Shamrock Chapel

There is a beautiful little church I visited while in Ireland, St. Finbarr's Oratory at Gougane Barra. A wee chapel situated on a bit of a jetty on a lake.

Looking at the Mausoleum Kit in my stash I was inspired by my memories of this place to create a miniature chapel of my own.

For the exterior stone texture I've used drywall compound and the Cobblestone stencil.

Tip: coat your stencil with boating wax to seal it and make it reusable!

I quite like the roof of this piece and the wee turrets that flank the two sides. For the saintly statues I simply painted some miniature figures used for railway models grey and popped them inside. That fancy it at the front peak is the top bit of a chipboard key from the Keys & Plates Shape Set

The windows are a stained glass image that I downloaded then printed onto a transparency sheet. Rather than cutting out individual windows, there is a piece that covers the whole windowed area. It's much easier and less fiddly if no one is going to be peeking inside.

And that spikey Gothic trim to the roof? I deconstructed (aka chopped up) a Gothic Border to add some vertical interest.

You can follow the process I went through making this piece with THIS video walk-though.  And here is the supply list of all the bits you'll need to create your own version.

Mausoleum Kit

Chipboard Shingles - Pointed

Chipboard Shingles - Half Scale Sampler

Cobblestone
Gothic Border 6 Inch
Keys & Plates Shape Set
Cabana Row Mini

Other supplies needed for this project:

Stained glass pattern printed on transparency

Acrylic paint

Drywall compound

Glue
Cross charm
Railway figures

Skeletons At Work

Hello crafty gypsy friends!  It's Susan here on the Gypsy Soul Laser Cuts blog to share a little skellie triptych made with the Arch Top House Silhouettes.

The first thing I did was match the personality of my three skeletons with paper bits, outlined them with pencil and cut out.

I lined up the silhouettes with about 1/4-inch between them and added Linen Hinge Tape on each side.

A scoring tool or some such thing will help adhere the linen tape strips to each other.

I added black gesso on the edges and on the linen tape, then used matte medium to adhere the paper to each side.

A gold marker on the edges for a little pizazz.

Funeral Director

The Pharmacist

Auctioneer

Thanks for your visit today!

Cheers,
Susan

Gypsy Soul Laser Cuts Used
Arch Top House Silhouettes

Other Supplies Used
Tim Holtz Halloween Paper 8x8
Black gesso
Dresden trim
Antikamnia Calendar skeletons
Gray and black watercolor pencils
Matte medium

Spring Lantern

Hello this is Yolie with today's project. It's late May and in Southern California, we are still getting rain. Spring made an appearance with the Super Bloom, but then quickly disappeared. The plan was to make a Summer Lantern, but I'm still in the mood for Spring. I used the Lantern Cage Style and added a faux patina with lots of blooms.

To create the faux patina, I first painted all the pieces, front and back with metallic copper and allowed the paint to completely dry.
I then painted the pieces with black chalkboard paint and before the paint dried, wiped it off with a paper towel.
Next, I painted the pieces with aqua drift and again, before the paint dried, wiped it off with a paper towel.

I then assembled the Lantern using a bit of Beacon Power-Tac adhesives to secure it in place. 

I added pretty blooms and a couple of resin butterflies.

Here's a closeup of the beautiful faux patina. I added the butterfly as doorknob to easily open the lantern door and turn on the LED tea light.

Hoping Summer is delayed so I can enjoy the Spring Lantern a little longer.
Thank you so much for visiting today and enjoy your week.

Supply List:
Lantern Cage Style No. C41C
Plaid Crafts paints: Black Chalkboard, Metallic Copper, Aqua Drift
Beacon Power-Tac adhesive
Flowers
Resin butterflies
LED tea light

Celebrating Creativity

Hi crafty friends!  Leigh Ann here today for Gypsy Soul Laser Cuts, bringing you an artist trading coaster celebrating creativity. 

I started my coaster by giving it a messy coat of Paper Texture Paste by Prima.  I used a pallet knife to achieve this look. 

I grabbed this old ship tag from my stash, inked the edges and glued it to the coaster. I thought the ship went along with my creativity and inventions theme. 

I embossed this chipboard light bulb with black powder and then used vintage gold wax on the inside filaments.

I attached the light bulb first and then also added this metal phone that I had in my stash. 

My next step was to add some Tim Holtz gears and art stones for texture because I put art stones on just about everything!  I finished the coaster by cutting this "create" sticker into two pieces, inking the edges, and popping it up with foam squares. 

