Remember I posted ages ago about being a Mystery Muse? I said then that I'd share with you some of the things I created for the project, but then Time slipped away and I didn't. Big sorries! So here I am with a very belated post about more Mystery Muse-ings.You'll recall that the theme that my particular 'muse-ee' had chosen for this year's Mystery Muse project was 'wonder.' (If you're already confused, check out my earlier post at THIS LINK to read the particulars and to see the first secret gift I sent to her, 'k?).
For my second secret gift to my muse-ee, I started with a blank wooden picture frame that I found at Michael's Crafts. The frame already had a hole cut into it, and in the hole was a clear plastic disk held in place by two metal tabs. The whole thing was just the right size for a Christmas tree decoration. (You can get an idea of the scale in the photo above. What you're seeing is the backside of the piece with the plastic disk removed.)
The first thing I did was paint the front of the frame with a couple of coats of craft paint. I completely painted the little wooden beads adorning the frame's decorative wire handle, too. In this case I chose white because I had some little colorful additions in mind that I wanted to stand out.
While the paint was drying, I thought about my design. I have a hard time decorating heart shapes for some reason. I knew I wanted to do a black-and-white doodle, and the only thing that came to me was a paisley shape, so I lightly penciled in something that looked kind of like a fern (I almost wrote 'unfurling fiddlehead fern frond,' but stopped myself!). Then with a fine Sharpie marker, I inked in my design. I even added a checkerboard edge and some embellishments to the wooden beads on the handle.I thought of a sentiment to insert in the frame, typed it on the computer, chose a font, centered it, and sized it to fit in the frame. To be safe, I printed it in a few different sizes, then centered the hole of the ornament over each to get the best fit. I traced the outline of the hole, cut out the verse, and framed it.
Finally, I cut a length of fabric ribbon, fashioned it into a little bow, sewed a little button to it, then daubed glue to the center of the bow and affixed it to the ornament, holding it in place with a clothespin while it dried.And here it is. I hope she likes it. :)
(P.S. ~ She still doesn't know it's from ME. *giggle*)
