"A Trip Back In Time" Finnabair Phone Frame

Hi everyone, it's my turn on the 
Finnabair blog
 and I'm so excited to show you the newest Altered Frame 

 the Phone.

Those of you who know me will recall that my husband and I worked in the telephone industry for many years, and so this is really a favorite vintage piece for me. 

I started adding color to the frame using wax patinas like Guilders Paste and Inka Golds. The texture of this phone is beyond amazing. There are so many layers of what I can only describe as "corrosion" that the pastes highlight beautifully. I really, really was thrilled with how they looked.

Then I cut out a circle of heavy paper and the center of that to create a frame for my vintage picture. I added a coating of Platinum Texture Crackle and set it aside to dry.  When dry I added some dark brown dye ink in the cracks and wiped with a soft cloth.

The laser-cut chipboard flourishes were painted with Soft Gloss Gel and Mica Powders. I dipped my brush into the Gel, then into the Powder and dabbed it onto the pieces. They create an amazing texture since you keep them kind of lumpy instead of completely mixing them up. I used the Blue and Gold here.

I wanted to add a cord to the phone, so I used some braided rope and painted it with the Copper Texture Crackle. To "age" it I sponged on Sepia and Black archival inks.

For the inside of the frame I added Copper Texture Crackle, then sprinkled Splash Micro Beads, and Copper and Gold Rush Glass Glitter onto it. Set aside to dry. I have no idea why the beads look black...they are blue in the jar, but dried black. 

This is the back, which ended up being my favorite area of texture. I added some of the Blue Mica Powder/Gel mixture to the back of the frame a foam square. When it was dry, I used my "digital applicator" aka finger to lightly add more patinas to the raised areas. The Coral Red really gave it a punch.

The picture on the right shows the Washer that was patina-ed and glued to a piece of Styrofoam inside the handle. The Mini Brad in the center helped keep it in place. The laser-cut pieces of chipboard are added with 3D Matte Gel as is the Mechanical and copper center. I made several and decided late in the process that I liked the smaller ones shown here better than the large one in the above picture.

I cut 10 circles from a metallic copper paper and glued the Numbers to the center with 3D Matte Gel. Then I added them around the circle. The finger stop is cut from metal foil paper. The vintage Girl is glued into place using the circle as a frame. It is added to the inside onto 5 small wooden blocks for height. You can just barely see the inside at this angle with the Glass Glitter and Beads.

More Mechanicals were added onto the painted chipboard flourish. All that's left is gluing in your cord and adding some flowers to the corners. 

I hope you've been inspired to get to work and create a Vintage Phone Frame of you own. I will treasure this creation for a long time.

Always check out the 

Finnabair Blog 
every week for Finnabair's Wednesday Recipes and the wonderful projects by the 
Creative Team.
And there's a GIVEAWAY going on now on 
Finnabair's Facebook Page...check that out, too!

Your Friend in ART,

Linda

Finnabair Products:
Prima - Altered Metal Phone Frame
Art Basics - Soft Gloss Gel
Art Basics - 3D Matte Gel
Art Extravagance - Texture Crackle Pastes - Copper and Platinum
Art Ingredients - Mica Powder - Gold and Blue

Art Ingredients - Micro Beads - Splash
Art Ingredients - Glass Glitter - Copper and Gold Rush
Mechanicals - Typewriter Numbers 
Mechanicals - Washers #1 and Washers #2
Mechanicals - Mini Brads

Other Products:
Retro Cafe Art Gallery - Ornate Flourish Cut-Outs Style 6
Inka Gold - Copper and Gold
Guilders Paste Patinas - Coral Red and Patina
Paper Flowers

Pretty Woman Postcard

Time for a fun project with

 Retro Cafe Art Gallery.

This starts with a postcard and some bright acrylic paints added with a foam square. Then I stamped with black archival inks using a Finnabair Clear Stamp - Doorway.

I sponged on Distress Inks to color the Butterflies and then stamped.

