Friday, May 18, 2018

The Red Thread

Hello!! Happy Friday, I'm here today with a quick tutorial for this assemblage piece featuring the rusty Altoid Insert Fairy Frames.




This piece was inspired by a Chinese Proverb I recently read. It says "An invisible red thread connects those who are destined to meet, regardless of the time, the place or the circumstance. The thread may stretch or tangle, but it will never break."

This proverb resonated with me so much because my husband and I worked at the same place for a few months back in 2010. Somehow we never noticed each other. And that's quite surprising considering he's 6'3 and red-headed. He moved cross country and came back in 2011 when we met and the rest is history. Our red thread led us to each other. 





I began by rusting up the frames from the Altoid Inserts. Paint all the frames with Burnt Umber while the paint is still wet apply ground cinnamon. Build layers and heat set until the desired effect is achieved. Add accents with Prima Metallic Waxes. 



Apply same rust technique to a couple keyholes from the Key and Plates Shape Set


Attach key plate to frame with gold brads. 

Adhere frame to postcard. 



Make copies of vintage photos. Apply 3 layers of Vintage Beeswax. 

The thicker you apply the Vintage Beeswax the more transparent your photo becomes. And look at all that amazing crazing. 

Attach photo with a simple hand stitched X in all four corners. 


Attach a vintage key beneath the Altoid Frame. I used glue dots to help hold it in place due to the weight. Add handstitched details. 


To connect the two postcards stitch on a set of hook and eyes.
For the hanger at the top of the assemblage stitch on just the eye portion and tie on a red string hanger. 




Complete the bottom card the same as the top. 



Thanks so much for stopping by and spending a few minutes with me today. I really enjoyed this project. How can you go wrong with faux rust and some hand stitching? Happy Creating ~ Jennalee 


7 comments:

  1. A beautiful project. I love where your inspiration came from!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Gorgeous!!! I've never used the cinnamon technique for rust. I can't wait to try it. Thanks for the inspiration!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Fantastic and I love how,you were inspired . The rust is brilliant. Love ❤️

    ReplyDelete
  4. Beautiful artwork! Using cinnamon to create a rusted look is a new idea to me; I will have to give it a try. The red accent is perfect, and I also love that quote!

    ReplyDelete
  5. This is just spectacular Jennalee. Really a very special creation.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Great tutorial! And wonderful story about how you and your husband didn't meet then did meet. (I like that proverb after reading this.)

    ReplyDelete