Becoming Butterflies

There is a quote by Louie Schwartzberg that states. "Metamorphous has always been the greatest symbol of change for poets and artists. Imagine that you could be a caterpillar one moment and a butterfly the next." I feel myself growing as an artist and becoming more of a 'butterfly', this is the inspiration for this piece I have titled, "Becoming Butterflies."

Supplies:  .Gypsy Souls Laser Cuts-Arch Top Triptych 8 Inch , Gypsy Souls Laser Cuts-Cathedral Frame (2), Gypsy Souls Laser Cuts-Butterfly of Gears, Gypsy Souls Laser Cuts-Bird in Ivy, Gypsy Souls Laser Cuts-Fern Fronds, Versa Mark, Judi Kins Black Opal Embossing Powder, Heating Tool, Stampedous Pearl Luster Lapis Embossing Powder, Decorative Paper- I used K&C Company-Tim Coffey Foliage Designs, Graphic 45-Nature Sketchbook, Webster Pages-Garden Gala, Tim Holtz Distress Stains-Salty Ocean, Wild Honey, Mermaid Lagoon, and Old Paper,  Tim Holtz Distress Sprays-Crushed Olive, Peeled Paint, and Walnut Stain, Metallic Paints in Greens and Blues, Tattered Angels Glimmer Mist Blue, Permanent Black Ink, Decorative Stamp, Clamps, Copper Nails, Hammer, Assortment of Tiny Screws,  Screwdriver, Awl, Tim Holtz Hinges,  Weldbond

1.  Take the Gypsy Souls Laser Cuts Reliquary Arch Top apart.

2.  Take apart the Gypsy Souls Laser Cuts Cathedral Frames I am only using the back portions as I used the front portions on another project.

3.  Versa Mark the GSLC Reliquary Arch front and back edges with Stampendous Pearl Luster Lapis Embossing Powder and cure with heating tool.

4.  Versa Mark the GSLC Cathedral Frames with Judi Kins Black Opal Embossing Powders and cure with heating tool. 

 

5.  Fill in negative spaces with Tim Holtz Distress Stains I used Old Paper and Salty Sea.

6.  Secure decorative paper of your choosing to front and back of each frame leaving a border all around.

7.  Use Tim Holtz Distress Sprays and Metallic Paints to color GSLC Fern Fronds add details with metallic paints.

8.  Use Tim Holtz Distress Spays and Stains to color GSLC Bird in Ivy using a tiny paint brush.

9.  Add details with metallic paints.

10.                When GSLC Fern Fronds and GSLC Bird in Ivy are completely dry use permanent black ink and a decorative stamp of your choosing to add details.

11.                Cut GSLC Butterfly with Gears in half, stain with Tim Holtz Wild Honey Distress Stains, add details with blue metallic paints, then spray with blue Glimmer Mist.

12.                When GSLC Butterfly with Gears is completely dry use permanent black ink and a decorative stamp of your choosing to add details.

13.                Glue front portion Reliquary Arch Top to back portion secure with clamps to assure proper attachment.

14.                While that is drying use Weldbond to secure  GSLC Butterfly  with Gears Wings to both GSLC Cathedral Frames.

15.                Add copper nails using a hammer for decorative addition.

16.                Assemble GSLC Reliquary Arch Top with GSLC Fern Fronds and GSLC Bird in Ivy.

17.                Add a few GSLC Fern Fronds to back portions of GSLC Reliquary Arch and GSLC Cathedral Frames.

18.                Finish by using Tim Holtz Hinges to make a Triptych with the GSLC Reliquary Arch Top in the middle and GSLCCathedral Frames are on either side, left and right.

19.                 You must be very careful to assure that hinges can arch out and that all three sections are level so it will stand up properly.

This makes a great stand alone piece or inspirational gift.  I will leave you with another quote by Thomas Merton, "Art enables us to find ourselves and lose ourselves at the same time." I love how quickly the hours pass when I am creating in my studio and to have the end results be pleasing not only to my eyes but to others that encounter it.

I cannot wait to see your interpretation of this project. Share it on the Gypsy Soul Laser Cuts Craft Group Page on Facebook. I would love to see what new creations you are working on!

Darkly Delightful Bathing Machine for Grim Days at the Beach

The April showers might bring May flowers but right now they are making my landscape rather grim. Don't get me wrong, I am a fan of grim things and rainy days. Rather than fight against the current weather conditions, I'm going to embrace them and make something darkly delightful.

This little "Bathing Machine" is based on the 18th and 19th century change rooms wheeled into the sea by by-gone beachgoers. But what if the Adams' ancestors went to the beach? Or the Munsters? OR MARY SHELLEY OR EGAR ALLAN POE OR... well, you get the point. I'm sure they'd all visit the seaside on rainy days. I'd like to think they had a creepy little space for changing into their wading attire and doing a little fortune telling to see if the water was fine.

Gypsy Soul does have a proper Gypsy Wagon available if you're feeling more ambitious, but I like this little fella. It's a fun kit and there are LOADS of customization possibilities. Travelling snake oil salesman, a tiny portable library, a sideshow trailer... oooh, so many ideas!

Two tips I will mentions.

1. I am terrible at applying hinges so I glued my door in place and ajar. If you do the same, just be aware of the door placement so that you can still add the stairs.