The Ornate Flourish was decorated with Micro Beads that were added using Soft Gloss Gel. 

They really don't show up well on the other picture...they're metallic Silver, Brass and Copper and shiny. I finally gave up! If I got them to show shiny, the girls face showed up shiny too...

I used the  Cling stamps Dream On and 

It's Never Too Late sets to stamp the butterflies and the phrase.

The beautiful lady is from Collage Sheet Pretty Women.

Take time to play!

Linda

Products Used:

Chipboard Postcards - Style 6

Collage Sheet - Pretty Women

Butterfly Cut-Outs - Chipboard

Ornate Flourish Style 1

Finnabair Micro Beads - Silver, Bronze and Copper

Finnabair Cling Stamps - Dream On and It's Never Too Late

Finnabair - Art Basics - Soft Gloss Gel

Finnabair Clear Stamp - Doorway

PaperArtsy - Fresco Paints - Bougainvillea, Caribbean Sea, and Guacamole

Exquisite Art Shrine from Retro Cafe Art Gallery

I decided to channel my inner Michael deMeng here. It is surely one of my favorite combinations...Steampunk, Shrines, Relics, and embossed Metal.

The Large Exquisite Shrine from Retro Cafe Art Gallery is just too cool not to be made into a Work of ART. You'll love it when you get one!!!

You know I decorate the pieces and then glue them together. So I won't elaborate on that. The base is painted and then I added the G45 steampunk papers. It's accented with Sharpie pen dots.

 Then I embossed my metal by running it through the Vagabond Machine with the really, really cool embossing folder from Sizzix and Vintaj. The Art Deco designs on these are gorgeous!

Then I painted the metal foil with Heavy Black Gesso and let it almost completely dry. 

Buff it off with a soft cloth and shine the metal...gently.

Then you add your patinas....Guilders Paste and Inka Golds.

This is the front that I covered with Graphite Texture Paste, let it dry for a few minutes and then created a design in it for additional texture. The insides are covered with cut pieces of the embossed metal sheets.

This shows the back with the design created with 2 runs through the Vagabond. It's a little tricky, but it can be done.

The Skull is painted with a glaze and some permanent inks. The gears have been painted with metallic paint dabbers and the metal ones with patinas. I glued the Skull to a Fancy round Cut-Out. 

I glued the Steampunk Key to the Heart with 3D Matte Gel and added it to the Shrine on a wooden block for height. It is hanging from the top with a piece of black chain. The Rhinestone ribbon covers the inside edge of the front.

The antique bottles and clock gears add a bit of vintage feel to the piece. Some of the vintage gears are fit into the crevasses at the top of the Shrine. The Chipboard Flourishes are painted with acrylics and white dots are added. Then they're glued to the sides of the Shrine.

All in all, I really enjoyed creating this piece. It's quirky and I LOVE how it turned out.  So check out the links for RCAG and order one for yourself. Make it all different, make it your own style, but I guarantee you'll love it, too.

Linda

Products Used from Retro Cafe Art:
Large Exquisite Art Shrine
Ornate Flourish  - Style 5 and Style 2
Sandra Evertson's Relics & Artifacts - Skull and Heart
Fancy Round Cut-Out
Guilder's Paste - Patina  and Coral Red
Inka Gold - Gold and Copper
Art Basics - 3D Matte Gel
Art Basics - Heavy Black Gesso
Brass Gear Mix
Silver Gear Mix
12mm Basic Gear Charms
12mm Fancy Gear Charms
Steampunk Gears II
Metal Foil Tape
Sharpie - Extra Fine Point Poster Pen

Other Products:
Art Extravagance - Texture Paste-Graphite
Vagabond Machine
Vintaj Embossing Folder - Nouveau Tiles
Graphic45 Steampunk papers
Metallic Paint Dabbers
Acrylic Glazes
Rhinestone Ribbon Trim
Vintage Clock Gears
Vintage Glass Bottles