Dream Catcher Art Journal Page

Hi everyone, and welcome! Today I want to share another art journal page using the Gypsy Soul Laser Cuts Dreamcatcher 2 chipboard set.  When I think of dreams, I seem to think in vivid color and lots of sparkly stuff.  So, naturally, I decided to share my gold foiling technique that I used on both my background and on the chipboard.  And as for the glitter, I know what you are thinking.  You are thinking, "Oh no, not glitter.  I will have that stuff everywhere1!"  Well, I have another technique to share that will keep  you from wearing your glitter, or in this case, sparkly mica, for the next week.  So, scroll on down and check out the step-by-step tutorial to see how!

Cover both pages with an uneven coat of white gesso using a silicone spatula, leaving some space uncovered.  Let gesso dry.

Brush  Deep Waters metallic paint over background.  Spritz with water to thin and spread paint.  Before paint dries, remove excess with damp baby wipe.

(NOTE:  You can see how dark the paint is where the page has no gesso because it sucked the paint right into its fibers.)

Use baby wipe to pick up the Deep Waters and dab the paint through the Well Rounded stencil to add texture to the background.  You can remove some of the stenciling before the paint dries for a more muted and grungy look.  Dry well.

Do the same thing with Coral-Teal Opal Magic paint through another section of the same stencil.

I used a foam blending tool to stencil the Emerald Green Metallique paint through a different part of the stencil.

I used the Steampunk Copper Metallic paint with a foam blending tool to dab the color onto the words and dream catcher.  Using a dabbing motion adds texture to the chipboard and even gives the slight appearance of hammered metal. 

For a bit of color variation on the feathers, I dabbed the Emerald Green lightly over them.

I used the Tomboy mono adhesive (white) glue to adhere splotches of the gold foil.  This is not gold leafing.  Gold foil is applied to a clear carrier sheet, and when it touches sticky glue, the gold comes off and leaves the carrier sheet.  I used a cheap brush to apply random splotches to my background and let the glue dry.  This particular glue is perfect for this application because it drys sticky.

I used the same technique to apply the glue to my dreamcatcher.  You can see the gold is coming off the clear carrier sheet, but you can continue using it until there is nothing left on the sheet.

I also added some of the gold foil to the top of the dreamcatcher, using a new piece of the sheet for better coverage.

Next, I adhered all of my chipboard pieces to my art journal pages, as shown.  I let these dry well before continuing so I wouldn't accidentally move them around.  Then I took the journal outside to give it a good spray with a clear gloss acrylic coating.  This covered any of the sticky glue that may not have been covered with the foil, and protects the pages, as well.

Now for the addition of glitter.  I prefer to mix my glitter in a puddle of clear drying glue.  I am using Mica Delights, which is actually mica particles that resemble glitter and are about the same size.  I mixed copper and gold together for a more antiqued look.

I then picked up small blobs of the glue mixture and carefully dropped it into the openings in each feather.

Before the glue mixture dried, I picked up the tiniest amount of the sapphire mica and sprinkled gently over the glue sections.  I wanted just a hint of the blue.  I also glued dew drops to the dreamcatcher and feathers, as well as a few more colorful ones randomly on the page.

Here is a closer look at the dried glue inside the feathers.

And here are closer pictures of the two pages.

Although I added  Simple Feathers in my supply list below, I would have used them if I had been working in a bigger art journal.  My words were large enough to fill up the pages, but I wanted to point them out in case you work in a larger size and can't think of what to add to your project to make it all come together.  

Supplies Used:

GSL Dreamcatcher 2

GSL 10 Words

GSL Simple Feathers (not used on this journal page)

TCW 384s Mini Well Rounded stencil

Dina Wakley white gesso

Prima Art Alchemy acrylic paints

  Deep Waters Metallique

  Emerald Green Metallique

  Steampunk Copper Metallique

  Coral-Teal Opal Magic

Tombow Mono Multi Liquid Glue 

Paper Studio Clear Glue Pen

US Art Quest Mica Delights

  Gold

  Copper

  Sapphire

Robin's Nest Dew Drops

  Light Vanilla

  Multi colors

Rub-On Foiling Paper

Silicone spatula

Assorted brushes

Paper piercer tool or tooth pick
Clear Acrylic Spray Sealer (Hobby Lobby)

I love how this turned out.  I know I may sound like a broken record when I say that chipboard is fabulous to use for dimension without all the bulk, and it is a perfect addition to art journals, as well as many other uses.

