Haberdashery Counter

It feels like a hot minute since I've made a miniature scene but when I got my hands on the Gypsy Soul Laser Cuts Shop Counter I was inspired to fill it up with a slew of wee things.

I decided to go with sewing and knitting bits and bobs... a haberdashery!

Isn't that a wonderful word?! In America a haberdashery sells men's clothing, but in the UK it is a shop that sells notions and other small items for sewing and making.

I've filled my counter with yarn and fabic, patterns buttons, a thimble and spools of thread. A mix of life sized and miniature items is fun visually (and I like to think that fairies would find full sized thimbles extremely useful).

I've used a 1 inch Sized Faux Book Box and Suitcase as display boxes for my miniature buttons, skeins of yarn and measuring tape.

If you'd like to see how I created this piece and the minis I've made a video HERE. But don't feel limited to creating a haberdashery! Create something that reflects you and what you love. Fishing and hunting supplies, candy shop, hardware store, jewelry store... you name it!

Here are all the bits I used to create this particular counter.

Store Counter (COMING SOON)

1 inch Sized Faux Book Box
Suitcase 1.6 Inch

Wooden beads

Graphic 45 Floral Shoppe paper
Sewing & Such Collage Sheet

Buttons
1/8" wooden dowel
Fabric

Craft Yarn/Thread
Cardboard
Mini Embellishments

beautiful authentic life...a journal

As with most of the nation, these days I find myself sequestered at home. Although this creates a mixed bag of emotions, I find myself appreciating the little things I see outside my window. This is the inspiration behind today's project for Gypsy Soul Laser Cuts. I have created a tribute to the emergence of spring in the form of a small journal.

  I begin with the GSLC mini house album.
This set contains six small house shaped chipboard pieces.
 
Next, using collage medium as an adhesive, I covered one side of each house with old dictionary paper. When completely dry, I cut any overhanging edges with an exacto knife, then adhered the paper to the back sides of the houses in the same manner.
Each papered side is coated with a layer of clear gesso. After the gesso is dry, it is time to begin adding details. I start with Paper Artsy fresco finish paints. Using the dry brush menthod, venice blue is applied leaving areas of the dictionary text to show through. Wild grass is painted along the bottom of each of the houses. Each of the pieces is painted on both sides, allowing time to dry in between layers.

While the painted pieces are drying, I die cut various wildflower shapes from watercolor paper. These pieces are then colored with a water brush and distress inks. 

The flowers are added to the different pages using collage medium.

Using a foam sponge, I lightly apply paint to each of the pages using a rays stencil to create the look of sun shining down upon the beautiful scenes. I make sure to keep the paint light so that it does not overpower the appearance of sky and also allows that dictionary pages to show through.

When the paint is dry I add various rub on words to each panel.

Following are some close-ups pictures of the journal.

I hope that you all are managing alright through these trying times. 

I look forward to the days when we will be able to gather once again, giving hugs to those we love.

Thanks you so much for taking the time to stop by today, 

I truly appreciate it.

~Ann

 xxx

Gypsy Soul Laser Cuts used:

mini house album

Make these easy colorful tags to add to your projects

When most of the world is sheltering in place during the Coronavirus Pandemic, many artists and crafters are basking in creative time. I, however, am having the opposite experience.

Because of a plethora of personal reasons, I have had little creative time. Plus, when I finally do get time to head up to the art studio, I either am too tired, or am facing a massive creative block.

To counteract this challenge, I decided to instead take on an easy project and make some embellishments.

I began by painting Gypsy Soul's new Word Tags. Paint the chipboard as lightly as possible, so as not to cover up the engraved words. Immediately after painting each tag, I then wiped it with a baby wipe.

After drying the tags with the heat gun, I drew around the edges of each tag with an embossing pen. I then added Seth Apter's Eclipse Baked Texture and activated with a heat gun.

I coiled some black wire around a pencil to make a jump ring and then threaded three of the tags onto it.

In a case of serendipity, I discovered that the tags were the perfect addition to finish a mixed media page that had been sitting in the studio for several months.
-Betsy

Great Stuff

Gypsy Soul Word Tags - Coming Soon!
Paper Artsy Blue Lagoon
Paper Artsy Butter
Paper Artsy Magic Moss
Embossing Pen
Seth Apter Baked Texture Eclipse Embossing Powder
Black wire

Couture

In their nearly 100 paper lines, Graphic 45 features about 20 women - beautiful and strong women. One of my favorites is "Couture" which features Coco Chanel. With her trademark suits and little black dress, fashion designer Coco Chanel created timeless designs that are still popular today. But do you know that her mother commited suicide when Coco was twelve, and her father put her in an orphanage where the nuns taught her to sew? It took a strong woman to achieve that!

