Copyright © 2004 - 2023 - All Rights Reserved - Designed and Written By Linda Walsh

Over a year ago JoAnn Robinson, who is an amazing artist, posted about some of the mixed media digital paper doll images that she had created.   I saw them and just fell in love with them.  They were just adorable and I knew I had to create something with them.  

Jo is an online friend of mine from some of my Artful Gathering online classes who sells her digital art in her waifsNwhatnots Etsy store.  As I usually do I got carried away and ended up buying a lot of her digital images.  I just couldn't resist them.

Well, as craft projects usually go with me I wasn't able to play with them until a couple of weeks ago and play I did.  Jo's paper art doll images are just so much fun to create with and I couldn't resist creating mixed media art paper art doll pictures on art boards.  

I wanted to create different seasonal and holiday picture decorations of various art board sizes and envisioned some would hang on my wall and some would be stand alone art pictures in picture stands.  

If you're looking for a fun and easy bunny woodcraft to make for Easter or the springtime my "I Love My Egg" bunny woodcraft might be perfect.  She makes an adorable decoration for any cottage, shabby chic, or Victorian home.

"I Love My Egg" is so proud of her beautiful large egg and small Easter egg.  Her large egg is just so beautiful, so cheery.  Every time she looks at it she can't help but smile.
"I Love My Egg" is a pattern to make a brush & sponge painted wooden bunny and wooden sponge painted egg.  The wood bunny is brush and sponge painted with outlining along the edges, a painted face, and floppy white felt ears.  She is wearing a brushed felt vest with lace trim along the neckline. She has a white tuft of roving hair and a large pink fabric bow on the top of her head.


Her small Easter egg is painted and striped.  The beautiful large wooden egg is sponge painted with white, blue, pink and lilac colors and has a fabric bow decoration and zig-zag painted stripes.

"I Love My Egg" is hoping when you see her you'll smile, too.


To view and download my free e-pattern please CLICK HERE.  You'll be brought to Google Drive where you can view my free e-pattern. Then just download my free .pdf e-pattern  by clicking on the down arrow in the top center.

Once my e-product is downloaded to your computer you can save it and print it. I hope you enjoy my free e-products.

For more information on all my free e-patterns, e-printables and e-books please CLICK HERE.

I just LOVE flowers and have since I was a little girl. Our next door neighbor also loved flowers and she had the most beautiful English Garden. I can remember just standing there admiring all the beautiful flowers and thinking of creating a beautiful bouquet with them.

So, I decided that at the age of 8 or so that I should have my OWN garden - just like my neighbors.  I hounded my parents for months on end one year to let me build a garden of my own. I wanted to plant dahlia's as they were my most favorite flower. My Dad always encouraged us to try new things so he agreed, but the catch was that if I wanted my own garden I would have to create it by myself and would have to be responsible for maintaining it. He'd be there to help me, but the work would all be on me. I, being a cocky little thing, said "okay" I can do that.

So, the spent the better part of the weekend one spring digging up the soil, putting rocks around it for a garden edging, and planting my dahlia bulbs. Well, the 1st year that my garden was in full bloom I had the MOST BEAUTIFUL display of color you'd ever want to see. I had red, yellow, pink, white, and maroon dahlia's - all different sizes from colossal to the little patio dahlia's. I was so pleased with myself. That wasn't too hard.

Well, as the summer went along like any 8 year old I soon lost interest in the weeding and maintenance of my little garden. My Dad knew that I would which is why my garden was in the side yard and not on display in the front yard - like my Mom's garden. Like a good gardener she weeded her garden every night.

So, my garden fell to the weeds. That didn't bother me as I was at the end of the season and next spring I could start anew. My Dad mentioned to me that dahlia's were tender bulbs and would not survive the harsh New England winters. I would need to dig the bulbs up and store them in peat moss for the long cold winter and then plant them again. I, of course, thought that was too much work so I opted to leave them in the ground and put lots of pine needles over them for a blanket. My Dad just smiled - knowing full well that this wasn't going to work, but he let me have my way.

Well, of course when the spring came my dahlia bulbs were nothing but mush. More like dahlia soup.  And, of course, they did not sprout. So, that spring I had no garden and no dahlia's. I did however, learn my lesson and the following year after my dahlia's had bloomed I dug them up in the fall and stored them in peat moss to replant them the following spring. To make a long story short - I never outgrew my love of beautiful natural flowers. That love was my impetus for designing my floral custom fabric designs.  Of course I created dahlia designs.

