Framing a Forest

A while ago I discovered Macabre Monthly Online Markets on Facebook, since finding them I have attended each month and seen so many beautiful pieces up for sale.

At the last market night I treated myself to two gorgeous prints from a business called Satin and Tat that I’d had my eye on for a while. Seeing just how good these prints looked when they arrived left me with a problem – I needed to find a frame that looked equally fantastic to do these pieces of art justice.

As usual I turned to Etsy, my go to place for all things pretty and unique! I didn’t know exactly what I was looking for, but I knew I couldn’t see it there.

Next I tried a couple of shops where I always find something a bit different.

Still nothing.

I gave up and decided to just go to a shop that I knew had a decent range of frames, just nothing out of the ordinary. Halfway through walking around I had the sudden realisation that I’m such an idiot!

I am a crafter. If I can’t find what I’m looking for, I make it!

I remembered the box full of twigs, pine cones, lichen and other bits of nature I had sitting in a box at home that I hadn’t found a use for yet. I picked up a cheap plain frame and headed home, excited at the prospect of creating something beautiful.

I put my print in it’s frame and gathered all my bits together to plan out how it was all going to go.

Bit by bit I laid out what I wanted on the frame, go it all exactly how I wanted it, knocked half of it on the floor, panicked a little…then laid it back out again and took some photos so I knew where everything had to go.

After gluing a couple of bits down I had a moment of ‘Are you sure this is where that went? It’s not sitting as flat as it was! Fix it!’

Eventually I got everything into position, gluing as I went and fighting to keep those stringy bits of glue from my glue gun well away from anything they weren’t supposed to be sticking themselves to.

After I’d finished I loved it, but felt it could do with a little something more. After remembering some amethyst chips I bought a couple of years ago I went to the big box of craft crap supplies I haven’t done anything with yet and dug them out, sorted through to find just the right shapes, and nestled them into the design.

When you start a craft project you get all these images and ideas running through your head of how the finished item is going to look. You get expectations of how it’ll turn out, and sometimes you find your ideas didn’t work so well.

This wasn’t one of those times.

I absolutely loved it! I couldn’t have bought anything more perfect!

It’s been a while since I’ve made anything, and doing this was exactly what I needed to get me motivated again. I have a second print waiting for its pretty new frame to be created, and I can’t wait to get started on it!