The Gypsy Soul Laser 4 x 5 fold in album was the perfect size for this project.  

"A girl should be two things: classy and fabulous": Coco Chanel

The edges the book, all the pages and the Gypsy Soul Laser Cuts were painted with this  metallic powder blue gilding polish:   

 

"Fashion changes, but style endures": Coco Chanel

The finished album:

Fashionistas

The "A" side of the album:

 

"In order to be irreplaceable one must always be different": Coco Chanel

Leafy medallions

Mandala 1

"Fashion fades, only style remains the same": Coco Chanel

The "B" side of the album:

Tudor Rose Singles

Feathery Flourishes

"Fashion is not something that exists in dresses only. Fashion is in the sky, in the street. Fasion has to do with ideas, the way we live, what is happening": Coco Chanel

A Book of Shells - Seahorse Book Box

Today I have a small beach-themed faux book box that I thought I would make look more real and less faux by giving it textured pages.  I'm going to be using the ATC size faux book box chipboard set and for decoration, the ATC coin covers - under the sea edition.  This is a quick project that requires minimum supplies as I will just be decorating the box using the chipboard and some paint.  I used Paperartsy Fresco paints but you could use any paints you have, though bear in mind that your result might vary if you do.  Here's the end result...

First of all, I assembled the box using collage medium on the box itself, and masking tape on the wraparound cover.  This cover consists of the front cover and the spine, which need to be taped to each other.

Then I covered all of it with white gesso, and once that was dry, I applied a thin layer (1-2mm is fine) of texture paste.  DO NOT leave it to dry!  It needs to be soft for the next step!

To make the faux book look like it has pages, I drag this texture brush through the texture paste before it dries.  This brush is part of a set, and this particular one has teeth that are just the right width apart for the effect I am trying to achieve.  If you don't have a similar brush you could use toothpicks or skewers taped together to make a "comb" or even an actual comb!  After doing all three sides, I left it to dry.

Once the texture paste is dry, it looks like this. Give a little light sanding to get any of the rough or loose bits off.  If you just have a few loose bits of texture paste, you should be able to brush them off with just your fingers.

To decorate my book cover, I chose two of the Under the Sea Coin Covers that I thought would look good together - the seahorse and the coral.  

I painted both with white gesso.  I could have done all my gesso-ing at the same time but I hadn't decided on my decoration at that time.

Using my Fresco paint, I painted the inside of the box in Sand as part of my beach theme and the texture paste pages with Snowflake (white).

For the outside of the box and cover, I chose three colours - Aqua Duck Egg, Aquamarine and Beach Hut and sponged them on using an old paper towel.  Then I started painting the coral and seahorse chipboards.  You can see the coral already painted, unfortunately I don't have a photo of the actual painting of these elements.  I was out of Coral paint so I used Cherry Red and Banana mixed together which resulted in this reasonably close Coral colour.

For the inside cover I used a darker colour called Inky Pool to paint a beachy wood plank effect to fit with my theme.

I attached the cover to the box using Collage Medium and held it in place until it was dry to ensure it didn't move as I wanted my cover to close properly.

I painted the seahorse using Tangerine Twist and Bougainvillea paint colours, and Inky Pool again on the frames.  Then I used more Collage Medium to attach both coin covers to the front of my "book".

And the book box was complete!  I told you it was quick!  Here's another view of those textured "pages".

So what to do with a book box like this?  Well maybe you use it to keep some of your special shells collected from a favourite vacation or local beach like I have done here.

Or you could send this to a friend or loved one as a memory of a fun holiday you had together, perhaps add a rolled up note stuck in a tiny bottle?

I hope you enjoyed this project and that you find inspiration to create your own.  Please let me know in the comments.

Till next time,

Collect beautiful moments and memories :)

Elle

Empire of the Cat

PROJECT RECIPE:

ATC size faux book box BD12T, Trading coins covers under the sea C10V
White gesso
Collage Medium
Chalk Paints
Texture paste
Masking Tape
Texture Brushes