I have been in love with flowers since I was a little girl.  Then again I've been in love with many things since I was a little girl.  My sister and I both love flowers with the dahlia being both our favorite flower.  I also love iris and, when I was gardening, loved planting iris bulbs.  They're such a beautiful flower.  Unfortunately they don't last long.

So, it's no surprise that when I was designing fabrics I would create some with iris in them.  Well, when I saw the Maximalist Design Challenge on Spoonflower I knew the different colors of iris would be perfect for a bright, splashy design.

Shown below is my challenge design.  It's definitely colorful, bright, and splashy.  I love it and hope you do too.

This, however, isn't the first time I've used iris in some of my Spoonflower Challenge entries.  Shown below is the design I entered into the Gardening Challenge.



I just love iris and have designed several other iris custom fabric designs over the years.  

As far as I'm concerned it's never too early  for making bunnies - especially when they're all easy to do and totally adorable.  We've got 9 adorable free bunny decoration e-patterns and/or tutorial e-books that are easy to make for the Easter, Spring and Summer season that you're going to love. Enjoy!

Just click on the link below:

On the wall in my kitchen I've been displaying different holiday and seasonal wreaths that hubby and I have made over the years.  They're a combination grapevine wreath, silk floral, and painted woodcrafts that I've made from other designers patterns that I've bought over the years.

While I was perusing the web I saw an intriguing cross-stitch picture that was a seasonal wreath.  I fell in love with it and decided I should buy this cross-stitch kit as it would make a beautiful picture for my kitchen wall.  Best of all, I wouldn't have to change it out with the seasonal or holidays.

All of the cross-stitch pictures I've bought and made were counted cross-stitch kits. Truth be told there are a lot of them, which I've posted about here and reviewed on my The Book and Crafts Review Corner blog.  This time I would be working on a stamped cross-stitch picture.

Like the other Dimensions kits I had bought the kit included the pattern, pre-sorted cotton thread, printed white cotton fabric, needle and instructions.

The "A Season For Everything" pattern uses full stamped cross-stitch, satin stitching, french knots and backstitch outline stitching for emphasis and depth and this detailing really makes the picture stand out. The design of this cross-stitch gives the finished picture a 3 dimensional aspect with the satin stitching, french knots and outlining being used for artistic effect.

The pattern came with starting and working order instructions as well as samples of the various stitches required, color coded keys (with code #'s, lengths, color names, and cross-stitch symbols) and a chart with color coded symbols.  However, the kit did not come with instructions for finishing the back of the picture.

While I was very pleased with the end results of this design I had a lot of problems with the kit, stamped fabric, embroidery floss, and the instructions that can be improved upon to make this a better kit.

There were 27 flosses listed on the color chart.  However, there were actually 29 different floss colors in the kit.  The brown #15476 and blue #17150 blue were not on the chart.

The key included instructions for which color floss to use for the satin stitching and cross-stitching. Each season had a large color chart that was large enough and easy to follow.  Each chart included additional instructions for the highlighting stitches.  However, the colors on these instructions were sometimes shown as simple colors which left it up to you to decide which brown, red, or green, etc. floss to use.  They should have included the embroidery floss# with these instructions.

As was the case with previous Dimensions kits the thread sorter was poorly designed. The embroidery threads were glued to foam backed 7" by 1 1/4" strips of cardboard that had a picture of the color of the thread and it's number. In order to get to the threads you had to separate the foam back from the cardboard strip. Very quickly the threads separated from their section and then you no longer knew what the thread number was to tie to your symbols & legends.

As I have done with other cross-stitch kits I've completed I had to alter the thread sorter to suit my needs. I pulled the thread sorter apart to get rid of the foam and then punched holes in the cardboard strip just above each color and color #. I inserted the floss threads that went with that color and color # through the hole and tied them in a loose knot. I then added color coded symbols with colored pens beneath each color so I would know what symbols went with what color.

Short of changing the thread sorter all together to make things even easier for the user the color symbol should at the very least have been shown on the thread sorter strip of cardboard as well. That way you would only need to use the thread sorter strip of cardboard to follow your chart.

I ironed the cotton fabric and then attached it to a 17" by 17" Q-Snap Frame and started my needlework.  Everything was going smoothly until I ran into a few discrepancies between the printed color chart and the stamped fabric.  There were printed sections of the stamped fabric that were not on the color chart.  The instructions said, "On the chart, symbols for partial cross-stitches are not shown.  Determine the color to use from the surrounding stitches or package label."  So, I was expecting that.  However there were more discrepancies than that where I had to determine what to do.