2. I used the Chipboard Shingles - Half Scale Sampler for the shingles. One package is enough to do the entire roof. You might want to position the bottom row of shingles lower than I have. (Don't tell anyone but I think it would have looked a bit better with more of an overhang.)

If you'd like to see the process to create this particular piece, the walk through is available HERE.

And here are all of the supplies I used to create this version of this project: 

Bathing Machine

Chipboard Shingles - Half Scale Sampler

Round Table & 2 Chairs

Leafy Corners
Faux Metal Number Plates 1 to 25

Miniature terrain grass
Moss and faux flowers
Bead caps
Thin Looped Dresden Border
Black Zig Zag Dresden Borders 

Paper straw

1/8" doweling

Graphic45 - Rare Oddities
Acrylic paint

Glass marble

Mine Tags Taste like Honey

I have always been drawn to encaustic art, yet I have never quite managed to begin the process for using it in my own crafting. For quite awhile I had been planning on using Gypsy Soul's Honeycomb & Bees in an encaustic project--because shouldn't every honeycomb project be created with beeswax?

That is why I was delighted when Seth Apter developed his Vintage Beeswax Embossing Powder. I combined the Honeycomb & Bees with the Embossing Powder to create a faux encaustic look on  three golden honey-colored tags.

To make the tags, I began by collaging vintage dictionary pages about bees onto manilla tags.

Next I cut the Honeycomb into sections and painted them and two of the bees 

with yellow paint. When dry, I added flecks of white paint and inked the edges with brown ink.

I hope you forgive me, but I had so much fun creating these tags that I forgot to take photos of the next few steps.

I spritzed the tags with Tattered Leather Spray and dried them with a heat gun. I then flicked droplets of High Impact and Glimmer Glam Paint onto the tags. After drying with a heat gun, I inked the edges of the tags with brown ink. 

Next I dabbed tiny drops of glue randomly on the tags and added gold flakes to the tags. I also covered one of the bees with gold flakes.  

After adhering the honeycomb and bees to the tags, I covered each of the tags in embossing ink and coated with Vintage Beeswax embossing powder. I set the powder with a heat gun and repeated this process four more times to give the tags the encaustic look. 

Finally, I painted each tag with matte medium to remove the glossiness. After the tags were dry, I threaded ivory ribbons through the holes. 

Thanks for stopping by the blog today. I hope that this project inspires you to BEE creative. Have a fantastic week. - Betsy

Great Stuff

Honeycomb & Bees- Small
Seth Apter's Vintage Beeswax Embossing Powder
Acrylic paint
Vintage Photo Distress Ink
Tattered Angels Glitter Glam Paint
Tattered Angels High Impact White Paint
Tattered Angels Glimmer Mist Tattered Leather Spray
Embossing Ink
Gold flakes
Matte medium
Ribbons

The answer to your desk storage problems right here!!!

Maybe you are the sort of crafter who likes to have everything at their finger tips. I definitely am, but that creates some challenges around storage and organisation. I am typically a very organised person, but there are days when you would never know it looking at my desk. When I am busy working away at a project, I find that if I can't reach it from where I am, then I just wont use it.

 Gypsy Soul Laser Cuts has THE answer for you. They have created this awesome new storage system that you will love. Not only is it functional, and useful, but you get to build it YOUR way, and I am not talking in that annoying Ikea flat pack way either. This system is modular, so you can customise it to suit your own needs and then decorate it to suit your space more perfectly than any store bought system ever will. I even managed to co-ordinate it with another piece I already had finished. How great is that!!! I love that you can buy each piece separately, and combine them in a way that works for you. They are even stackable. I really want to get a second set to use for my classroom desk now.

These are fairly simple to put together once you sort out all the pieces. If you would like to see some more detailed pictures on how to construct each of these pieces, then please check out Susan's excellent post here and also see how different it can look depending on your choice of papers.  Read on for lots more pictures on the functionality of these pieces, and some ideas for what to use them for.

This is the full set of 7 different pieces arranged in just one of many ways. Go here to see more on the tool caddy I made some time ago, that co-ordinates beautifully with the rest of the set (no co-incidence, I really like things to match)

First up the storage chests. There is a 3 drawer version and a 6 drawer version. Naturally you'll want them both. You can even double up for even more storage. they are sturdy enough to stack on top of each other.

I like to use these ones to store glitter, seed beads, prills etc. Things can come in small bottles. They are also perfect for mini ink pads. 

I've been needing storage like this for a while. It was designed for Stickles storage, but my Liquid Pearls dimensional paint comes in the same  bottles. Of course, now I need a second one for Stickles. This unit stores a massive 32 bottles, all right there for you to see at a glance. So very handy.

Next up, are the storage cubes. One is 6x6 and the other 3x6. They fit together perfectly, while being versatile at the same time. Win-Win!!!You could even stack the smaller ones flat on top of each other. I love to use the big ones for all my different glue bottles, while the smaller ones house my scissors and my stamp blocks.

                    

I have decorated mine simply since there are so many pieces, but you could of course go all out. Maybe I will even add to them as time goes by ;) 

Available in the store now.  In the meantime, may I also suggest this Rotating Hobby Organiser, that would add even more storage and can of course co-ordinate too.

Organizer System