An Elegant Something-or-other

Last month when I made this Mermaid Silhouette Luminary, I had an extra frosted vase that demanded a little attention.

I grabbed a few supplies and ended up creating something very pretty and elegant in no time at all.

I simply painted pieces from the Mini Birds & Nests Shape Set, Scribble Frame Leaves, and a sentiment from the Word Tags Travel set, with a healthy layer of white acrylic paint. Then I added three white paper flowers.

Self adhesive foam squares provide a bit of depth to the layering of the different elements.

Now, I've called this a 'something-or-other' because you could use this as a candle holder, vase, center piece, and I'm sure a slew of other things. I think they'd be super pretty for weddings or showers, christenings, or even as a hostess gift. And while I love the all-white look, you could totally change this up to match your colour scheme.

Here's what you'll need to recreate this look:
• Mini Birds & Nests Shape Set
• Scribble Frame Leaves
• Word Tags Travel (coming soon)
• prepared glass vase
• paper flowers
• self adhesive foam squares
• glue

Note: if you'd like to see the vase being frosted, pop over to HERE to see last months tutorial

Fine Feathered Friends . . .

In addition to being on the

Education Team for Gypsy Soul Laser Cuts

I also design mini-books for

The Button Farm Club.

June 2020's mini theme is

Bird Waltz

with beautiful papers designed by

Blue Fern Studios.

So naturally I had to use some of

Gypsy Soul Laser Cuts

feathers.

So much detail!

I've created a video on decorating these beauties.

In the video you'll see a slightly different

variation of these as they were created specifically for

The Button Farm Club.

However, the process is the same.

Click this link to see how I paint the feathers:

Gypsy Soul Laser Cuts feathers.

You can see all the 

Gypsy Soul Laser Cut feathers offered here:

Gypsy Soul Laser Cuts Feathers

Christmas in.....June?

This year I'm hoping to be prepared for Halloween and Christmas! I have a huge collection of scraps and decided to use one of them with the Gypsy Soul Laser Cuts "Layered Wire Frame Tulip".

I almost never use embossing powder, but should - it's really easy and adds so much.  I applied VersaMark on the fronts of those two pieces.

I put the solid frame face down in the green glitter and made sure the entire piece of chipboard was covered in glitter.  In a separate container I did the same thing with the red glitter and the top piece of the frame.

Then I used a heat gun to set the glitter.

This scrap of paper is an old one from my stash, Making Memories, but the design fits perfectly.

I used Stampin' Up Dimensionals on the four backside corners of the fancy front of the frame to pop it up a little and also used bling from Queen & Copany to give it a little more surface to adhere to.

This is the front of my Christmas card. The frame fits perfectly on the 5x5 card base. I'm using it as a card, but it would be beautiful inside a frame or as the front of a mini album.

Turn Back Time - Little Niche Pocket Watch

Hi again,

It's Elle here from Empire of the Cat and today I am sharing this little pocket watch niche which I made for GSL this month.

Inspiration

I was looking at this little pocket watch and thinking about time, and then that Cher song popped into my head - you know the one! And so I started thinking about turning back time, literally turning it, and so I decided that this little project would have a front and a back.

GSL Products Used

Little Niche Pocket Watch D64H
Miniature Bookplates Shape Set D70A 2 bookplates
Steampunk Lightbulb Set D20D some cogs and 1 clock hand
Gears Shape Set BB13some cogs

Overview of Process

So firstly find a photo that will fit inside the niche.  I am using photos from this Prima Vintage Photobooth sticker set.



Then decide what kind of embellishments you want to use on your pocket watch.  I decided to use some cogs from a couple of GSL sets that I had been using recently and also two of these little bookplates.



When you have all your pieces ready, it's time to cover them all in black gesso.



I'm painting both sides of everything because for this project both sides will be seen!



At this point your niche is still flat and unassembled which makes it easier to insert the photograph sticker.  These stickers are slightly bigger than the niche size so carefully trim off the excess with a scalpel or craft knife.  Once you have the photo stuck down inside, you can assemble the niche using some craft glue.



In this project, the back of the niche also gets its own photo.  As I hinted above, this is all about turning back time and so these two photos (probably different people lol) are going to symbolize the past and the present.  If you also want to create this idea of past and present, make sure to choose two suitable photos.



To give the photo sticker a more vintage feel, I used a Tombow ABT marker and a waterbrush around the edges.  You could also use Distress markers, watercolour or other water soluble markers or pencils.



Repeat this process on the back photo.



As the insides of the niche are painted with black gesso, which makes it quite dark inside, I decided to line the sides with silver mirror cardstock to allow the light to bounce around in there. Once that was in place, I gave the photo a coat of Deco Art Liquid Glass to also capture more light and reflection. Put this aside to dry while you work on the embossing.



To make the plaques for the back and front, I used some black cardstock, and these small word stickers from an old Prima sticker set.  I then painted around them with black fluid acrylic to make the cardstock as dark as the stickers.



I heat embossed all the little doo dads using Wow embossing ink and the Wow Weathered Gold embossing powder from Seth Apter.



Now that the Liquid Glass is dry, glue the niche onto the pocket watch frame using craft glue or the glue of your choice.  It's now time to decorate, so let's start with the back.  I use Deco Art Metallic Lustre Black Shimmer wax and just rub it in to the back with my fingers.



On the front, I again used my fingers to apply some gold paint to the body of the frame, mostly around the outsides as the middle will be covered up.



Then I applied the same gold paint around the edges quite thickly as shown below.



Then I used the same process on the back of the pocket watch, using silver this time.



