Magnolia Stamp Lover's Buttons & Bling Challenge

I waffled over this challenge. I pulled out a 4x6" acrylic desk frame and a 3x3 Post-It Pad and played around with it for a while. I thought "let's stamp flower stems and leaves and add the buttons for the flowers", then I thought, "let's not". So, I let this stew for a while before I got serious. It was due in two days by the time I had a vision. And THEN, I couldn't find the frames I had purchased several weeks ago at Michaels. I was beginning to think I was wrong about having purchased them. Have you ever 'thought' about buying something and were sure you actually purchased it? That's me, in a nutshell. This frame took a while to decorate, some due to drying time.

I started with a plain wooden unfinished frame from Michaels. I paid $1.00 for it and it has a 3.5 x 3.5" opening. I sanded the front and inside of the opening with large grit sandpaper and then wiped it off with a tack rag. I painted primer on the front of the frame and silver metallic paint on the edges and inside the opening. When that was dry I coated the front of the frame with Mod Podge and put the paper over the frame. I used my bone burnisher to rub the paper down firmly, especially on the edges. You want to make sure and get all the bubbles out. I turned the frame over and cut out the inside fairly close to the opening (do not try to cut it exactly). After the paper was dry, I sanded the edges of the paper both outside the frame and inside the opening. When you sand, sand the paper from front to back, NOT back to front (which may lift and tear your paper). After all the edges were sanded and the paper was smooth, I painted the flowers with Twinkling H2Os. They shimmer and shine and you never have to worry about them drying up on you like some other 'shimmer' type products. These flowers color beautifully whether you paint them or spray them, they look fabulous. The flourishes are Spellbinder cut out with my Grand Caliber from an embossed piece of paper. Not all the embossing showed after I re-embossed them in the die, but enough shows to give interest. Before I attached the flourishes, flowers and buttons, I took a 1" brush and painted the front of the frame with Mod Podge to add some texture. I turned the frame 90 degrees and added a second coat. It gave the frame a nice linen look.

I stamped Edwin on Cryogen paper, masked him, and stamped Tilda next to him. The sentiment in the frame is mine. After using Mod Podge to glue Tilda and Edwin down, I used the Mod Podge to cover the images using up and down strokes on the first coat and side to side strokes on the second coat. I attached the flourishes with Mod Podge and the buttons with white glue.

Stamping Scrapping.com Flowers; Spellbinder Flourishes; Recollections Adhesive Rhinestones; DMC Metallic Embroidery Thread; Twinkly H2Os Garnet, Ginger Peach; Craftsmart Acrylic Paint Metallic Silver; Mod Podge; Smooch Illuminate; Copics: Him [Skin E000, E11, R20][Pants B97, B95, B93, BG07, E37][Hair E30, E33][Hat G24, G21][Shoes N5, N2] Her: [Skin E000, R20, E11][Pants G24, G12, G21, R81, BV01, BV04, Y17][Hat/Top V01, B000, B0000, V04][Hair Y02, Y17][Shoes R29, R24]