Dirty Re-Do

One of my first and favorite projects during my time on the SCS Dirty Dozen, was a recycled window frame I created for the September '08 gallery. When we remodeled our kitchen, the frame came down and it has sat collecting dust for the past year. The colors no longer worked with our new kitchen design but I still loved the actual frame/message center. Over the weekend I dragged it out, dusted it off and reworked just about every element of the original design. The colors in the kitchen are now a dark yellow (a shade deeper than so saffron) with accents of dark red.
Here is my updated version...

I found the window at a salvage store, the kind where they sell parts from old homes. Those places are sooo cool to walk through! I didn't alter a single thing about the window, I liked it just the way it was... holes, hinges, nick's and all. My husband helped me remove 3 of the 4 panes of glass.
The lower left corner has the only pane of glass left and is used as a message board. A wet erase marker works perfectly on the glass! Behind the glass I used a piece of so saffron card stock to coordinate with our kitchen. The canning jar stamp by Great Impressions seemed a nice fit to all the canning I do, so I stamped it 3 times across the bottom so it appears to be a shelf in a store window. The red card stock mimics a curtain or awning. I used a Fiskars border punch along the bottom edge, sponged it with white ink and added the "notes" with the retired SU Typeset alpha set. Here is a close up...

In the upper right, I cut down a magnetic board I found at the Dollar store and covered the bright green surface with a cream colored spray paint. I used the Spellbinder Blossom die on some Grunge Paper, sponged on Distress Inks, stamped a different pattern onto each one and adhered them to some magnetic clips. Simple buttons finish off the flowers. The photo is an older one of my DH and youngest son, it is one of my favorites!

In the upper left and lower right I cut down some thick cork board pieces and covered them with fabric. Obviously, they will be places to pin up notes and photos. I wanted to make some push pins to match so I stamped the canning jar stamp onto some vanilla paper, colored them with Copics, punched them out with a 3/4" circle punch and covered them with a page pebble of the same size. A thumb tack was glued onto to the backs...I love these small, yet cute elements!

On the upper left is a flower I made using Grunge Paper, Distress inks and stamps. It is totally inspired by one of Wendy Vecchi's samples a couple of weeks ago. As soon as I saw it I wanted to make one of my own. Can you tell what is used to create the petals of the flower?? The McGill round tab punch!! Isn't that awesome? That Wendy is one clever lady! It was a bit of a challenge to punch through the Grunge Paper but with a little help from DH, I managed. I used Faded Jeans Distress ink, PTI Polka Dot Basics and SU's Aida Cloth BG. Wendy's was a necklace but for me, I thought it would be best as a magnet.
This was a pain to photograph with all its shiny surfaces but I hope you get the idea. Here is one last photo of it hanging in my kitchen. It works perfectly as we have blended new and old elements in this space. It makes me happy to use some of my "art" in my home!

I hope you are inspired to create something for your home!
Thanks for stopping by.