Next, I grabbed the black card with the word stickers on it, and glued them to the bookplates that I am using as plaques.  I found some brads in my stash that were just the right size to add to the plaques and the clock hand.



Now all the pieces were ready to glue into place, starting with the front and then moving on to the back pieces.



Line the two plaques (bookplates) up so that they meet at the bottom and then pop some glue in between and hold them together till they stick.  You don't have to do this but it makes sure that nothing is overhanging from the other side and it looks better overall.



Here's a look at the shine from the Liquid Glass coating on the photo.



For some extra interest, I used some thin bronze wire and wrapped it around the top of the pocket watch.  This step is optional.



The final step was to twist the end of the wire into a loop to hang my pocket watch from, but this niche does come with a hanging device which you can see glued onto the back in the photo below.  If you don't have wire, you could use metallic thread, linen thread, twine, hemp cord etc.



And the pocket watch niche is complete.

Thoughts

One side shows the couple in their youth in the forever past, and the other side shows them many years later in the always present. This little niche would be on display in their home, and all they need to do to turn back time is turn the pocket watch to the other side.

Thanks for making it all the way to the end. Let me know what you think in the comments!

Project Recipe:

Little Niche Pocket Watch D64H
Miniature Bookplates Shape Set D70A (2 bookplates used)
Steampunk Lightbulb Set D20D (some cogs and 1 clock hand used)
Gears Shape Set BB13 (some cogs used)
Black gesso
Nuvo Deluxe Adhesive
Prima Vintage Photobooth stickers, Archivist stickers
Deco Art Fluid Acrylics - Gold, Silver, Black, Liquid Glass, Metallic Lustre Black Shimmer wax
Tombow ABT marker
Waterbrush
Wow embossing ink, Weathered Gold embossing powder
From Stash:  black card, brads, wire, wire cutters

I Just Called...-A Peek-a-Boo-Project

I grew up in a home without a television or a phone and had to rely on my creativity to keep me company as we lived four miles from the nearest town. There were children who lived within walking distance and we would often get together to ride bikes, play in the creek building dams, go sled riding, build forts or go a’walkin. The neighbor lady Mable had small beauty shoppe through the garage and passed the screened in porch. She had a rotary phone on a party line that she would allow us to use in case of emergencies. It was a simpler time, we joked we were the Walton’s or Little House on the Prairie the few shows we could watch if we went to a friends house or up to my Aunt Blanche and Uncle Lester’s house some Sunday evenings when my parents and them would play 500 Rummy or High, Low, Jack card games and we’d get to eat snacks in the living room watching tv.  I still have  Mabel’s Rotary Phone and used in in several of my apartments when I moved to Maryland. This is the inspiration for this instillation.

 

1.  Take apart all GSLC products you will be using.

2.  Distress a page of Graphic 45 Communique Paper using Distress Ink-Vintage Photo, Blendable Dye Ink Acorn, Poppy, and Garden Patina and a Blending Tool.

 

3.  Cut our 4 squares for each side of the coaster making them slightly smaller so they will create a quiltlike grid on them.

4.  Paint:  Gypsy Soul Laser Cuts-4 Inch Trading Coasters with Acrylic Paints in Brown, Tan, and Red Tones using a dry brush technique. Remember Random is our desired effect.

5.  Once coasters are dry glue on the Graphic 45 Communique Squares you prepared earlier using Weldbond.

6.  After they have dried completely distress coasters using sandpaper blocks making sure edges are smooth.

7.  Varnish with a mixture of Matte Gel Varnish Medium and Diarylide Yellow acrylic paint.

8.  To further the patina randomly add Teach Acrylic Paint to the coasters.

9.  Use Allure Embossing Powders of your choosing a Versa Mark Ink Pad and a Heating Tool to prepare the Gypsy Soul Laser Cuts-Vintage Phones and Gypsy Soul Laser Cuts-Eyeglasses Shape Set.

10.                Once satisfied with the look and they have cooled assemble your GSLC 4 Inch Coaster gluing with Weldbond.

11.                Weight down with something heavy to assure all components will be held securely in place.

12.                A final step is to seal everything with Matte Gel Varnish Medium, if you wish them to be Waterproof and used as coaster you must add further layer of varnish to make them more durable.

 

 

Some Final Thoughts.

Summertime for me is a time of remembering and catching up with old friends, it was a time for me to travel when I was younger now, I use it mostly to restock for my Crooked Tree cottage Creations Business. My style has been described as vintage retro, urban decay, creepy cool, ugly unique or glamorously gross. I love the nostalgia of bygone days and repurposing found or disregarded objects. Ever since we moved from landlines to mobile phones I must admit that I have become a texter preferring the quiet calm of a quick check in, but nothing will ever replace the phone call from a dear faraway friend to say, “ I just called to say I’ve been thinking of you!!”

 

 

 

 Supplies:  Gypsy Soul Laser Cuts-4 Inch Trading Coasters, Gypsy Soul Laser Cuts-Vintage Phones, Gypsy Soul Laser Cuts-Eyeglasses Shape Set, Graphic 45 Communique Paper, Scissors, Distress Ink-Vintage Photo, Blendable Dye Ink Acorn, Poppy, and Garden Patina, Blending Tool, Acrylic Paint in Brown, Tan, and Red Tones, Diarylide Yellow, Teal, Weldbond, Scissors, Paintbrush, Matte Gel Varnish Medium, Sandpaper Blocks, Allure Embossing Powders of your choosing, Versa Mark Ink Pad, Heating Tool,

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!