Paper Flower Fairy House Shrines

You know what I love? Smashing every single thing I love all into one project. Houses, little things,  shrines, butterflies, fairies... check, check, check....

Start with some super cute Mini House Shadowboxes and off you go! There are four different sizes available, each adorably tiny.

To embellish I've used old music sheets inside, and scrapbook paper on the exterior. 

A snip of Gold Tiny Dot Dresden Borders trims each roof.

Inside a paper fairy made from this Matchbox Fairy Collage Sheet with Transparent Wings. Paper butterflies, a pinch of moss, and few sprinkles of "faux flowers" finish those pretty things off.

The most difficult part of this project is cutting out the fairies, but with a pair of sharp scissors and a bit of patience you'll do just fine. If you want to see the whole process of assembling these pretties I have a video walk-through available HERE .

Easy right? You got this! To recap, here are all the supplies you'll need to make these sweet little Paper Flower Fairy House Shrines:

A mini house shadowbox, choose from:

Mini House Shadowbox 1

Mini House Shadowbox 2

Mini House Shadowbox 3

Mini House Shadowbox 4

Old paper
Acrylic paint

Scrapbook paper of choice
Matchbox Fairy Collage Sheet
Transparent Wings

Wee Assorted Butterflies
Gold Tiny Dot Dresden Borders

Moss/Flocling

Small fake flowers or scatter

Glue
Adhesive foam squares
Other embellishments, baubles, washi tape, buttons etc.

A Gothic Fence and Vintage Images Make Up this Sweet Halloween Card

The haunting season is almost here. What better to kick off the season than a spooky yet sweet Halloween card.

Thanks to Gypsy Soul's Wrought Iron Miniatures, this card is a breeze to put together.

Begin by rubbing black ink over the Wrought Iron before you remove it from its protective casing.

Next, cut out your vintage Halloween ephemera and cover the pumpkin with Glossy Accents. Let dry.

In the meantime, spray a piece of 3.75" x 5" white cardstock with London Blue Dylusions Ink Spray. Dry with a heat gun. Ink the edges with black ink.

Adhere the Wrought Iron and vintage images to the blue cardstock. Then adhere the blue cardstock to a 4.25" x 5.5" piece of black scrapbook paper.

Glue tiny black sequins around the edge.

Adhere tiny gold stars onto the blue cardstock. Finally, adhere the completed scene onto a 4.25" x 5" card that you prepared from white cardstock.

-Have a spooktacular weekend! -Betsy

Great Stuff

Wrought Iron Miniatures
Glossy Accents
Black ink
London Blue Dylusions Ink Spray
Vintage Halloween images
White cardstock
Decorative black paper
Black sequins
Miniature gold stars
Adhesive

Celebrate Banned Books Week With These Book Inspired Bookmarks

Hi there, it's Elle (Empire of the Cat) with a gift for book lovers.This week is Banned Books Week and to celebrate I made some bookmarks for my book-loving friends.

Here's how they came together:

I started with this set of XL tags, they are a really good size and will make perfect bookmarks. I used this stamp set for my GOT obsessed friends (and myself!) but you can use any book-themed stamps you have on hand.

Paint both sides of each tag with black gesso and leave to dry.

Gel Printing

For these tags we are going to make a monoprinted background using a gel plate and some metallic pigment inks.

Using the ink pads, cover the gel plate with a thin layer of ink, making sure to keep the colours separate to avoid contaminating your ink pads, and then use the brayer to spread and mix the colours on the gel plate.

Before the inks dry, use a large background stamp to stamp out a pattern all over the gel plate.  Then quickly take a print by pressing a sheet of Bristol paper down with your hands and smoothing it out.  Please note, it is also possible to print directly onto the tags themselves but for these tags I wanted to stamp on top of the printed background and wanted a smooth surface for that, so Bristol paper is perfect for that.

Choose the parts of the print that you want to use, and using the tags for placement, draw around them and then cut them out.

Stamping

I used two stamp sets, one for the GOT imagery and a book border stamp to stamp along the bottom of the tags using Versamark Onyx Black archival ink.  I used a stamp platform to position the throne image and the word stamps to make sure they were in the same position on all three tags.

Embossing

Now for the fun part!  Using an embossing ink, cover the entire tag and the dust with a translucent or clear embossing powder.  I am using this mixed media powder that gives an aged, waxy look.  Heat the embossing powder with a heat tool, then repeat the process 2-3 times. Here's a close up of what the tag will look like with three layers of embossing powder.

Finishing Touches

To finish off the tags, make a tassel from some baker's twine and loop it through the hole at the top of each tag.  I used a gold and white twine to match the gold in the backgrounds.

Bonus Project - Pirate Treasure!

I also have a little bonus project for you, since it was also Talk Like A Pirate Day on the 19th and I made these "pieces of eight" for a pirate treasure chest.  This project also uses embossing powder but slightly differently and and lots of fun to do!

Take a pack of Artist Trading Coins and some scrapbook paper, preferably one that has text on it.  Draw around the coins and then cut out the circles from the paper - enough for both sides of each coin.

Glue the papers on to each side of the coins and leave to dry.

Next, cover one side of each coin with clear or translucent embossing powder.  I am using the same powder here as I did with the bookmarks, so it gives an aged look.  Melt the powder with a heat tool, then repeat the process on the other side of each coin.  Each coin should now have one coat of embossing powder on both sides.  Next, you will need a rubber stamp to turn your ATC into pirate treasure.  I have this Tim Holtz skull and crossbones stamp that seemed appropriate for pirate booty!

