Amp Up the Art
I’m a pretty bold type of person. I like big and bold almost everything! My art….usually not a different story. Does this sound like a Deja Vue Designs kind of statement?
About a year or so ago I found these AMAZING antique seed labels. They weren’t just seed labels though, they’re French! I ordered them…and fell IN LOVE! They are “tres belle!”. I knew almost instantly how I wanted to matte them, Animal print of course! but the frames, were a different matter. I have framing equipment, but it’s been in storage since we moved several years ago. I haven’t had anything professionally framed since I closed my shop in 2002. I began to price frames, and decided it might be worth it to buy a building and set mine back up. There are ten of these bad boys…and at $175 a pop…..ummm NO!
I had already matted them with some mat board I got at Hobby Lobby, thinking that I would just have them framed. This meant that I wasn’t worried about the final size of the matte, or the neatness of the outer edge of the matte….I was just concerned with the amount of matte I wanted around the labels. BIG mistake, because when I found out how much it was gonna cost, I realized I was going to have to buy ready-made frames to do this. Well, my final matte size was an odd size. It was 5 3/4 x 7 1/2. I didn’t want to try to cut them down, risking tearing the matte or worse the antique labels. So this is what I did.
First I attached them to the glass of some 8×10 dollar store frames. I knew that the frames were insignificant and I would want to beef them up.
Then I took the 5×7 frames and tore off the easel backs….remember the easel back artwork? I then glued the glass to the frames…because I didn’t want the glass to sit on the matte. There are several reasons for that, but the main reason is airflow.
Then I siliconed those on top of the frame….like so.
Because I bought the frames at two separate dollar stores, they didn’t exactly match. That was okay….but I did want them to kinda tie back to one another.
I took Rub and buff and coordinated them.
I used black, antique gold, and silver to tie them all together.
You can find this stuff several places….there is even some on the amazon widget in my side bar.
This is what they look like on my wall….
What do Y’all think? Do you like the animal print matte? How do you feel about a cluster of prints like this?
Sandi Reagan says
Very nice!!!!!!!!!!!! I love it all and think it has a look of class to it!
Excellent job!
Sandi Reagan
Central Illinois
Tammy says
Thank You!
Sandi Reagan says
Very nice! Very classy!
Tammy says
Thanks Sandi!
Joyce says
I love the double framing…beautiful, just beautiful. I seem to have “odd size” prints to frame and “refuse” to pay for custom framing. Can you explain again about the pieces of glass, where they were glued (on top of the print, under the print, inside the smaller frame? Just can’t seem to follow the instructions. Thanks so much. I pray your back in doing better. Joyce
Tammy says
I will. I first glued the picture to the larger glass. It will actually sit on top or in front of this glass…the glass from the 8 x 10 frame. Then I glued that glass permanently to it’s 8 x 10 frame, Just like you would if you were putting it back with a picture behind it…only the picture is glued to the front. Just like if I were putting the frame together…only along the frame’s lip where the glass sits, I put a bead of glue. Then I glued the small glass into it’s frame the same way, and let it dry. Then I put big globs of clear silicone to the glass that the print is glued to…along the corners. sit the 5 x 7 frame right down on top of the print. I have more pictures I think…if you need them I can mail them to you.
Joyce says
I love the double framing….beautiful, just beautiful. I seems to have “odd size” prints to frame and I “refuse” to pay the price for custom framing. Could you please explain again about where you place the two pieces of glass (on top or under the print, etc)….just having a hard time following the instructions. Thanks so much. I pray your back is better. Joyce
Kathy says
Tammy, these look great, and adaptable to any type of frame/mat combo. Marrying the minor differences between frames with rub and buff is a great idea! Coordinated without the (dreaded) matchy-matchy look. I was really glad Joyce requested clarification on the instructions. I got kind of lost myself and your answer to her cleared it up for me too. Just shows to go ya, there are no dumb questions.
Tammy says
Good. I’m glad my instructions were clearer. It is a bit of confusing process anyway. I’m glad you like it! Thanks for stopping in!