Guest Designer Stacy Hutchinson

Hello All and Welcome!

A couple of months ago I was asked if I would like to be a guest designer here on the Gypsy Soul Laser Cuts Blog I was happy to say, yes and today my day has come!! I'm so excited!

Although, I have to admit that I actually hadn't ever tried any of the Gypsy Laser Cuts, but I now can tell you that I have... and that they are wonderful!! They were fairly easy to build (especially using my favorite adhesive - Distress Collage Medium) If you haven't had a chance to try these, here is a link to their shop... Gypsy Soul Laser Cuts.

I decided to try one of their Tiny Shadowbox Houses 1 they are very small (only 2 3/4" tall) and come in a 2 pack, but oh my goodness, they are so darn CUTE when they are all dressed up! I had an idea in mind when I saw these...small Photo Booth type photos.  My Grandma Mabel was the perfect little model for this project.

I used some new Tim Holtz products including the Halloween Worn Wallpaper, which includes some lovely patterns that can be used for things other than Halloween... and a product coming to his regular line, Thimbles!!! I think these are  going to be one of my new favorites...they're flat on top so using it for a base for my house worked perfectly!

Let's begin!!

First, I decided to use a stamped tag background I had created, and a piece of Worn Wallpaper from the Halloween collection. Then I began trimming the papers to fit the house and adhered them with Distress Collage Medium.

First I adhered the inside...

Then I adhered the house together...

I blended a tiny bit of Picket Fence Distress Paint around the edges, just to remove the cardboard brown color.

Then I adhered the outside pieces of Worn Wallpaper.. after they were adhered, I brushed on a thin layer of Distress Collage Medium in Vintage, to give it a bit more of an aged look, on both the inside and outside.

 the roof was cut from a piece of corrugated cardboard scrap...

I blended some Iced Spruce Distress Oxide through the Stampers Anonymous Nordic Layering Stencil (THS070) with a blender and cut it to size to fit the roof of my house and set it aside so that I could add some embossing to the edges of the house.

Using my Ranger Embossing Dabber, I lightly dabbed a bit of embossing ink around the front, side and rear of the edges that were raw. Then dipped it onto a paper plate that had been sprinkled with Ranger Liquid Platinum Embossing Powder. Then it was heat embossed.

Then I adhered the corrugated roof. (I Blended a bit of Walnut Stain Distress Oxide onto the paper to give it more age.)

I rubbed some Walnut Stain Distress Crayon with my finger around the house edges on both the inside and outside.

 I trimmed down my photo, scratched it a little with my Sanding Grip and blended some Walnut Stain Distress Oxide around the edges. I trimmed a piece of cotton felt batting with a pair of pinking shears and ran a simple messy stitch around the outside of the photo. (By the way...I always make copies of original photos to create with.) I left some extra thread and decided to tie on a tiny heart charm.

I trimmed a tiny phrase from the Tim Holtz Clippings Sticker pack and blended it with a bit of Walnut Stain Distress Oxide.

Next, I created a border with the Sizzix 3D Scallop Mini Trim...I cut the piece from Silver Kraft-Core paper, sanded it a bit with my Sanding Grip, Painted it lightly with some Picket Fence Distress Paint. After it was dry, I blended some Mushroom Alcohol Ink onto it and blended a little Walnut Stain and Iced Spruce Distress Crayon onto it. Then I trimmed it down a little lengthwise so that it fit on the bottom of the house.

The thimble... I did basically the same treatment as the trim, except no sanding...Picket Fence Distress Paint, Mushroom Alcohol Ink, Walnut Stain and Iced Spruce Distress Crayon, I focused the Iced Spruce around the bottom of the thimble...I thought it kind of made it look enameled. I also added a bit of vintage tatted trim around the thimble. (My Grandma had tried teaching me how to tat when I was little, with no success, but I wanted to include a touch of it in the project.) <3

Then I added some scraps of lace and a vintage button and began adding all my layers to the house. All were adhered with Distress Collage Medium, my glue of choice, it works wonderfully on every surface! Even the heavy metal button!

Thank you so much for joining me today and be sure to stop over to the Gypsy Soul Laser Cuts shop and blog.

Creatively Yours,

Stacy
To see more of Stacy's wonderful art, check out her blog,  Tattered Nest Designs.

GATHER YOUR SUPPLIES -

Gypsy Soul Laser Cut- Tiny Shadowbox Houses 1

Tim Holtz/Stampers Anonymous- Nordic Layering Stencil (THS100)

Tim Holtz/Ranger- Sanding Grip, Embossing Ink Dabber, Liquid Platinum Embossing Powder, Metallic Kraft-Core Silver Paper, Mushroom Alcohol Ink, Distress Collage Medium, Distress Collage Medium Vintage

Distress Oxide- Walnut Stain, Iced Spruce

Distress Crayons - Walnut Stain, Iced Spruce

Distress Paint- Picket Fence

Distress Tools/Mediums- Distress Sprayer, Craft Mat, Heat it Heat tool, Blending Tools, Watercolor Paper

Tim Holtz/Sizzix- 3D Scallop Mini

Tim Holtz/Idea-ology- Thimbles, Sticker Clippings, Halloween Worn Wallpaper

Other-  Sewing Machine and Thread, Vintage Lace, Button and Charm, Corrugated Cardboard, Cotton Batting, Pinking Shears