I hope you have enjoyed this tutorial and tribute to creativity of the past.  I used the following Gypsy Soul Laser Cuts products on this project:

4 inch Trading Coaster
Vintage Bulbs Set

A phone is not for calling--plus a free ear worm!

We all have those special friends who just "get" our unique humor. Those are the friends to whom we can send our snarkiest cards.

This is one such card--a not so subtle reminder about how annoying phone calls can be.

To keep this site family-friendly, I blurred out some language on this card. If you want, you can see the original adult-language-version card on my blog.

Complete with a retro telephone dial, the dial actually turns, to reveal more numbers...

and a few key letters.

To make the card, begin removing the smallest of the Rotary Dials from the package and adding colorful ink.

Adhere decorative paper and the image from Questionable Characters 2 to the card base.

Determine placement for your telephone dial and punch a small hole in the card for the brad. With a pencil, lightly trace the location of the dial holes that fall onto the white card base.

Remove the phone dial, add rub-on letters and numbers within the traced circles and then erase the pencil marks. 

Next, place Post-it Notes over the areas you wish to mask and stamp a textured background onto the card. 

Remove the Post-It Notes, replace the dial pad, add the center "Miss You" sentiment, smudge white pencil around the image and lightly pencil fake telephone numbers onto the background paper. 

I can't tell you how many times the 867-5309 song went through my head during this process. You are incredibly welcome for that free ear worm. 

Print snarky sentiment and "Miss You" sentiment on your computer. Adhere the "Miss You" to the circle chipboard that came with the rotary dial and adhere it to the brad. If you wish, you can first carve out a hole for the brad in the back of the chipboard so it sits flat. 

Adhere the snarky sentiment to the card. The font I used would not print an apostrophe, so I had to do some printing gymnastics to turn a comma into a outline and then flip it upside down to create an apostrophe. This made for some tiny gluing!

Lightly ink the edges of the card with black ink and your card is complete. Have a great day everyone. Hopefully that song won't stick in your head all weekend--if it does, just use it as a reminder to get crafting! -Betsy

Great stuff

Rotary Dials

Questionable Characters 2

Brad

Decorative paper

White cardstock

Ink jet printer

Stamp by Seth Apter

Purple ink

Black ink

White Stabilo All Pencil

Black Stabilo All Pencil

Beacon Zip Dry

Native American Turquoise and Silver

I've always been drawn to different cultures and the history of a given area or region. On a recent trip to Pennsylvania we went antiquing searching for treasures. I  found a miniature totem pole and a vintage children's book. I'm also drawn to gemstones that are blue in color, labradorite being my favorite followed by turquoise that is heavily veined. These are the inspirations for this project.

1.  Take top portion of wooden cigar box off using pliers and screwdriver.
2.  Cover entire surface with Finnabair Rust Pastes.

3.  While still wet sprinkle with cinnamon and nutmeg to further the rusty effect.

4.  Once dry seal with matte varnish.

5.  Take apart GSLC Star Medallions.

6.   Paint with Copper Tone Acrylic Paints.

7.  Paint With Silver Tone Acrylic Paints.

8.  Add more metallic touches with Ice Resin German Silver enamels and a heating tool and Lindy Starburst Sprays.

 

9.  To give GSLC Star Medallions a tarnished look dry brush quickly with black acrylic paint.

10.                Once dry  use thread and needle to weave in and out of holes in GSLC Star Medallions.

11.                Antique Embellishment with gray and yellow iron oxide acrylic paint.

12.                Assemble Project using hammer and upholstery tacks to secure into place.

 

 

 

 

Some final thoughts.

Turquoise is often associated with connections to the spiritual world and is to protect us from harm and negative energy. It is said to bring peace to one's home and good fortune to its owner. Turquoise is from the earth as is silver, when combined together they have a futurist nostalgia. I prefer copper with my heavily veined turquoise and find they comfort me when worn together.
Supplies:  Gypsy Soul Laser Cuts-Star Medallions, Wooden Cigar Box, Pliers, Screwdriver, Finnabair Rust Paste, Cinnamon, Nutmeg, Matte Varnish, Paintbrush, Metallic Paints in Coppers and Silver Tones, Ice Resin German Silver Enamel, Heating Tool, Lindy Sunburst Sprays, Black Acrylic Paint, Thread, Needle, Various Embellishments (Small Wooden Totem Pole, Plastic Log Fence Piece, Turquoise Bead Necklace), Gray and Yellow Iron Oxide Acrylic Paints,  Upholstery Tacks, Hammer
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!