A Stamped and Watercolor Frame

The Gwen Lafluer ArtistTribe is back! I'm really excited that our ArtistTribe team is back together for 2021, sharing creative and exciting projects made with products from the fabulous Gwen Lafluer, who now has all kinds of products: stencils exclusively designed for StencilGirl, stamps from PaperArtsy (which coordinate nicely with the stencils!) and embossing powder from Emerald Creek. Aaaaannnndddd, she has her own website with all kinds of art and craft tools and products, plus unique fibers and decorative accents for mixed media work.

I fell in love with her magnolia stamps, so here's one of the first things I made: a frame to showcase a beautiful photo of my daughter and our dog, Coco. Coco has crossed the rainbow bridge, but he's still very much here in spirit.

Here's how I made the frame:

I started with a cheap wooden frame that I found at Michael's for $1. Needless to say I bought quite a few! Rather than paint directly on the frame, I decided to stamp and paint on tissue paper, then adhere to the frame.

First, I gathered the stamps I wanted to use, my lucite blocks, and my favorite ink. Then I randomly stamped the designs on a big piece of tissue paper, saved from the packaging of a Christmas present.

I covered about half a large sheet of tissue paper. I used white copy paper in back of the tissue so that I could see it better, and also to keep the ink from leaking through to my desk.

I took an old watercolor set and added blobs of color, intentionally going outside the black lines. (Any kind of water-soluble color would work, such as Derwent blocks or watered down arcylic paint.)

I kept adding more and more splashes of color, spritzing it with water, and at the end, an all over spritz of fine gold spray. I was impatient, so I used my blow dryer to speed up the drying process.  Once it was completely dry, I began wrapping the paper on the frame. First, I used a gluestick on the frame so I could easily position and reposition the paper without tearing. 

 

Once the tissue was in place, I cut away the excess (leaving enough to wrap around the edges) and carefully covered the top with gloss medium.  There were a few places that looked empty, so I carefully cut some of the leaves and flowers and added them where needed.

 

I used a q-tip to apply the matte medium to small areas so that I wouldn't damage the tissue. Once the tissue is wet, it tears easily.

Here's the final frame on my worktable, waiting for the center photo. With the leftover tissue paper, I also made a similar project with another $1 wood frame, which had a heart shape and would be perfect for Valentine's Day!