The Baroness of the Bramble Patch-A Peek-a-Boo Project

This is Jon David Lowe for Gypsy Soul Laser Cuts, July in the farmland and foothills of rural Pennsylvania is black raspberry pickin' season and gardens are full of fresh vegetables. It was a also the time in my youth that I read 53 books in one summer. One that I remember vividly is "The Secret Garden" by Frances Hodgson Burnett and later "The Secret Life of Bees" and "The Mermaid Chair" by Sue Monk Kidd. I'm sad to say that I have lost my love of reading. These are the inspirations of this artwork.

1.  Gather Supplies-I did not use Creepy Tree 5 Inch.

2.   Use Cosmic Shimmer Lava Paste by adding  Chili Powder, Nutmeg, and Green and Gold Mica Powders Adding Just Enough Water to Keep Paint Like Consistency.

3.  Spread on Upper Portion of GSLC Arch Top Triptych 8 Inch Frame With a Small Plastic Palette Knife.

4.  Cure With a Heating Tool.

5.  Use TH Rusty Hinge Distress Stain Distress Stains to add Patina to Cured Frames Using a Paintbrush.

6.  Look for Interesting Magazine Pictures to Use as Focal Points-I Found a Woman's Face and an Arched Passageway.

7.  Glue Arch Passageway to Top Portion of Back of GSLC Arch and  Image of Woman Face on Bottom Portion with Weldbond.

8.  Attach Front Frame to Back Portion of GSLC Arch Triptych with Weldbond and Secure with Clasps.

9.  I am Using GSLC Honeycomb & Queen Bees ATC Sized, GSLC Acorn Border Set, and GSLC Queen Anne's Lace, I Painted for a Previous Project Using a Variety of Acrylic Paints and Fussy Cut Flowers and Butterflies to Create a Border Around  Woman's Face.

10.                I Used, DecoArt One Step Crackle Finish and DecoArt Triple Thick Gloss Glaze to Layer my Border.

11.                Make a wash Out of Diluted, Gray and Quinacridone Nickel Azo Gold Acrylic Paint.

12.                Add Clear Stickers of Birds, Butterflies and Flowers with DecoArt Triple Thick Gloss Glaze.

13.                When Fully Dry use Tweezers to  Glue Flat Back Rhinestone Jewels to Border Using Weldbond.

Some Final Thoughts.

All of the books I mentioned have strong main female characters as does July in America. One of the symbols of our nation is the Statue of Liberty, representing Freedom and Justice. For this reason I always thought July was named after a woman but it was not. July was named after Julius Cesar but for me it will always have a different meaning and origin story. The Image on this art piece pays homage to all of these strong women.

 My momma was one of the strongest women I knew but was she humble in her demure but to us she was queen of our homestead. They say a baroness is the lowest of five noble classes so that would make my momma, the  baroness of our bramble patch. She was a master gardener and knew all the best raspberry patches, she even remembered that next to Luther's orchard, closest to yellow delicious tree, were a rare white raspberry bush, I didn't have the heart to tell her I thought they were more of a yellow variety.

 She also said she heard there were red raspberry that grew on the dirt farm road just past our little white church on the hill,  heading towards Touchshay's that is  mentioned in Waiting For Robins. She said they would be found near the largest abounded barn in the lowlands but to be extra careful because the fields would be overgrown, and rattlers and copperheads love to bask in the early morning sun. if we were successful in our berry picking we could have a patriotic cobbler complete with red white and blue raspberries.

