This past month I have been designing a lot of decorative frames. This is something I love to do because it adds a vintage flare to a card. The frames anchors a card especially if you want to add a floral design with it. It is also perfect for framing elegant photos such as a wedding or anniversary picture.
I know that creating these designs are simple for me because
I do it in a specific order each time. There are many details in my process
that is difficult to explain because the results are always being tweaked here
and there.
Victorian frames were used with letter press printing. These
frames and ding-bats were etched, cut or molded into plates then used in
printing. My husband is a letter press printer so I have available many type
specimen books to drool over the beauty of these intricate designs. These designs are in
public domain which allows me to use them in my derivative work to create
cutting files.
Adobe illustrator has great tool to create vector designs. I begin
by finding either a vector design or illustration that can be converted to
vectors. Most of these designs have very intricate lines which must be offset
or made larger several times until every part can be cut by my Silhouette
Cameo.
Now comes the fun. I may take just part of the design to start with and then use the reflection of the piece to create a symmetrical design. The freebie design was made from one section. It is vertically reflected and merged with the original piece. This new piece is reflected horizontally and both are merged to form the frame. Multiplying a single piece through reflection, rotation or distortion can make interesting frames. Then just tweak here and there until you are satisfied with the outcome.
Using the offset command with .015 of an inch for another piece will give a nice shadow layer.
This freebie mini kit gives you multiple pieces that you can use to design other objects
such as a frame. The initial is created using a font object. You can change it
to another letter(s) and then weld to the frame. Try your hand and see what
interesting embellishments you too can make. Please do not use the monogram to design other embellishments to sell. However, you can use it in physical form on a card and sell them.
See my first Filigree Kit 01 in my shop for frames similar to the freebie.
Inspiration - All Occasion Layered Cards
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