Glass Painted Scrapbooking.

I really like this idea of Glass Painted Scrapbooking. It opens up a whole new realm of designing and creates great presents and mementos.  If you get suck for ideas then there are literally 1,000s of scrapbooking pages on then internet to draw inspiration from.

The design we have created is to celebrate / record a Birthday.  This Glass Painted Scrapbooking can also be used for Weddings, Anniversaries, Births, Christenings (or similar), Graduations, Christmas, Family events and much more. I’m sure anyone receiving one of these as a gift will love the reminder of the special day or event.

Glass Painted Scrapbooking.

Equipment and Materials.

• A Picture Frame. (I’m using the clip type but it doesn’t have to be one of these. If you choose one with a frame then try and pick one with a narrow one. It will also save you leading round the edge).
• Copies of the photographs you want to use.
• Flowing Glass Paints.
• Outliner.
• Adhesive 6mm lead (optional)
• Craft Knife.
• Scissors.
• Boning Tool (or some other hard plastic to press the lead down with)
• Parchment Paper for piping bag (optional if you are using it from a small tube or bottle).
•  Kitchen/Baking/aluminium foil. (optional)
• PVA/Elmers Glue. (if you are using foil).
• Masking Tale.
• Bluetack.

Glass Painted Scrapbooking. Technique.

This is a fairly simple project to make and uses basic glass painting techniques. Personally I found the design to be the most difficult part to do and certainly the bit which took the most time.

The Design.

I created the design on the computer although it can be done equally as well will paper and pencil. This was done by getting digital copies of the 3 photos I wanted to use and ensured they were the correct size. I opened these in a graphics program and created a forth new image which was the size of my clip frame. It is important that this forth image is the same resolution as the photos or you will hit all sorts of sizing issues.Next I copied and pasted each of the photos onto the image of the frame making each a new layer. This meant I could play around with them, moving them about until I was happy with the layout. It also meant I could make sure there was enough space for the “extras” I wanted.

Finally I added the extras (Balloons, Wording, number 4) and the frames around the photos. As well as the full colour copy of the design I also did a basic design copy in black and white and without the photos. This would be my template. (Actually I did it black and white without thinking. I should have made it green and white to make the outlining easier).  Once you have finished the design print off a full size copy of the black (green) and white template to work with and save the full colour copy for reference.

Making.

• Lead up the sides of the clip frame (if you wish). As you do it add a small piece of masking tape to the underneath if the lead on each of the four side where the clips will go. Place the sticky side of the tape against the sticky side of the lead and this will ensure it doesn’t stick down at those four points.
• Put the design underneath the frame holding it in place with Bluetack.
• Outline the design and leave to dry.
• Paint the design. (I used an opaque(ish) glass paint on the frame parts so you don’t see the edges of the photos where they are such down).
• Carefully place the photos behind the glass using pieces of making tape. Place these on the back of the photos and sticking out just enough to hold the photos in place but trim them so they don’t stick you past the painted frames.
• Place the white paper sheet (which normally comes with these clip frames) on the backboard. Put it together with the clips ensuring they go under the lead on the four sides.

Optional Backing.

• If you would like a metallic/mirror style backing you can do the following:
• Work on the smooth side of the backing board. In most cases this will mean turning it around the “wrong” way. This shouldn’t effect the clips as the holes tend to be symmetric.
• Using a watered down PVA/Elmers glue put a thin coat all around the edge coming in about 2 cm.
• Place the baking foil shinny side up on this with as few crinkles as possible (preferably none). Use something made of hard flexible plastic, but smooth, to smooth this down. A credit card of suchlike is perfect. Work from the centre out smoothing it down. Be careful not to add any crinkles or to tear the film.
• Leave it to give the glue time to set and then put your frame together.

N.B. I did consider painting the whole of the background possibly in a lighter colour (yellow)  which would have made the main elements stand out. I didn’t do this in the end, partly because I wanted to see what it would look like without and partly because of the amount of paint it would have used up. It is something  a would consider in the future although I would also consider stripes, wavy lines etc in the background for different designs.

Summery.

I really hope you enjoy this glass painted scrapbooking project. I like it, not particularly because of the one design I have done but more because of range of design it will be possible to do in the future.  Have a good look at the scrapbooking designs which are available on the internet. The range of layouts and additions is almost limitless, as is the number of occasions these can be made for!

Happy Crafting.

Yours. Bob.