With Jacob being only a few weeks old, I wasn't able to go out and get a Father's Day present for my husband. Instead, he went to the golf store and bought some stuff he wanted. He would tell you he needed it, but since he is not a pro golfer, I say it is a want! I'm sure he didn't mind picking out his own gifts, but it bothered me. So I decided to make a frame for his desk at work.
There is an amazing song for the family patriarch called "Lead Me" by Sanctus Real. You can find the lyrics here. It talks about a man who looks at his wonderful life, but he can see his wife and children asking them to lead them with strong hands. In the final verse, he turns to God, asking Him for guidance, to lead him. Anyway, it is an awesome song and one of our favorites. I thought it was perfect for Father's Day.
I settled on an 8"x8" frame from Michaels and went to work creating a background. Using Storybook Creator (or your preferred program), I started a new project of a custom size. For the size, I entered 8.25" x 8.25". You want the project to be slightly bigger than the frame opening (less worry on placement - it will completely fill the frame). After finding the lyrics to "Lead Me" on the internet, I simply copied and pasted them into my project. Next, I just played with formatting - font, size, color, layout, etc - until I liked the look. Then I printed the project on a sheet of cream card stock.
So I had a fabulous script background, but of words that meant something to the project. Since I used a shallow frame, I could not add a lot of depth and thick layers. To add texture, I used inks and stamps for my layers. I started by inking the background with Antique Linen Distress Ink, leaving the center untouched. On the edges, I went darker, using Walnut Stain. The large flourish is from Tim Holtz's Fabulous Flourishes (one of my favs!) that I stamped randomly in Broken China. I die cut a sheet of golden yellow and blue pattern papers for a mat and for my title. The title says "lead us with strong hands" (words from the song) that I created using rub-on alphabet letters. The rhinestones are actually on the glass itself.
For the photos I selected pictures to showcase the different patriarchal relationships. There is a family picture and one of my husband with each of the boys. I did some minor photo editing, blurring distracting backgrounds and adding distressed frames.
Don't be afraid to use technology in your projects! Not only did I get a unique background, but it reinforced my message.
As for my husband, he loved the frame and actually took it to work the next day. He's the kind where he has this pile of things to take care of and it stays there forever, but he remembered to take the frame in. I was touched.
Timothy made cute project in his class and was so excited he had to give it to his daddy right away. Daddy loved it of course (and Momma was a little jealous!)
TFL and keep creating!
There is an amazing song for the family patriarch called "Lead Me" by Sanctus Real. You can find the lyrics here. It talks about a man who looks at his wonderful life, but he can see his wife and children asking them to lead them with strong hands. In the final verse, he turns to God, asking Him for guidance, to lead him. Anyway, it is an awesome song and one of our favorites. I thought it was perfect for Father's Day.
I settled on an 8"x8" frame from Michaels and went to work creating a background. Using Storybook Creator (or your preferred program), I started a new project of a custom size. For the size, I entered 8.25" x 8.25". You want the project to be slightly bigger than the frame opening (less worry on placement - it will completely fill the frame). After finding the lyrics to "Lead Me" on the internet, I simply copied and pasted them into my project. Next, I just played with formatting - font, size, color, layout, etc - until I liked the look. Then I printed the project on a sheet of cream card stock.
So I had a fabulous script background, but of words that meant something to the project. Since I used a shallow frame, I could not add a lot of depth and thick layers. To add texture, I used inks and stamps for my layers. I started by inking the background with Antique Linen Distress Ink, leaving the center untouched. On the edges, I went darker, using Walnut Stain. The large flourish is from Tim Holtz's Fabulous Flourishes (one of my favs!) that I stamped randomly in Broken China. I die cut a sheet of golden yellow and blue pattern papers for a mat and for my title. The title says "lead us with strong hands" (words from the song) that I created using rub-on alphabet letters. The rhinestones are actually on the glass itself.
For the photos I selected pictures to showcase the different patriarchal relationships. There is a family picture and one of my husband with each of the boys. I did some minor photo editing, blurring distracting backgrounds and adding distressed frames.
Supplies: Frame, cream card stock (Michaels), yellow pattern paper (MME), blue pattern paper (GCD Studios) Antique Linen, Broken China, Walnut Stain Distress Ink (Tim Holtz/Ranger), Fabulous Flourishes (Tim Holtz/Stampers Anonymous) Labels 4 die (Spellbinders), Big Shot (Sizzix), Alphabet rub-ons (American Crafts), Rhinestones (Kaiser Crafts), digital frames (House of Three), Storybook Creator (CM)
Don't be afraid to use technology in your projects! Not only did I get a unique background, but it reinforced my message.
As for my husband, he loved the frame and actually took it to work the next day. He's the kind where he has this pile of things to take care of and it stays there forever, but he remembered to take the frame in. I was touched.
Timothy made cute project in his class and was so excited he had to give it to his daddy right away. Daddy loved it of course (and Momma was a little jealous!)
TFL and keep creating!
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