I don't think enough embroidery floss was included for some of the colors of this kit.  Before the highlighting I ran out of the white and gold floss and came close to running out of 3 other floss colors.
As with every cross-stitch kit I've finished I varied from the instructions to either highlight more of the picture or add stitching that was not in the instructions.

After stretching the fabric on the frame I noticed that the double lines for the pre-printed black border with the stretching did not always come out straight.  I thought this would be a problem for the final stretching of a 14" by 14" picture and opted instead to backstitch an appropriate color for each season using 6 strands of embroidery floss.

Here's what I altered per season:


For the Fall season the instructions only called for satin stitching on the red apples, mailbox flag, church steeple and yellow flowers.  Everything else was to be cross-stitched.  I decided to add grey satin stitching to the bridge and church roofs to make them stand out more.  I also doubled the highlighting back stitch on the leaves, bridge, roofs, fence and mailbox.  I added an additional outline for the road on the right side and added French knots for several different colors along the left side of the fence and around the apple barrel. I changed the pre-printed black border to a rust brown colored 6 strand floss back stitched border.


For the Winter season the instructions only called for satin stitching on the parts of the snowflakes. Everything else was to be cross-stitched.  I decided to add white satin stitching to the cabin roof to make it stand out more.  I also doubled the highlighting white back stitch on the leaves, black backstitching on the fence, dark brown on the branches and white stitching along the road.  The tree was to be outlined with one dark brown thread.  I opted to double the brown thread for the branches and use a combination of black and brown threads in several sections of the trunk to highlight the tree more.  I changed the pre-printed black border to a light snow blue/white colored 6 strand floss back stitched border.


For the Summer season the instructions only called for satin stitching in the boat, sail boat masts, windows, blue flowers, purple flowers, doors and chimney. Everything else was to be cross-stitched.  I decided to add red satin stitching to the house roof and combination black/gray lighthouse steeple roof to make them stand out more.  I also doubled the highlighting red back stitch on the red flowers, black and gray backstitching on the boat and oars.  I changed the pre-printed black border to a white colored 6 strand floss back stitched border.


For the Spring season the instructions only called for satin stitching on the doors, windows, and yellow flowers. Everything else was to be cross-stitched.  I decided to add black and gray satin stitching to the barn roof to make it stand out more.  I also doubled the highlighting black back stitch on the branches, red outline stitches on the tree flowers and brown highlighting stitching along the road.  To make the distance between the barn and back fields I added a smaller brown fence in the back fields that was back stitched using two strands of a dark brown floss.  I added more white French knots surrounding the yellow daisies and more lazy daisy loops to the tulip flower cluster,  In order to break up the double border on the right side I added white French knots for the flowers to extend past the border.  I changed the pre-printed black border to a green colored 6 strand floss back stitched border.

The kit did not come with instructions for finishing the back of the picture.  I  decided to mount my picture on a self-stick mounting board and use a natural oak wood frame with a non-glare acrylic cover and foam core backing.  I also decided not to surround my picture with a single or double mat as it would make the frame way too big for the wall space where I would be hanging my picture.  So I kept the unmatted picture 14" by 14" which was 16" by 16" with the natural oak frame.
I tend to favor 1/4" foam backed adhesive mounting boards for the cross-stitch pictures I'm inserting into my picture frames. So, initially I stretched and mounted my picture on a 14" by 14" foam backed adhesive 1/4" mounting board, taped the four corners to square them and then taped the remaining vertical and horizontal sides with masking tape.  However, when I added this to the frame the foam was too thick to add the finished foam core back and the foam made the words "To Everything There Is A Season" puffy and not flat. I didn't like the way this looked so I used a thin self-stick mounting board instead which flattened the wording and allowed me to use the foam core backing that came with the frame.


It took me 110 hours to complete this beautiful picture including the framing. Despite the problems I encountered with the kit I love the way my "A Season For Everything" Dimensions cross-stitch picture turned out. It's absolutely beautiful and the looks wonderful on my kitchen wall. Plus, I never have to change this out with the holidays and season again.  Now where should I put my holiday and seasonal wreaths? Hmmmmmm......

I like to showcase my little (i.e. 5" by 5" or 5" by 7") cross-stitch pictures in shadow boxes or frames on my family room fireplace mantel.  I arrange them by season or holiday.  For the most part I have plenty of Christmas cross-stitch pictures.  I have several Halloween and Fall pictures.  Only a few for the Winter season and until finishing my 2 recent beach scenes I only had one for the Spring and Summer seasons. So, I decided to complete another Summer seasonal cross-stitch picture kit that I had previously purchased.