 "It  was the sweetest, most mysterious-looking place any one could imagine. The high wall which shut it in were covered with leafless stems of climbing poses, which were so thick they were matted together."  The Secret Garden

 "Most People don't have any idea about all the complicated life  going on inside a hive. Bee have a secret life we don't know anything about." The Secret Life of Bees

 "You can go other places, all right-you can live on the other side of the world, but you can't ever leave home"

The Mermaid Chair

Supplies:  GSLC Honeycomb & Queen Bees ATC Sized, GSLC Acorn Border Set, GSLC Queen Anne's Lace, GSLC Arch Top Triptych 8 Inch, Cosmic Shimmer Lava Paste, Chili Powder, Nutmeg, Gold and Green Mica Powder, Small Plastic Palette Knife, Heating Tool, TH Rusty Hinge Distress Stain, Paintbrush, Magazine Pictures, Scissors, Weldbond, DecoArt One Step Crackle Finish, DecoArt Triple Thick Gloss Glaze, Glossy Accent Gloss Finish, Fussy Cut Flowers and Butterflies, Acrylic Paint Gray and Quinacridone Nickel Azo Gold, Spray Bottle of Water, Paintbrush, Clear Stickers of Birds, Butterflies and Flowers, Tweezers, Flat Back Rhinestone Jewels

     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!

Screen Door is Always Open-A Peek-a-Boo Project

This is Jon David Lowe for Gypsy  Soul Laser Cuts, as I stated in my last post I grew up in Pennsylvania in the countryside. Our family homestead was sold in 2021 after the passing of my mum. Before I moved in our condo, I had a screen door from the property that was rescued from the woodshed before it was torn down in 2019. All that remains is a photograph of my grandfather sitting on the front porch of their humble home with that screen door behind him. Memories linger on long after the properties or the touchstone keepsakes have departed. My momma had an open door policy, but it wasn't known as that back in day. They are the inspiration for this artwork.

1.  Gather your supplies.

2.  Use a variety of acrylic paints to paint GSLC Acorn Border Set, GSLC Queen Anne's Lace, GSLC Fern Fronds, and GSLC Honeycomb & Bees Small.

3.  Cut a piece of Bookboard, for the Section of  Small Vintage Screen Door Reproduction you Will be Using.

4.  Find a Magazine Picture you find Pleasing.

5.  Use a Sanding Block to Add Patina and Scratches.

6.  Use TH Distress Stain to Highlight Areas you Have Distressed.

7.  Decide on How you Would Like to Arrange Your GSLC Painted Pieces.

8.  Make Transparency Copies of Stained Glasses you Will Use for Top Panels of Small Vintage Screen Door Reproduction and a Stain Glass Pattern for the Larger Portion.

9.  Use Golden Heavy Gel Matte to Attach GSLC Painted Pieces.

10.                Use Double Sided Tape to Attach Prepared Pieces to the Small Vintage Screen Door Reproduction.

Some Final Thoughts.

A screen door on a porch seems so enchanting to me. The screen door on my parents back porch was well worn and often left open much to my momma's chagrining. You could hear her calling "Close that door, were you born in a barn? You'll let the flies in!"

Strange the memories that stick, the childhood embarrassments of being from the wrong side of the tracks or not as affluent as those living in the towns, become the badges of grace and gratitude in our older years. I'm thankful for my upbringing and the values I grew up knowing.

 My momma always said anyone was welcome into our home as long as they did not mind the mess. We were not fancy people and never ones to try to impress our neighbors. My parents never had a credit card, if we didn't have cash to pay for it we didn't need it.

Our garden was not planted just for us was always plenty to share, our kohlrabi, rhubarb patch, and beets were favorite of many who would stop by. Growing up going to a small Baptist Church-where mom was on the flower committee, it was with pride that we would carry the wildflower mixed bouquets up the alters before anyone arrived and we always ask who were gonna give the flowers to after the service.  Momma was certain our bouquets were prettier than those who bought them from a florist. If were ever given a casserole or a pie we never returned the dish empty but always  added a treat of our own. It was the philosophy of "leaving it better than you found it, if you can't say something nice don't say anything at all, and please and thank you."

"If the sight  of blue skies fill you with joy, if a blade of grass springing up in the fields has the power to move you, if the simple things of nature has a message that you understand, rejoice, for your soul is alive." Eleonora Duse

 "Be thankful for what you have. Appreciate the small and simple things."Kyle Carpenter

 We have found that if we are happy with the ordinary we do not need the extravagances that other believe will make them happy, the better job, the bigger house, the prettier lover, the expensive vacations, the list goes on and on. We have two things we like to do each weekend we are home Sushi Saturday and Challah Bagels on Sunday Morning. These two pleasures make the worst of weeks bearable and worth the effort to endure.

