Tutorial: Mirror Frame with Time Gone By

Carole made an absolutely stunning altered mirror (using a mirror from Ikea) and the new ‘Times Gone By’ collection and we thought we’d show you how she did it! Read on to see her instructions.

“I started by printing one of the design papers onto Sheena stamping card, and then cut it down to size so it would fit inside the frame. I also cut an aperture so it would sit around the mirror in the middle.

Although I didn’t intend to paint the frame, I sanded it lightly and put a coat of gesso on to provide a surface for working onto.

I wanted the edge of the frame to stay black, so stuck masking tape all the way round to protect it from the glue and paper that I wanted on the top.

I printed 3 papers onto Satin Finish paper, and then tore them into pieces.

Using Mod Podge, I started with the plain reddish paper on the edge (this one was created using the colouriser on the CD) , then I used the yellow, then the patterned one.

I didn’t go too far in, as this would be covered with the card frame I cut earlier.

Once dry, I sanded around the edges to remove the excess paper that was hanging over. I also inked them with Black Soot DI. I did forget to take a photo of the next stage which was to use some of the small stamps from the ‘Shall We Dance’ and ‘Time Flies’ sets to stamp around the edges. I used Black Soot – and removed some of the ink onto copy paper before stamping it on.

The frame was distressed around the edges – using my Tim Holtz distresser – and inked with Aged Mahogony DI.

The flowers are also printed from the CD – and inked with Aged Mahogony. The leaves are cut with Die’sire Leaf 1 and 2 dies.

The images used are from one of the Card Companions – and I used some large, dark red pearls to finish it off.”