The cross-stitch kit I just finished was a counted cross-stitch kit from Dimensions Gold Collection Petites entitled "Beacon At Rocky Point."

Like the other Dimensions Gold Collection Petites kits I had bought the kit included the pattern, pre-sorted cotton thread, 18 count white cotton Aida, needle and instructions.

The "Beacon At Rocky Point" pattern uses full counted cross-stitch, half cross-stitch, french knots and outline stitching for emphasis and depth and this detailing really makes the picture stand out. It also varies the number of threads used with the various stitches to add to the depth emphasis. The design of this cross-stitch gives the finished picture a 3 dimensional aspect with the half cross stitch, french knots and outlining being used for artistic effect.

The pattern came with starting and working order instructions as well as samples of the various stitches required, color coded keys (with code #'s, lengths, color names, and cross-stitch symbols) and a chart with color coded symbols.  The kit came with instructions for finishing the back of the picture.

While I was very pleased with the end results of this design there are some things in the kit and in the instructions that can be improved upon.

Unlike the problem I had with the "Cliffside Beacon" cross-stitch color chart that was way too small and difficult to read this color chart was large enough and easy to follow.

As was the case with previous Dimensions kits the thread sorter was poorly designed. The embroidery threads were glued to foam backed 6" by 1 1/4" strips of cardboard that had a picture of the color of the thread and it's number. In order to get to the threads you had to separate the foam back from the cardboard strip. Very quickly the threads separated from their section and then you no longer knew what the thread number was to tie to your symbols & legends.

As I have done with other cross-stitch kits I've completed I had to alter the thread sorter to suit my needs. I pulled the thread sorter apart to get rid of the foam and then punched holes in the cardboard strip just above each color and color #. I inserted the floss threads that went with that color and color # through the hole and tied them in a loose knot. I then added color coded symbols with colored pens beneath each color so I would know what symbols went with what color.

Short of changing the thread sorter all together to make things even easier for the user the color symbol should at the very least have been shown on the thread sorter strip of cardboard as well. That way you would only need to use the thread sorter strip of cardboard to follow your chart.

I also decided to once again utilize the rectangular wood frame jig that my darling husband built for me that I could tape the edges of the 18 count ivory cotton Aida to. The wood frame jig is a rectangular embroidery hoop of sorts and can accommodate a 5" by 5" cross-stitch picture kit or 5" by 7" cross-stitch picture kit. He had made it out of 1/2" x 1" pine wood strips with an adjustable center strip that I use for the 5 x 5 square designs.


The instructions called for using 1-strand of the dark grey embroidery floss to be back stitched in various sections of the rock cliffs to highlight the 3-dimensional aspects of the picture. Instead of using 1 strand of dark grey embroidery floss I decided to use 2 strands for more emphasis.  For the most part I followed the instructions for this kit.  I may have added a few extra french knots for the red, blue, and white flowers but basically didn't change the kit, as shown in the picture above.


The kit came with instructions for finishing the back of the picture.  I had chosen an off white glass-less Mill Hill 7" by 9" frame with a 5" by 7" opening instead of a standard glass frame which utilizes a mat to finish it which I think really brought out the beautiful colors of the cottage scene. Plus without the glass you could really see the 3-dimensional aspects of the picture.

When using the glass-less frames I tend to favor 1/4" foam backed adhesive mounting boards for the cross-stitch pictures I'm inserting into the picture frame as they perfectly fill the space between the front ridge and back of the frame.  So, I stretched and mounted my picture on a 5" by 7" foam backed adhesive 1/4" mounting board, taped the four corners so I could sew them with nylon thread in a "V" to make the corners taut with the adhesive board and then taped the remaining vertical and horizontal sides with masking tape.

I added the back that was included with the frame and taped it to the back of the frame to hold my picture within the frame.  Then using paper glue I cut a piece of thick decorative paper to fit the 7" by 9" back of the frame and glued it on to totally finish the back of the frame.


It took me 64 hours to complete this picture including the framing. Despite the problems I encountered I love the way my "Beacon At Rocky Point" picture turned out. It's absolutely beautiful and the 3-dimensional aspects of the beach scene are amazing. Plus, now I have 3 beautiful cross-stitch pictures for the Spring and Summer season for my family room mantle.  Progress!