I hope I've inspired you to make something with laser cut chipboard and share what you make!

Have a wonderful rest of the week!

Barbara xo

A general card for lots of occasions

Hi everyone, Heather here again today with a card that can be used for almost anything. The colours are a bit feminine, but  these could be changed to make it more masculine. Also I have to admit that I forgot to take the pictures of the lovely Gslcuts items that I have used. I just saw the relevant pieces and began putting them together before I remembered that I needed some photos, so just to make life different I am going to list the items that I have used at the beginning rather than the end, then you will be able to see for yourselves what the original items look like.
Gsl items used:
Chicken wire Large (for the background)
Flourished frame Valerie square
10 words
Word elements 1 ssmall
other items used:
ready made flowers
pearl spray
backing paper (from my stash
Prima papers Zephyr paper
Carina Gardner watercolour floral paper"
8" x 8" scalloped greeting card

First of all I decided on the size of card  and chose an 8" x 8" scalloped card. I cut a piece of the floral paper to measure 7 5/8( seven and five eigth inches square), this just fits within the scalloped edge of the card and leaves a small border on the fold of the card, I cut some of the chicken wire to fit diagonally onto the  paper. I used a corner punch to cut two corners on the flowered paper, so that they fitted with the corners on the card

Now I come to the centre piece of my card and I used the flourished frame Valerie square for this

As you can see I covered the frame with white gesso then white paint, I used the Prima Zephyr paper for the back of the frame and as the paper is predominantly yellow I thought that maybe yellow roses would look nice in two corners. The other two corners I used believe and dream from the small word elements 1 and backed both these with the Prima Zephyr paper. When I looked at this again I decided that the yellow roses didn't  look quite right with the  amount of pink that was on the background paper, so I changed the yellow roses and replaced them with pink ones.

I also had a few wire pieces with pearls on the end,and I thought that these would look nice behind the roses, so I pulled out one length of wire which had three pearls on the end and I glued the rose to it, then glued these into two corners I chose the live and laugh from the 10 words in the store to use in the centre of the frame but I had lost the love word, so I used one of my dies and ran it through my cutting machine on a spare piece of chipboard. It didn't cut through completely but it left enough mark for me to fussy cut  it out and use it with the live and laugh in the middle.

Love and Cherish cards set with Alicia Barry

Today I have created a sweet card set using stackable labels, words and leaves from Gypsy Soul Laser Cuts. I started with some vintage style background papers from the same collection, but in two different colour schemes. This means that they will co-ordinate together, but each stands alone as a piece of art.

 I wanted to create layers and dimension on the cards along with some texture, so to create this I have treated each chipboard layer with a different technique. The first layer of the Stackable Labels Shape Set pieces are inked with brown distress ink. This creates a matt finish that is fairly subtle. (tip: if you want to create a more vibrant colour effect using ink, paint the piece with gesso first).

The next layer is the plain label centre. For this I covered the piece in the same patterned paper as the background. This helps to create a cohesive flow across the project.

The next layer is the word from the 10 Words set. For this I used dimensional pearlescent paint which I painted on directly using the nozzle to ensure complete coverage. I kept the paint fairly think, and by pushing it around with the nozzle, I was able to create a great textured finish, along with the shimmer of the paint.

 The final layer was the Skeleton Leaves. This set is great value, as you can use the leaves as a full branch as seen, or separate them for a bunch of individual leaves. These were done as  a combination of the other techniques. First I applied ink to give some background coverage. I then added dimensional paint in two different shades, except this time I swiped it on with my finger to achieve a more variegated look. Finally I added some clear glitter glue across the top, before slightly shaping each piece and adhering to the card. You'll notice that the rest of the card design is deceptively simple allowing the eye to focus on the chipboard cluster which I created off centre to make interesting use of the residual negative space.

Supplies used:

Stackable Labels Shape Set

10 Words

Skeleton Leaves 2

Early for Christmas

Hello everyone, I have started to make my Christmas cards so I decided to make one using
Gypsy soul laser cuts goodies as you can see below.

