Prima's French Riviera, designed by Frank Garcia, made my job so easy. It's gorgeous, warm, and peaceful looking -with that sandy weather worn feel. That's exactly the look I wanted to achieve with my Darice photo frame. You can grab the French Riviera Collection right here.
Here is a close up of the faux wood frame. If you scroll down, I'll share how I made it.
Step 1. I started with this sheet of Prima French Riviera paper Journees De Reves et Aventures 990787. I cut 4 strips from the paper for each of my sides.. These 4 pieces look weather worn and sand beaten.
After all the sides are covered in gel medium, let dry. The gel medium will seal the paper and make it durable, as well as protect the frame from fingerprints, stains and messes.
Step 3. This is where my beloved Beacon's 3-in-1 glue comes into play and is important. I am adhering thick jute to the sides of the frame. I really would like my jute to grab and hold for me. I have no patience for wrestling with trims, jute and cording to make them stay on projects. They get one chance to behave for me or they get the boot.
Step 4. I want to add some blue and sea glass colors to the projects so I decided to make my own perfectly colored embellishment. I misted a small piece of cheesecloth and heat dried it with my heat gun. The heat really stiffens up the cheesecloth. I used Prima's Color Blooms in Glistening Waves and Summer Sky.
Step 5. Adhere little snips of the cheesecloth to the frame.
Step 6. Cut some images from the French Riviera paper. Adhere to the project. If I am placing an image onto the frame, then I will use the gel medium. Slather some gel medium onto the frame, some gel onto the image, then cover it with gel medium to smooth out. The next few photos show the embellishments.
I added some cardboard to the back of this to make it more dimensional. The shell came back from Florida in my suitcase.
This starfish image was adhered using gel medium.
Step 7. Last step before all the final embellishments are added. I painted some watered-down white acrylic paint here and there onto the frame, embellishments, and jute.
The final embellishments can be anything - shells, flowers, floral berries, sea glass, die cuts, drift wood...whatever you desire. I added flowers and floral berries.
See how easy it is to bring the peaceful ocean to you?
OTP -
Flying Unicorns- Your Passion Your Art Kit for March
Prima Color Bloom Mists - Summer Sky 573867
Prima Color Bloom Mists - Glistening Waves 573942
Prima Art Basics Finnabair - Soft Matte Gel 961428
Prima French Riviera Collection - paper 990756
Prima French Riviera Collection -paperJournees De Reves et Aventures 990787
Prima French Riviera Collection Flowers
Cheesecloth
Darice 5x7 Paper Mache Photo Frame 2839-12
White acrylic paint
Seashell from my stash
Floral berries from stash