardboard For Die Cutting

Instructions:

Begin by cutting two of the mosaic frames and a back board the same size from mount board.

Cut another mosaic frame the same size from card and run through an embossing folder. I used the flourish as I could run it through twice once top and again on the bottom to create the embossed design.

Use texture sand paste and a palette knife randomly around the edge of the frame and a little around the boxed areas. Heat dry or leave to dry naturally. Add some transparent crackle glaze randomly around the frame and also leave to dry naturally.

Make up a mister of Titan Buff acrylic paint (I used 15 drops of paint in the Ranger mini mister) and another of Quinacridone Magenta (10 drops of paint) and use them with dabs of Yellow Oxide on a brush and a water spritzer to create mottled pastel colours over the frame and dry.

At this point I could see my crackle glaze layers had been too thin in most places, so I brushed on some more and left it to dry. Repeat the colouring up in this step again as required.

Mix small amounts of the Quinacridone Magenta and Yellow Oxide separately on your mat with water and use a brush and a water spritzer to let the deeper colours mix and dribble through the crevices of the embossed design. This takes several repeats of dripping and drying to get the required effects.

Create a more vintage look by dipping small areas into a watery walnut stain distress ink wash on your craft mat, let it move around and dab away areas that need removing before drying with a heat gun. Use the inky wash on a small brush and add bits by hand if you need more control over it.

While you are waiting during drying times, gather your metal embellishments and give them a thin coat of White Gesso.

Next paint your metal pieces with Raw Umber and Medium Grey Value 6, blending in places. When dry, give a few areas a coat of Payne's Grey and when that’s dry paint it all with Quinacridone Gold. I always end up ‘playing’ with the layers and here I added a little Translucent White and then a wash of Quinacridone Gold over that.

Alter the other embellishments to fit in with the overall look. Rub in a little Quinacridone Gold and dribble some in the holes of this number plaque.

Finish this monocle with some remnant rubs.

Colour up the little bottle with a thicker wash of Quinacridone Gold and rub Walnut Stain distress ink into the cork stopper.

Also colour the sides of the glass dome and sides of the base with a little Quinacridone Gold wash to vintage it up and adhere a photo to the base. I love adding vintage photos as they are often the focus of the story behind the project.

Rub a little Translucent White acrylic paint over the typed token to make the word stand out.

Add a sticker and epoxy overlay to the cash key.

Finish the frame but adding some dabs of watery Quinacridone Gold in the boxes, spritzing with water and heat drying while also adding some remnant rubs.

Cut a small easel die cut in mount board and adhere to the back of the frame to allow it to stand.

I hope you like this very girly pink frame and all the altered trinkets. You may notice some embellishment changes at the end but I did warn you at the beginning I will instinctively change things around and mix them up as I get through the processes and as usual, this happened. Enjoy!