You've been framed

Woah, doesn't time just fly by?

For the past month, I've been working on a project for the house.

I have a big blank wall that has been waiting to be filled with pictures.

For years.



You know what it's like, you have a gazillion digital pictures on your computer and keep meaning to print them out and frame them.

But you never do.

Before you know it, another year has passed. A thousand pictures later, you're back to square one looking at them, but not doing anything with them.

Then there is that fear lurking in the back of your mind. What if one day your computer just died?

All those memories were gone. In an instant.

Wah!

We've done the sensible thing and invested in some whizzy bang back up thingy, but what if that went kaput?

Double wah!

This year I decided enough is enough.

So the conclusion is: Must. Print. Them. Out.

It was actually the fabulous people at Photobox who got me motivated.

After submitting a picture of the children taken from a recent photoshoot, they sent me a complimentary canvas. It was beautiful. Thanks guys.

The quality was fantastic and I would highly recommend them, plus starting at a affordable £22.99 for a canvas print (excluding postage) you could treat yourself or loved ones without breaking the bank.

Receiving the picture made me think 'cripes, the kids will be at uni before I get this wall completed.'

Now, anyone who knows me, knows I'm a little bit artsy and a little bit crafty. And as we're still in the midst of an economic crisis, I'm trying to think up fabulous ideas on a limited budget.

Along with lovely shiny frames I already have, I've been buying up old frames and giving them a new lease of life.

It's dead simple and the result looks marvellous.


All I've done is repainted the frame using a tester pot and covered the mount with some cool wrapping paper.


These were originally gold with a white mount. Now they are a lot more interesting to look at.

Easy peasy.

You can do it too. All you need to do is buy some frames - pick up good quality (but affordable) ones from car boot sales, charity shops, gumtree, freecycle, and eBay.

Take out the picture and you're ready to go.

Everyone has tester pots lying around. So make use of them.

Nice wrapping paper doesn't have to cost the earth. Places like Paperchase, Scribbler, and independent shops all do nice individual sheets of paper. Or just trot to the supermarket and pick some up from there.

You could even use fabric or wallpaper samples for a contrast.

The plan is to continue to 'upcycle' some more frames, print out our pictures, and finally mount them all at the same time.

It's going to take a while, but I'll show you the results when I've finished.