Ink up your stamp with archival ink, then apply another layer of embossing powder onto one side of your coin and melt it with a heat tool.  While it is still hot and melting, quickly press the inked-up stamp into the hot embossing powder and lift it off.  It will leave the stamped impression and look like this:

I only stamped my coins on one side but you could stamp on both if you wish, just following the process above.  Then to finish it off, make it look more aged, and hide the chipboard edge, roll the edge of the coin along the embossing ink pad and then into the embossing powder and heat it with the heat tool to melt it.  Do one section at a time, holding the coin between your fingers or with tweezers to avoid burning your fingers with melting embossing powder.

For this stage, I used a mixed media powder that had a mixture of gold and green in it, so it made the coins look like they had been found at the bottom of the ocean.

It is possible to add the embossing powder to the rim first and then the sides and you are less likely to burn your fingers, but the effect is better if you work on the flat sides first as the powder from the rim will spread over the sides, making them look crusty and corroded.

Hope you enjoyed this tutorial and if you have any questions please let me know.  

Elle - Empire of the Cat

PROJECT RECIPE for Book Lover Tags:

GSL Cuts Decorative Tags XL - Model D92B
Black gesso
Embossing ink and embossing powders (clear or translucent)
Heat gun for melting embossing powder
Gel plate, brayer, background stamp, metallic pigment inks to make background (or use a background from your stash)
Book-themed Stamp set and black archival ink
PVA glue
Baker's twine or ribbon to make tassel

PROJECT RECIPE for Pirate Treasure Coins:

GSL Cuts Artist Trading Coins - Model D81M
Scrapbook paper with old text or script pattern
Embossing ink and embossing powders
Heat gun for melting embossing powder
Stamp Set and black or brown archival ink
PVA glue

Misunderstood Monsters and Mysterious Creatures-Complete Collection

I am happy to present my complete Collection of Misunderstood Monsters and Mysterious Creatures Alphabet. A wonderful instillation and little Munster Nursery. If you want to know how each chipboard was altered or each letter was chosen be sure to check out my previous installments of Misunderstood Monsters and Mysterious Creatures.

Supplies:  Gypsy Soul Laser Cuts-Alphabet Stencil Blanks, Gypsy Soul Laser Cuts-Snowflake Shape Set, Gypsy Soul Laser Cuts-String Alongs - Gothic, Gypsy Soul Laser Cuts-Dragons Shape Set, Gypsy Soul Laser Cuts-Garden Fairies Medium, Gypsy Soul Laser Cuts-Unicorns 

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!

Unsolved Mysteries Display Cabinet

Happy Saturday, everyone. I way had too much fun pulling together all of the elements that an investigator of unsolved mysteries would collect using one of my absolute favorite GSL pieces - a Millinery Cabinet 1:12.

This gorgeous intricate little cabinet comes with a lot of pieces. Assembly is a breeze if you take the time to lay them out beforehand. The largest piece is the back wall of the cabinet. In this photo I have laid out the lower section.

 

And here is the upper section.

 

The only pieces remaining make up the dual cubby sections that go on each side of the cabinet.

 

I chose a rich brown acrylic paint for the cabinet. This photo shows where the cubby sections are to be glued in place on each side.

 

Looking fancy!

 

The large back wall space was perfectly suited for a bulletin board to hold all sorts of information; mothman, UFOs, the Bermuda triangle, the Black Dahlia. I later added an image of DB Cooper. It was assembled from a rectangle of Paper Studio cork adhesive paper framed with sections of coffee stir sticks. Several pin heads were glued on as tacks.

 

I added a relic made from a GSL Gothic Cross Miniature embellished with a few Swarovski crystals. 

 

It was placed in front of the bulletin board along with a passport and a book on haunted houses. That giant orange feather on the wall is from a friend's parrot.

 

One of the mystery elements I included was a tiny astronaut guy from my stash (it was one of my now-grown daughter's toys) with an Alien facehugger from a toy pack I found at Walmart a few years ago. I think the brand might be Mini Mates but no longer have the packaging. This little guy was placed in under a glass dome.

It was placed onto the top of the cabinet along with a Bigfoot sculpture (a bead), a mysterious glowing worm (fishing lure) under a glass dome, an alien head (another bead) and a small glass jar filled with hummingbird feathers.

 

The left hand side has a skull sitting on top of a field notebook, a jar full of moss, a mysterious shiny rock (a hematite specimen) and a Terminator hand under glass (a dollar store skeleton arm painted silver). In the background you will see a copy of a letter attributed to Jack the Ripper.

 

Here's a wider view. I included a few Bigfoot images and tucked into the left side cubbies are correspondence, a rolled up copy of the Zodiac Ciphers, a photo of Lizzie Borden's house and more UFO photos. 

 

Our investigator is truly a world traveler so I included a compass, globe and binoculars. That mysterious glowing rock is a chunk of glow in the dark vase filler set onto a bead base. A 1952 UFO photo is seen in the background.

 

The right hand cubbies include fairy wings, a feather from our hens, photos of Oumuamua, the Nazca lines and a few pages of the Voynich manuscript. Never heard of some of these? Google them for an interesting afternoon of reading. 

 

Down below we have some interesting maps and tomb inscription rubbings.

 

Along with a grail, map and package on the right side, our intrepid explorer has also obtained a lovely painting tucked away in an inconspicuous spot. It's actually The Concert by Johannes Vermeer which was stolen in 1990 and is considered the world's most valuable unrecovered painting. Could our adventurer be collecting more than unsolved mystery clues?

 

Thanks so much for stopping by!

GSL Products Used

Millinery Cabinet 1:12

Gothic Cross Miniatures

Other Products Used

Tacky glue

Acrylic paint

Printed images

Paper Studio cork adhesive paper

Coffee stir sticks

Swarovski crystals

Feathers

Assorted bits & bobs