January and February afforded me plenty of time for cross-stitching due to some health issues I was experiencing.  So, I decided to complete some Spring and Summer seasonal cross-stitch picture kits that I had previously purchased.  Most of the cross-stitch pictures I have completed have been for the Fall, Halloween, Christmas and Winter seasons so I decided to buy some flower and beach themed kits.

The cross-stitch kit I just finished was a counted cross-stitch kit from Dimensions Gold Collection Petites entitled Cliffside Beacon.

Like the other Dimensions Gold Collection Petites kits I had bought the kit included the pattern, pre-sorted cotton thread, 18 count ivory cotton Aida, needle and instructions.

The Cliffside Beacon pattern uses full counted cross-stitch, half cross-stitch, french knots and outline stitching for emphasis and depth and this detailing really makes the picture stand out. It also varies the number of threads used with the various stitches to add to the depth emphasis. The design of this cross-stitch gives the finished picture a 3 dimensional aspect with the half cross stitch, french knots and outlining being used for artistic effect.

The pattern came with starting and working order instructions as well as samples of the various stitches required, color coded keys (with code #'s, lengths, color names, and cross-stitch symbols) and a chart with color coded symbols.  The kit came with instructions for finishing the back of the picture.

While I was very pleased with the end results of this design there are some things in the kit and in the instructions that can be improved upon.

This is the first time I've encountered a color coded chart that was extremely difficult to read.  It was just way too small.  It was not easy to distinguish between the symbols at times and made following the chart difficult.  I had to stop and undo some of the cross stitches I had just done as I had lost my place on the chart.

As was the case with previous Dimensions kits the thread sorter was poorly designed. The embroidery threads were glued to foam backed 6" by 1 1/4" strips of cardboard that had a picture of the color of the thread and it's number. In order to get to the threads you had to separate the foam back from the cardboard strip. Very quickly the threads separated from their section and then you no longer knew what the thread number was to tie to your symbols & legends.

As I have done with other cross-stitch kits I've completed I had to alter the thread sorter to suit my needs. I pulled the thread sorter apart to get rid of the foam and then punched holes in the cardboard strip just above each color and color #. I inserted the floss threads that went with that color and color # through the hole and tied them in a loose knot. I then added color coded symbols with colored pens beneath each color so I would know what symbols went with what color.

Short of changing the thread sorter all together to make things even easier for the user the color symbol should at the very least have been shown on the thread sorter strip of cardboard as well. That way you would only need to use the thread sorter strip of cardboard to follow your chart.

I also decided to once again utilize the rectangular wood frame jig that my darling husband built for me that I could tape the edges of the 18 count ivory cotton Aida to. The wood frame jig is a rectangular embroidery hoop of sorts and can accommodate a 5" by 5" cross-stitch picture kit or 5" by 7" cross-stitch picture kit. He had made it out of 1/2" x 1" pine wood strips with an adjustable center strip that I use for the 5 x 5 square designs.


The pattern called for leaving several sections of the ivory aida cloth showing in the beach, cliffs and lighthouse. I don't like doing this as I think it makes the picture look unfinished. Instead I used 2 strands of ivory embroidered floss that matched the Aida cloth and finished them in a cross-stitch pattern to fill in where the ivory areas of the aida cloth were to be,


The instructions called for using 3-strands of the white embroidery floss to be cross-stitched in various sections which created a thick aspect to those sections and added to the 3-dimensional aspects of the picture. However, they didn't include enough of the white thread as I ran out of it.

The kit came with instructions for finishing the back of the picture.  I had chosen an off white glass-less Mill Hill 7" by 9" frame with a 5" by 7" opening instead of a standard glass frame which utilizes a mat to finish it which I think really brought out the beautiful colors of the cottage scene. Plus without the glass you could really see the 3-dimensional aspects of the picture.

When using the glass-less frames I tend to favor 1/4" foam backed adhesive mounting boards for the cross-stitch pictures I'm inserting into the picture frame as they perfectly fill the space between the front ridge and back of the frame.  So, I stretched and mounted my picture on a 5" by 7" foam backed adhesive 1/4" mounting board, taped the four corners so I could sew them with nylon thread in a "V" to make the corners taut with the adhesive board and then taped the remaining vertical and horizontal sides with masking tape.

I added the back that was included with the frame and taped it to the back of the frame to hold my picture within the frame.  Then using paper glue I cut a piece of thick decorative paper to fit the 7" by 9" back of the frame and glued it on to totally finish the back of the frame.


