Tiny Winter Candy Cottages / Gingerbread Houses

I'm neck deep in holiday making and all of my non-crafty friends think I'm off my rocker. "It's so early!" Those with a makers heart know that now is the time to get your fingers working.

I am particularly pleased with these little winter cottages.

Pretty stinkin' cute, right?! I think they're even more adorable as a tiny village.

These cuties are made with Gypsy Soul's 1 to 12 Gingerbread House, placed on a little wooden round, with wee bottle brush trees and tiny candy and a sprinkling of snow.

I've finished off the roofs with snippets from the Tiny Shingles Sampler.

Want to make your own? Pop over HERE  to see how I assembled these sweet little houses.

Here are all the supplies I used putting these cuties together:

1 to 12 Gingerbread House

Tiny Shingles Sampler

small wood rounds

Mini Candy Canes
Polymer Clay Red Swirl Peppermint Cane

miniature bottle brush trees

green flocking/grass/terrain

faux snow

straight pin
glue (white glue and super glue)
acrylic paint

*Note: tweezers are VERY helpful with this project

Oh Baby Baby Part 2 by Betsy Skagen

We are now just days away from a new baby arriving in my family. I am making a little book for my niece, who is the mother-to-be, for her to keep memories of those first precious months.

The book features all sorts of pockets, magnetic flaps and little spaces to store precious photos, mementos and tags to record milestones and memories. On some of the pages I used Gypsy Soul chipboard to create three-dimensional elements and frames. 

Tutorial--How to Make a Baby Book

Ad demonstrated in Part 1, begin by gently bending the wire binding and remove the chipboard pages.

Cover the pages with black gesso.

Dry with a heat gun.

Paint the Flourished Frame Laurel, star from Celestial Shapes Set and Little Dreamer elements with gesso. Dry with heat gun. Paint in the the colors of your choice and dry with heat gun.

Cover the element with embossing ink, coat with ultra thick clear embossing powder and activate with heat gun.

To create the wild texture on the cloud, add a layer of white chalk paint and dry with heat gun. Then again cost the element with embossing ink and clear embossing powder and re-activate with heat gun. Watch as the paint swirls as it mixes with the embossing powder. 

Using a sharp blade, carve out a small circle from the back of the star element. Glue a micro-magnet in place and cover with decorative paper.

Adhere decorative paper to the black page bases. For the Little Dreamer page, first glue a micro-magnet onto the black page base in the location where you will want to add photos or tags. 

Glue the Little Dreamer Element onto the page. Then let the star magnet snap into place.

If you wish, you can cut tags from decorative paper for the star magnet to hold, or you can leave the area free for cute baby pictures. 

For the Flourished Frame page. cut a piece of teal cardstock to fit behind the frame. Glue only the bottom edge of the frame to the cardstock so that a picture can be slid into place. 

Glue the frame to the page and add a decorative baby duck. 

I am so excited that I am almost done with the book and can give it to my niece. I hope she likes it!  -Betsy

Great Stuff

Little Dreamer chipboard element

Celestial Shapes Set

Flourished Frame Laurel

Chipboard album

Black gesso

Authentique Paper

Assorted decorative paper

Teal cardstock

Black cardstock

2 Micro magnets

Teal paint pen

Yellow paint pen

White paint pen.

White chalk pen

Embossing ink

Ultra thick clear embossing powder

Baby duck embellishment

Día de los Muertos Sugar Skull Cards

Hi again Crafty Friends!

I have another seasonal project to share with you this week, and this time it's using these awesome sugar skull chipboard pieces! Turning them from this...

Into this...

I was torn as to what to do with them as I could think of several ideas to use them for, but in the end I decided to make them into this set of cards which could be used to send to friends or they could also be used for home decor display!  Sugar Skulls are traditionally displayed for Día de los Muertos or Day of the Dead which is celebrated on All Saints Day and All Souls Day, just after Halloween.  For me, I like to display them as Halloween decoration because I love the motif.  I also have some really cool fabric with this design which you will see later on in the post!

Decorate the Sugar Skulls

I started with these three sugar skulls, which as you can see, are three different sizes and they are sold separately so you can choose your favourite size or get one of each. After wiping them clean of the residue left by laser cutting, I gave them two coats of white gesso, to prep them for painting.