 Supplies:  GSLC Acorn Border Set, GSLC Queen Anne's Lace, GSLC Fern Fronds, GSLC Honeycomb & Bees Small, Variety Acrylic Paints, Bookboard, Magazine Picture, Sanding block, TH Distress Stains-Blue, Brown, Yellow, Vintage Screen Door Reproduction, Transparencies of Stained Glass Panels, Heavy Gel Matte,

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!

 

Red And Green Should Never Be Seen...

This started off as my St Patrick's Day inspired project but as I thought more about Spring and how everything was turning green, this little rhyme popped into my head.  So I decided that this should be my inspiration instead:

Red and green should never be seen 

except upon a fairy queen

There are a few different versions of this, including "Irish Queen" instead of "Fairy Queen" but it was always fairy queen for us and here she is, my fairy queen...

I used this very large tag base because I wanted lots of room for this. I am also using Fresco chalk paints again, some of my own stamps and a few different mediums, so here we go...

My camera failed me and I don't have some of the process photos which included gesso, Tim Holtz tissue paper, texture paste through a stencil, crackle paste and these first layers of Fresco paint.

I did some stamping to the background using my own handmade stamps (see the white spirals) and then added some white splatter for good measure.  And so it was time to plan the Fairy Queen.  I started playing with all these chipboard pieces and took a quick snap so I wouldn't forget where I wanted everything to go. I am using the Flight of Fancy Butterfly Girl D132A, Blooming Flourish D22P, Acorn Border Set C10E, Leaves from Mushroom Shape Set D102B, and later, the Stackable Labels D35H.  I manipulated these foliage pieces into the shapes I wanted so that they became a crown for her head and a garland for her neck.

 
Gesso everything and leave to dry.

It was then time to start painting my fairy queen, remembering the rhyme about red and green, so her hair had to be flaming red! I painted her using Paperartsy Fresco Chalk Paints.

I gave her a green dress and some hand drawn features using first a pencil, then paint, and pink butterflies in her hair.

I really wanted to put the little red and green rhyme on the tag but even with this large tag, I didn't feel there was enough room for it to look right and not be squished.  I found some of these skeleton leaves in a drawer, painted them with Chartreuse paint and Metallic Glaze, and used them as a background for all the foliage around her.

I added some more foliage and then painted it using Frescos with metallic glaze mixed in and then cut one of the Blooming Flourish pieces into two, so I could use it on the other side of her face, to balance things up.

I thought she needed to be grounded so I added a lollipop stick to ground her. I inked it up with Ground Espresso Archival ink.

I used these little mini bookplates, painted them up and attached them, and because I couldn't fit the red and green rhyme, I used these Finnabair stickers to convey Queenie's fairy message to let yourself look for the magic.  I'm sure you will find it if you look hard enough!

 Oh and one final touch was to add these little Prima crystals as a necklace as I thought her neck was looking a bit bare and she is a Queen after all!

I hope you like my St Patrick's Day/Spring/Fairy Rhyme inspired red and green tag.  Please let me know in the comments!


Elle
Empire Of The Cat

 PROJECT RECIPE:

GSL Cuts - Tag Set Super X Model: D92C  , Stackable Labels D35H, Blooming Flourish D22P, Acorn Border Set C10E, Flight of Fancy Butterfly Girl D132A, Leaves from Mushroom Shape Set D102B,
Paperartsy - Fresco Chalk Paints, various
Decoart - White Gesso, Crackle Paste, Texture Paste
Tim Holtz - Ground Espresso Archival Ink, Collage Medium, tissue paper, stencil
Finnabair - word stickers
Prima - crystals
From Stash:  lollipop stick, my handmade stamps,