First of all I decided on the design of the card and which items to use. I decided on these small Christmas charms, which will be coming to the store very soon, and the words from 10 words which fitted into the squares perfectly.

I decided to cover the charms with patterned paper rather than just paint them, so I got some Christmassy paper from my stash, cut pieces slightly larger than the charms, stuck the charm to the back of the paper and filed the edges for a perfect fit.

I did this with three of the charms on both sides then painted round the outside of the edges with red paint because the charms are quite thick and brown. 

I then threaded twine through the holes in the charms and tied a bow round the top, arranging the charms to hang in different places.

I thought that the plain card looked a bit bland to add the charms to so I embossed a piece of card the same size as the original which is 7 x 5 inches, using creative expressions A4 embossing folder, contemporary poinsettias and stuck this onto the card.

I stuck the back of the ribbon near the top left hand side of the card so  that the ends of  the twine came to the top, then I started on the words side.

I chose hope, love and joy because I thought that these were suitable for Christmas, but of course you can use any words that you want to, and I painted them red, then left to dry. I then cut three pieces of white card measuring 2 x 2 inches each and stuck these to a slightly larger square of red card with scalloped edges, so that the scalloped edge just shows round the outside. Mine measured 2 1/4 inch square and these just fitted down the length of the card nicely.

I added two pieces of 2mm thick double sided tape to  the back of the card, but before I stuck this to the main card I stuck the words onto the white front, then I stuck the three squares with the words on down the right hand side of the front of the card, and that is the card finished.

The little Christmas charms can be put onto a Christmas tree as they are covered both front and back with the patterned paper and hang loose from the card, or you could use one large bauble on the left hand side, which again could be used for a decoration.

I think that I will be doing other variations of this card as there are so many Gypsy Soul laser cut items that can be used, and I hope that I have inspired some of you to have a go and make a similar card for that special someone.

Gypsy Soul Laser Items used:

Christmas charms (coming soon)

10 words 

Love and Hope

Hi GSL folks, Cherry Here today.  I can't believe the holidays have come and gone.  Every year it happens faster and faster doesn't it?   My project today is a pretty card full of dimension.  I started off with the texture sheets in diamonds.  I brushed on some pewter Faber Castel wax to areas of it and adhered it to my background papers. 

 I wrapped my seam bindings around the whole card and tied my ribbons to the left side of card.  I added flowers and a gorgeous pine tree from the Pine Tree Shape Set.  I covered it in faux snow. 

 See how you can see peek a boo images through the diamonds...love it!!!

 I added some fun sentiments to my winter scene....using the 10 Words.

also added some birds from the Mini Birds & Nests Shape Set.

I added more faux snow here and there along with some vintage buttons for interest.  Now my Winter scene is complete!

I just love how it turned out!  It would make a lovely neutral holiday card or a pretty winter card!!!  thanks for visiting!  Cherry

Gypsy Soul Laser Cuts supplies used

Texture Sheet Diamonds

Pine Tree Shape Set

10 words

Mini Birds & Nests Shape Set

Santa's List

Hi Gypsy Laser peeps!  Cherry here today with another guest post.  I have had so much fun playing with all these wonderful products.  Today I have a sweet little shadowbox type house that I altered.  Here it is all complete!

I loved playing with this adorable little house.  I painted it red and than assembled it.  

It was so easy to put together and is very sturdy. I used Beacon's glue to assemble.  It made the perfect home for my Santa whom I nestled behind a window.

I layered my main image and added dimension using Victorian Corners 2,  Snowflake Shape Set,  and this gorgeous Believe sentiment.  A little bottle brush tree was added along with some pretty ribbons and doodads to the roof.

  Also added were some icicles from the Winter Shape Set. 

Tinsel was added along with a snowflake border also from the Winter set.

Other than that a light dusting of faux snow was added and my Santa House was complete!  Hope you enjoy!  Hugs, Cherry

Gypsy Soul Laser Cuts Products- 

House Shrine Box

Windows 6 panel 

Victorian Corners 2

Snowflake Shape Set 

10 Words

Winter Shape Set