I then painted them with Dina Wakley Heavy Body acrylic paint in turquoise, magenta, and blackberry and left them to dry. Then decided I didn't like how dark the blackberry was so I painted over it with Jane Davenport Feather which is a lavender colour, and goes well with the pink and turquoise. I mention this in case you are confused by the sudden colour change in the photos!

After all the paint was dry, I used some Nuvo Drops in a variety of colours to decorate each skull and left them to dry for an hour or so - the bigger the drops, the longer they take to dry - so make sure they are completely dry before continuing.

The skulls needed a background as I wanted it to show through the eye sockets etc, so I used some Tim Holtz Metallic Jewels cardstock in Black, and then covered that in Crackle Paint for some extra texture, and again left it to dry.  After everything was dry, I glued the skulls to their crackled backgrounds.

Make the Card Bases

Initially I intended to make them into easel cards so they could be propped open and displayed, but due to the size of the largest skull and my design layout idea, the cards needed to be bigger.  So I went with my go-to card size of 5.5 x 8.5 inches which is one standard sized cardstock scored and folded in half. The cardstock colours I chose were black, ground coffee and wild lilac.

The card panel for each card is made from Tim Holtz Worn Wallpaper (Halloween edition from last year) cut to size and then I covered them with clear gesso, before painting them with liquid acrylics and metallic acrylic paints, and spritzed them with water to allow the paints to run and drip down the wallpaper panels.  I chose colours to match the skulls and the flowers you will see in the next step. Once everything was dry, I glued the wallpaper to each card base and set aside for later.

Make the Flowers

While that was all drying, I took some coloured cardstock from my stash - this is a lighter weight than I use for card bases and approx 180gsm - and used it to die cut lots of little flowers and leaves from the Tiny Tattered Florals die and the Tattered Florals bigz die by Tim Holtz.

The small flowers are assembled by rolling them around a quilling tool.

If you don't have this die set, you could make other paper flowers or use premade paper or fabric flowers.

You can see the size of these little flowers - they are teeny tiny!

Then I die cut the smallest of the flowers from the Bigz die and rolled them up, spritzing them with water, and left them to dry.  Once they were dry, I carefully unrolled them and used a small paintbrush or a pencil to shape the petals. I made quite a few flowers to make sure I didn't run out halfway through this project, besides it's always good to have extras!

Skulls Assemble!

Now that everything was dried and/or set, it was time to assemble the cards.  I started by gluing the skulls to the centre of each card base, leaving enough room top and bottom to add the flowers.

I used small roses for the eyes in the two smaller skulls (the turquoise and the purple) and I used die cut hearts covered in embossing powder for the eyes of the largest skull (the pink one).

I used another small die cut heart for the nose in the turquoise skull.  This was covered with white Nuvo drops.

Each skull then needed a floral crown so I took some time to arrange the flowers and leaves I had prepared earlier, before gluing them in place.  The remaining leaves and flowers were added to the bottom of each card.

There are no sentiments on the front of these cards because I wanted to use all the space for the skulls and flowers but also because it makes them more versatile plus I wanted to use them for display.  If you needed more protection for some of the 3D elements on the cards, they could also be framed up.

Hope you enjoyed this little tutorial and that you try making some sugar skulls yourself.

Elle
Empire of the Cat

PROJECT RECIPE:
GSL Cuts Sugar Skull 1 - Model C23A, Sugar Skull 2 - Model C23Q, Sugar Skull 3 - Model C23R
White gesso
Dina Wakley Media heavy body acrylic paints - turquoise, magenta,
blackberry
Jane Davenport - Feather acrylic (lavender)
Gina K - Onyx Black, Wild Lilac cardstock
Lawn Fawn - Ground Coffee cardstock
Coloured cardstock - 180gsm from stash
Tim Holtz Tiny Tattered Florals Thinlits die, Tattered Florals Bigz die, Worn Wallpaper,
Faber-Castell Polychromos pencils (shading on leaves)
Wow Embossing ink and One Hundred and One Embossing Powder
Heat gun for melting embossing powder
Nuvo Deluxe Adhesive, white Nuvo Drops

Where Witches Dwell

One of our favorite “new” shows is Chilling Adventures of Sabrina. I love whoever did the set designs for this magical show. There are layers and layers of colors and textures, I am often inspired by movie and television show sets. I’m always intrigued with the techniques they use to make such wonderful worlds. I also like how shows can teach useful life lessons if we are willing to listen. This is the inspiration for my current artwork.

