Believe Frame Tutorial

My new friend and design team member, Sarah (sairabee on SCS) joined with me in Ali Edwards' One Little Word for 2009. As you know, I chose BALANCE as my word for 2009 and Sarah settled on BELIEVE. She was the only one to really join with me in this and I wanted to make her something as a reminder of her choice. So, I made this and sent it to her. Now that she's gotten it, I can post it publicly along with my short little tutorial.

I used my SU Simon chipboard alphabet for the letters and covered them with these coordinating papers from My Mind's Eye:

Falling Flowers/Buttermilk Polka Dots
Hello Baby/Miss Sunshine
My Sweet/Manilla Swirl
Paisley Patch/Sweet Life
Totally Dotty/Pink Argyle
Zest For Life/Aqua Fancy

Here's how this all came together.

First, I started with a foamcore frame. (STORE NOTE: I get these cut to order, so there is a few day turnaround time for me to get them before I can ship them out. With me leaving for CHA this week I won't be able to get these out until around Jan 30 but you can still order them!)

I covered the frame with the This Is Me side of this paper.

Grab your craft knife, bone folder and i {stick} papers redline tape...and then move on to the next step!

Center your frame on the 12x12 paper and use your craft knife to cut an X in the center.
Then, use your bone folder to very tightly fold those triangles up, as close as possible to the inside of the frame. You want to make sure your cuts go all the way to the corners or when you do this step, your paper will tear in the corners and look icky.



Then use your bone folder again and i {stick} papers and press it down really tight. Trim off the edges so it doesn't overhang because you're going to need to folder over the other part later on.











Cut the corners so that you can fold them and put your i {stick} papers as close to the edge as possible on the paper and on the frame. Be sure to go all the way to the edge.

Once you do this on all four sides, this part is done.

Moving on...





Then I took a piece of matboard and covered it with the My Sweet paper. I wrapped ivory 3/8" double faced satin ribbon around it and made a neat little bow.

I attached my letters and embellished the B and last E with white beaded daisies. I stickled the heart on the I and the dots on the middle E with Stardust Stickles.

On the L I used some self adhesive gems to follow the half circle design on the paper.

On the second E I used Accent Pearls for the flower centers and on the brackets to accentuate
the points.

Finally, I used some Funky Flowers to make a little vase out of the V. Isn't it cute?!!

Once you're done embellishing, then you apply your sticky tape around the edge (again, as close as possible).

Then you're almost done! For my finishing touches I used some Quill Flowers that I added some SU rhinestone brads to. I love these quilled flowers. They are a little fragile though so you have to be careful.

I love all the different textures and dimension on this project, don't you?