"A View of London" Vintage Window Photo Frame

This month's Designer Craft Connection blog hop theme is "Vacation Memories" - making this a perfect time to share my latest  project - "A View of London" Vintage Window Photo Frame with lettering etched with etchall® etching cream.   Be sure to follow the DCC Blog Connection link in the column on the right to see what other vacation memory projects our designers are sharing!

Materials:

Repurposed window - with loose paint removed and windows cleaned
Photos
Scrapbook paper
Westcott®  TrimAir Premium Titanium Paper Trimmer, 12" wide
etchall® Etching Cream and Designer Tip Kit
DecoArt® Glass Paint Marker™ - white
AdTech® hot glue gun & glue sticks
Paper towels

Instructions:

Step 1:  Measure the panes of your vintage/repurposed window.  Print photos for each pane of the window.   Trim with Westcott® TrimAir Trimmer.

Step 2:  My printer would not allow for printing the photos as large as the window panes, so I layered my photos onto scrapbook paper cut to the exact window size.

Step 3:  Select font for window writing and print in desired size.  Tape to back of window.  Apply etchall® etching cream using etchall® Designer Tip Kit over the letters.

Step 4:  Allow etchall® cream to set 15 minutes, then return cream to jar for later use and clean window.

Step 5:  On back of window, add small lines and dots with white DecoArt® paint pen to highlight each etched letter and number.

Step 6:  Mount photos to back of glass in each pane using AdTech® hot glue to hold in place.

Now every night at dinner we can enjoy our "View of London" and remember the fun we had exploring all it had to offer!

Designer Craft Blog Connection July Hop - Vacation Crafting!

Welcome to the July Designer Craft Connection Blog Hop!  This month’s theme is Vacation Crafting.   While many of us may use vacations as a time to sit back, relax, and actually not craft, for many of us it’s a time to spend MORE of our time crafting.   Whether you are on a trip to the mountains, a lake, the beach, a theme park, or are exploring a new state or country, if you look closely I promise you will begin to notice creative inspiration everywhere.  It’s in the color palettes of the scenic views, the textures and unique architecture of the buildings and clothing of the people around you, the wonderful tiny found elements to incorporate into your projects.   If you are enjoying a vacation in your own home and yard - take the time to notice all the details that make it special to you too, capture them and let them inspire your creativity!

Beach vacations tend to be popular - and who hasn’t come home with a bit of beach sand, and a few (hundred) seashells to help remember the good times along with fun photographs?     These Beach Memory bottles were a project I shared on an early episode of When Creativity Knocks - You can view the full episode here.    I repurposed shampoo bottles from hotel rooms, along with beach sand, tiny shells, assorted embellishments, and a tiny memory message in a bottle to create these pretty little reminders of fun beach vacations.   It’s a craft you can start working on while you are enjoying your vacation and helps you remember the good times in a unique way.   And, they look so pretty on my studio windowsill with the sunlight shining off of them and through the colored bottles.

Be sure to click through the Designer Craft Blog Connection link on the right to see the other creative vacation crafts being shared by this amazing group of talented designers.  There is always, literally, something for almost everyone in these hops and one of the best parts is seeing everyone’s interpretation of the monthly theme.