1.  Cut Apart GSLC Haunted Houses, Little Witches, and Small Cobblestone pieces.

2.  Use Golden Dyke Brown Hue, Iridescent Stainless Steel (Course), Micaceous Iron Oxide acrylic paints to randomly add a base coat to each of the GSLC Haunted Houses.

3.  Use Golden Yellow Oxide, Raw Sienna, and Van Dyke Brown Hue acrylic paint and GSLC Cobblestone Small as a stencil and a paintbrush to add stone effect to parts of GSLC Haunted Houses.

4.  Use Golden Green Gold a paint brush and GSLC Decorative Stamp to add more details to other parts of the GSLC Haunted Houses.

5.  Use Quinacridone Burnt Orange, Crimson, and Nickel Azo Gold Acrylic Paints a Paint Brush and GSLC Brick Wall stamp to add more details to GSLC Haunted Houses.

6.  Use Weldbond to secure prepared acrylic skins to back of GSLC Haunted Houses to make them look like stained glass windows.

7.  Allow to fully dry, sandwiching in deli paper, and weighted down flat.
8.  Use Wow embossing Pad and Ranger Black Sparkle Embossing Powders and Heating Tool to add details to GSLC Small Witches.

9.  Once GSLC Haunted Houses are fully dry add Glossy Accents to windows using a toothpick to get into all the nooks and crannies.

10.                Once cured use Weldbond to glue GSLC Small Witches to GSLC Haunted Houses, be sure to dry flat and weighted down or use clamps to secure pieces in place.

11.                You now have a trio of tiny witch abodes ready to use for your Halloween decorations.
Some final thoughts.
I read an article from House Beautiful, titled “Netflix Has Hidden All Kinds of Easter Eggs in the Chilling Adventures of Sabrina House” where they interviewed Lisa Soper, the production designer for the show.  She said “We wanted to create an environment that hasn’t been seen before but feels natural…We tried to build our own mythos- “she goes on to explain that they wanted to show something that was timeless.” I too am trying to do the same thing with my artwork. I want to hide “Easter Eggs” in my artwork in the layers of textures and techniques I use and continue to hone in on.

 

 

 

 

 

Supplies:  Gypsy Soul Laser Cuts-Haunted Houses Set [D179I],Gypsy Soul Laser Cuts-Little Witches [D90RS],Gypsy Soul Laser Cuts-Cobblestone Small [D174R], Gypsy Soul Laser Cuts Foam Brick Wall and Decorative Stamps, Golden Van Dyke Brown Hue, Iridescent Stainless Steel (Course), Micaceous Iron Oxide, Yellow Oxide, Raw Sienna, Green Gold, Quinacridone Burnt Orange, Crimson, and Nickel Azo Gold Acrylic Paints, Paint Brush, Prepared Acrylic Skins, Weldbond, Ranger Black Sparkle Embossing Powder, Heat Tool, Wow Embossing Pad, Ranger Glossy Accent, Toothpick, Deli Paper, Clamps

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!

Snowman Snow Globe Greeting Card

Hey there friends and GSL fans. I know I've only just posted a Halloween project but I can't help myself but to get into the gorgeous Christmas Chippies! They are so fun and festive and I just love adding them to my projects!

This Snow Globe is part of a mini album set. I used the layering portions for this greeting card.

There are also snowflakes tucked into the flowers to fill in the arrangements and add extra texture.

Faux snow added to the top of the snow globe gives a frosty look.

The lower part of the snow globe was large enough for me to layer on a holiday ephemera sentiment.

Larger and smaller snowflakes creates a nice variety for the flower arrangements.

I selected the chipboards and wiped them down to prepare them for altering.

Each piece was covered in a coating of primer paste to block out the kraft color and to add a bit of texture.

The snowflakes were given a coat of sparkly embossing powder and the snow globe has a coat of flat white powder then all the pieces were heated to set the finish.

~Gypsy Soul Laser Cuts~Snow Globe Micro Mini Album, Snowflakes Shape Set.

Wishing everyone a happy and productive day : ) G