A Framed Photo Canvas

Hi everyone!  Today I am sharing with you all a home decor project, using a favorite photo, as part of my Design Team application for The Robin's Nest.

It's a great inexpensive way to create a unique home decor piece for display in your home using a favorite photo. For my project today I have decided to go with a pretty girl theme with lots of Pink and Sparkle which goes beautifully with my photo, which is one of my favorites of my niece when she was younger.  But you can choose colors and embellishments for this project to coordinate with the interior design on your home or simply choose a theme relating to the subject of your photo.  It would make a wonderful gift idea too!

The items you will need to make this project are:-


ROBIN'S NEST ITEMS
1 x Glitter Pink on Pink Swirl 12 x 12
1 x Glitter Pink Crackle 12 x 12 Cardstock
Pink Dewdrops
Clear Dewdrops
Girl Stickers (Flowers for extra embellishment)


OTHER ITEMS
Canvas Board/Panel 12 x 10 inches
A4 Size Photo (I have scanned my photo and printed on A4 Photo Paper)
Gel Medium or Modge Podge
Paint Brush to apply Gel Medium
Square and Scallop Square Punches (Stampin' Up)
Heart Punch (Carl)
Embossing Folder 
Big Shot Machine
2 x White Scallop Die Cut Border (Sizzix Border Dies)
1 x A4 White Cardstock/Paper
Brayer

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Selecting your photo scan and/or print to A4 Photo Paper. 
2. Using the square and scallop square punches punch out squares from the papers.  I have used the plain square for the Glitter Pink on Pink Swirl Paper (Glitter Side Up) and the Scallop square for the Glitter Pink Crackle Cardstock (Glitter side down).
3. Punch 8 plain squares from the white cardstock.
4. Using your heart punch and the Glitter Pink Crackle Cardstock punch out one heart (Glitter Side Up)
5. Centre and glue down the heart onto one of the white squares.
6. Place all of the eight white squares including the one with the heart in your chosen embossing folder and run through the Big Shot Machine.  
7. Glue the scallop die cut strips to the top and bottom of your photo. To determine the correct placement you will need to roughly position the photo and squares onto the canvas.  ie. Center the photo and then using a couple of the punched squares which will overlap the scallop, position these at the top and bottom of the canvas to find the right position, this will depend on how much scallop you wish to see. (See photos).  
8. Start assembling your canvas, glue your photo onto the canvas by applying a layer of Gel Medium to the entire canvas and then placing down and centering the photo. Run your brayer over the surface of the photo to ensure it is stuck down and perfectly flat with no air bubbles.
9. Starting at either the top or bottom apply a white embossed square to each of the corners with the Gel Medium and then work into the center gluing on alternating squares (one scallop/one plain) so that the edges just meet. Once finished you can seal with a coat of Gel Medium, which drys clear. 
10. Repeat along the top and then down each side. For the two sides (shorter lengths of your canvas) the squares will overlap more.  Working from the corners into the center, evenly match the overlapping of the squares either side of the centre point.  
11. Take the four remaining white embossed squares (one of these is has the heart) and layer over the centre square on all sides. The white embossed square with the inlaid heart should be centered along the bottom.  
12. Seal the entire project with a thin coat of Gel Medium.
13. Place a Dew Drop on every alternate scallop alternating the colors between Pink and Clear.
14. Stick the 3 pink flowers from the Girls Stickers (Robin's Nest) onto a piece of the leftover white  cardstock.  Cut these out and then glue on to the corners of your frame with Gel Medium.
15. Seal the entire project once more with Gel Medium and let dry.
16. To finish add some string to the back of the canvas so that you can hang it on the wall. 

Here's a couple of photos taken as I made this project, if you are visual person these may help you understand my instructions better.

A picture of the papers and punches used in this project.

Once you have glued your heart onto one of the white punched square 

you run them all through the Big Shot with your chosen embossing folder.  

(NB. The process of adding a punched image to your cardstock and embossing it is called Inlaid Embossing. Its really a simple technique but can be very effective particularly in card making.).

The Gel Medium can be used to glue down the photo as well as seal the surface.  

Here the gel medium has been applied to the canvas board to glue down the photo, and then used to seal down the scallops to the photo.  Once fully dry it dries clear.

Centering the photo and by roughly placing your squares top and bottom of your photo you can work out exactly where you need to place your scallops.   If you think that the chosen decorative strip is impacting to much on the subject matter of your photo you may wish to choose a different strip or not have one.

 

Starting at either the top or bottom of your photo, place your white embossed square in each corner and work towards the center of your design.

Once you have worked around all four sides, you then add an embossed white square to the center of each side, with the heart being placed along the bottom of your photo and embellish.  Add your dew drops to the scallops and your stickers where desired.

SOME THINGS TO CONSIDER

Using a glittered or embossed paper such as those from The Robin's Nest, can save you time on embellishing, and it also saves you getting messy using loose glitters which seems to end up everywhere when I use them.

Using a sealer such as the Gel Medium which I am working with today, protects your work, making it water proof and easy to wipe clean and dust. It is also for the ease of dusting/keeping clean that I have used minimal dimensional embellishments.  Dew Drops and rhinestone are fine as they don't have any grooves or crevices, but 3D Paper Flowers etc do and these will trap dust and dirt plus are much harder to seal with the Gel Medium.

This idea of creating a unique/personalised frame are endless.  You could use it for memo/pin boards, and with smaller canvases and smaller sized punches to frame your favorite quotation.  The possibilities are truly endless.