White Frame with Onion Skin Heart

I brushed this little gold frame with Wicker White acrylic and then sponged over it again with Antique White.  There are probably a zillion other ways to paint a gold frame white, but that’s all I did.

I was throwing away some onion skins last week and noticed how pretty they were! They caught the light and shimmered with a lovely pearly sheen.

I decided to layer some materials behind this shimmery heart and see what it looked like: cardboard, tea-stained muslin, thin Styrofoam and wrinkled Kraft paper.

To hold all of these pretty natural layers together I pulled a lone heart earring from my junk drawer.

Gently poking a hole in the center of the heart with a paper piercer, I used the earring to hold all the layers together.  I could’ve put the frame’s glass over it but I liked the concave shape of the heart.  It reminded me of a shell.

I put the stack in the frame and added a tiny bow made from a strand of burlap garland.


This will look great in my PB cubby organizer. I’m always making new things to display in the cubby holes, and then I have a variety of things to pick from if I need a  gift.

I’ve been using more pretty shimmery onion skins in some larger projects this week.  I’ll have one to show you in a couple of days.

It’s only about a week until Valentine’s Day!

16 Comments

  1. You are a true artist! And we are the lucky recipients ;o)

  2. The treatment you gave the frame is just stunning! Love it. Love the onion skin idea, too. Gives the piece a very fragile appearance…..sort of like a real heart!

    Stacy

  3. You never cease to amaze me! You are an artist in the true sense of the word.

  4. Scarlett,
    I love your ideas! This is a beautifully inspiring blog; I always come away with a serene spirit and touched soul after I view your posts. ~s

    • @Sue –Thanks so much! Wow, I’m so grateful to you for your encouragement, thank you a thousand times! My blog is my get away place, as you know..I’m glad others can enjoy it too.

      And I hope you got to take a look at S. self-portrait she did, it was the previous post…I was hoping you and Dee would get a chance to look at that!

  5. Melanie Keel

    I saw the beauty in you as a child, and now you see the beauty in everything. Love you, happy soon to be Valentine’s Day!

  6. This is just adorable my friend…what a great idea…and such a pretty frame to put your work in. Happy new week.

  7. I absolutely LOVE your artwork!! I have been keeping up with your blog for quite some time now and I just adore the work you do. I love junky, recycled, and antiquie looking things, like old cars, old coke bottles, etc. I hope you continue to do what you are doing for a while, it really inspires me to strive to do new things with my artwork and incorporate things I love into it.
    One question for this particular project: where did you find the frame or where do u suggest getting something like that? (the frame is gorgeous (; )
    Thank you! <3

    • @Emily –Hey there, thanks so much, I appreciate it and we have a lot in common. Have you thought about starting a blog? Let me know if you do! 🙂
      As for the frame, it’s juts a cheapie I picked up at a craft store (Hobby Lobby I think)..before I painted it it was sort of that dark gold color and not pretty at all but the white paint really spiffed it up. Thanks again for coming by, Emily!

  8. Onion skins, grape stems…. you surprise me every time! Such a great idea again! Lovely frame and beautiful photos to. You have a very inspiring blog, thanks for sharing all your wonderful ideas Scarlett ♥

  9. One of your true talents (of the many that you have) is seeing art in the everyday. Thank you for sharing that talent with us! This piece turned out just beautifully and will look perfect in your PB cubby! t.xoxooxoxo

  10. I not only like the products of your creativity, but also the way you “unwrap” the process with great photography!

    • @deeday — Hey Dee! Did you see the previous post? I wanted you to check out how my daughter’s self-portrait turned out, let me know what you think about using this technuque as a kid’s workshop at an exhibit reception, just email me if you can, thanks for stopping by!

  11. Scarlett you are so talented!!! What a great idea.. onion skins….I am going to have to try something with them…I love working with things that are translucent…Beautiful work!! 🙂

  12. Stunning Scarlett! I took photos of onions the other day and love their appeal.
    The shimmery, sheer white skin…what a fabulous idea~

  13. Hi Scarlett .. love the fact you used onion skin – what a great idea .. and just how beautifully it turned out .. great idea … cheers Hilary

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