Altered Shabby Chic Frame with Handcrafted Butterflies and Floral Sprays

Hi! I hope everyone is getting a chance to enjoy this lovely weekend! I love weekends and generally fill them with excitement and activity, but I'm currently under the weather so I decided to spend this one doing nothing but resting and drinking hot tea. I've slept in each morning and taken afternoon naps in my cozy library chair. I've spent some time online feeding my Pinterest addiction. I  finished an amazing book and started another. I even finished season one of Larkrise to Candleford (thank you Su!! I love this series as much as Downton Abbey!) I also found a moment to get some photos of my latest project, an altered frame I've been working on for my friend. Sadly, her beloved dog (Brandi) passed away. Her husband had an especially close bond with Brandi. My friend wrote this letter (to him from Brandi) and asked if I could print it for her. She's one of my very best friends so I wanted to create a special keepsake for her. It took me a bit of time to finish it, but I hope she'll find it worth the wait.   

   

I started with a plain white frame and did some distressing and inking to age it up.

I aged a couple of selections of lace from my craft supply and adhered them to the inner an outer edge of the frame.

I'm in love with adding dimension to my projects. For this frame I aged several layers of white card stock. My aging technique includes tea stain, distress inks, a sanding block, and some 'artistic tearing.' After that was complete I started layering away until I had the look I wanted. 

                                      

I found this adorable little paw print stamp on eBay and just had to have it. 

My next step was to get to work crafting floral sprays for the corners. I love creating flower sprays! There is no right or wrong way to make them and each one is a little different. 

I attached a couple of charms to the flower spray in the right corner of the frame. I  love everything related to timepieces . I thought these were perfect. 

I still felt like it needed a little something more to bring it to life, and thought, 'what could be more perfect than butterflies!' I made these using heavy gold card stock, my favorite Cuttlebug cutting and embossing set, and rub-n-buff in autumn gold to match the detailing I used on the flower sprays. 

My Irish soul made an appearance again, rather insistent that some magical sparkle was needed. I like her (and she's almost always right!) so I pulled out my bottle of fairy dust and applied liberally.  

  

Here's a close up of the aging and layering of the card stock.

  

This is the sweet letter my friend wrote. Such a touching farewell from Brandi to her husband.  I cried when I read it.

Thank you dear friends for taking a moment to check out my project! It is a joy to be able to share it with you. I wish you a lovely day filled with happiness (and maybe just a touch of magic!)

 Hugs,