It took me 86 hours to complete this picture including the framing. Despite the problems I encountered I love the way my Dimensions Cliffside Beacon picture turned out. It's absolutely beautiful and the 3-dimensional aspects of the beach scene are amazing.

January and February afforded me plenty of time for cross-stitching due to some health issues I was experiencing.  So, I decided to complete some Spring and Summer seasonal cross-stitch picture kits that I had previously purchased.  Most of the cross-stitch pictures I have completed have been for the Fall, Halloween, Christmas and Winter seasons so I decided to buy some flower and beach themed kits.

The cross-stitch kit I just finished was a counted cross-stitch kit from Dimensions Gold Collection Petites entitled Cottage Bayside.

Like the other Dimensions Gold Collection Petites kits I had bought the kit included the pattern, pre-sorted cotton thread, 18 count ivory cotton Aida, needle and instructions.

The Cottage Bayside pattern uses full counted cross-stitch, half cross-stitch, french knots and outline stitching for emphasis and depth and this detailing really makes the picture stand out. It also varies the number of threads used with the various stitches to add to the depth emphasis. The design of this cross-stitch gives the finished picture a 3 dimensional aspect with the half cross stitch, french knots and outlining being used for artistic effect.

The pattern came with starting and working order instructions as well as samples of the various stitches required, color coded keys (with code #'s, lengths, color names, and cross-stitch symbols) and a chart with color coded symbols. The colors and symbols on the keys and chart were easy to read and follow. The kit came with instructions for finishing the back of the picture.

While I was very pleased with the end results of this design there are some things in the kit and in the instructions that can be improved upon.

As was the case with previous Dimensions kits the thread sorter was poorly designed. The embroidery threads were glued to two foam backed 6" by 1 1/4" strips of cardboard that had a picture of the color of the thread and it's number. In order to get to the threads you had to separate the foam back from the cardboard strip. Very quickly the threads separated from their section and then you no longer knew what the thread number was to tie to your symbols & legends.

As I have done with other cross-stitch kits I've completed I had to alter the thread sorter to suit my needs. I pulled the thread sorter apart to get rid of the foam and then punched holes in the cardboard strip just above each color and color #. I inserted the floss threads that went with that color and color # through the hole and tied them in a loose knot. I then added color coded symbols with colored pens beneath each color so I would know what symbols went with what color.

Short of changing the thread sorter all together to make things even easier for the user the color symbol should at the very least have been shown on the thread sorter strip of cardboard as well. That way you would only need to use the thread sorter strip of cardboard to follow your chart.

I also decided to once again utilize the rectangular wood frame jig that my darling husband built for me that I could tape the edges of the 18 count ivory cotton Aida to. The wood frame jig is a rectangular embroidery hoop of sorts and can accommodate a 5" by 5" cross-stitch picture kit or 5" by 7" cross-stitch picture kit. He had made it out of 1/2" x 1" pine wood strips with an adjustable center strip that I use for the 5 x 5 square designs.

The kit came with instructions for finishing the back of the picture.  I had chosen an off white glass-less Mill Hill 7" by 9" frame with a 5" by 7" opening instead of a standard glass frame which utilizes a mat to finish it which I think really brought out the beautiful colors of the cottage scene. Plus without the glass you could really see the 3-dimensional aspects of the picture.

When using the glass-less frames I tend to favor 1/4" foam backed adhesive mounting boards for the cross-stitch pictures I'm inserting into the picture frame as they perfectly fill the space between the front ridge and back of the frame.  So, I stretched and mounted my picture on a 5" by 7" foam backed adhesive 1/4" mounting board, taped the four corners to square them so I could sew them with nylon thread in a "V" to make the corners taut with the adhesive board and then taped the remaining vertical and horizontal sides with masking tape.

I added the back that was included with the frame and taped it to the back of the frame to hold my picture within the frame.  Then using paper glue I cut a piece of thick decorative paper to fit the 7" by 9" back of the frame and glued it on to totally finish the back of the frame.


It took me 82 hours to complete this picture including the framing. Despite the problems I encountered I was very happy with the way my Dimensions Bayside Cottage picture turned out.  The 3-dimensional aspects of the picture really stood out and made for an astonishingly beautiful picture.

I just love designing and creating silk floral arrangements.  If you do, too, you be happy to know that we have 7 free tutorial e-books showing how to create several different kind of silk floral centerpieces and arrangements and topiaries.  Just click the links below.  Enjoy!