She Flies-mixed media canvas by Lynne

Hello crafters!  I wanted to play around with some girly colours and decided to make a canvas with an empowering sentiment and some gorgeous pieces from the Gypsy Soul Lasercuts store:

I really love the different birds in the set, so I used several of them on my 8" round canvas; I ran them through a peacock feather embossing folder, trying to avoid the eyes and just add lines to the pieces to create some texture.

After choosing my chipboard and other elements I played around with them until I had a basic design-that way I knew where there was white space to add texture paste stenciling and a couple pieces of drywall tape. It wasn't until after I had moved on to the next step that I noticed one of the birds was upside down here! That's one reason why I never glue things down right away....although that's not always a good thing when I finally have everything placed exactly the way I want it, and one of my cats decides it's time to turn my work space into the Indy 500...or into a bed....sigh! Oh well, other than having to turn the bird over, this project went pretty smoothly-no kitty assistance!

After the stenciling was added I glued my arrangement down (and added a few more goodies to the bare spots) then primed the entire surface with white gesso.

I sponge-painted the canvas with pale pink and lavender acrylic paint before misting it with a bit of white all over. 

I then added mist in pink, purple and a smidge of turquoise, then rubbed on some Art Alchemy wax in "Royal Robes".

I was happy with the colours after that, and all I did was rub a little purple ink over the letters and a few raised surfaces with my finger for added definition-hope you like the finished product! I just happened to have a piece of ribbon in my stash that matched the colours exactly, so I added a bow at the bottom, which I thought added a bit of extra texture and interest to the round canvas-thanks so much for stopping by, and may you and your brave wings fly this week and always!!

GYPSY SOUL ITEMS USED

Birds Shape Set
Feathers Shape Set

OTHER ITEMS USED

DecoArt acrylic paint
Bad Girls Couture gesso
Cuttlebug machine and embossing folder
Tattered angels and Mister Huey mists
Prima stencils, homemade texture paste
drywall tape
various flowers and diecuts

Perfect Faith Mixed Media Canvas

Hi everyone!  Barbara here today with some more mixed media canvas art.  I cannot think of anything better for my focal images than the beautiful selection of laser cut chipboard from Gypsy Soul Laser Cuts.  There is so much to choose from and I  find it so easy to get a project started using the GSL Cuts as my starting point.

Here is what I mean.  Instead of starting with that scary, blank white canvas, just choose some chipboard you think you might use and start laying out the pieces.  Voila!  No more scary, blank white canvas.  Now I have my jumping off point.

Next, I adhered my chipboard to the canvas and then gave it a quick coat of white gesso.  The little bird on the cage has not been adhered yet, only gessoed.  I may need to change my mind about placement.  Let gesso dry. 

Place canvas inside a box to catch the extra spray from the misters.  Use ColourArte Shimmering Mists to add color to background, as follows:

Bashful Blue

Teal Zircon - Upper Half of Canvas

Fern - Lower Half of Canvas

Seafoam - lower half

More Bashful Blue - upper half

More Fern - lower half

Even More Fern - Lower half

Mists dried naturally

Paint chipboard as follows:

Tree branch - Burnt Umber H20

Leaves - Rainforest H20

Birds - Beachouse Blue H20

Bird Cage - Ancient Coin H20

Leaves - Key Lime H20, let dry, add Crazing Collage Medium

Bird Cage - Bronze H20

Birds - Water H20

Spritz background with water, manipulate colors with brush

Bird Cage - Patina Gilding Wax

Add shading beneath branches, leaves, birds, and bird cage with charcoal pencil and smudge with finger or blending stump

Closeup of patina gilding wax

Glue standing bird to front of bird cage

Computer generate the quote using a font of your choice onto parchment card stock.  Here is the actual quote I got my wording from.

“The reason birds can fly and we can't is simply because they have perfect faith, for to have faith is to have wings.”
―  J.M. Barrie,  The Little White Bird    

Cut apart and test pieces to fit in open areas.

Adhere card stock to slightly larger black chipboard that has been painted with the Ancient Coin and Bronze Twinkling H20s ...

... and adhere to canvas.

Use a stencil brush to add a light brick background with Moss gilding wax through brick stencil.  

Edge canvas with Black Gold gilding wax and the same stencil brush.  Blend wax out with your fingers, if necessary.

Finish off canvas with flowers and leaves around the bird cage, and a butterfly just above the cage.

And a few closeups from different angles.  I really love the dimension from the chipboard.

Supplies Used:

GSL Birds Shape Set
GSL Doodled Cage with Solid Back
GSL Leafy Branches with Birds (contact store)
ColourArte Radiant Rains Shimmering Mists
  Bashful Blue
  Teal Zircon
  Fern
  Seafoam
ColourArte Twinkling H20s
  Key Lime
  Rainforest
  Raspberry Wine
  Ancient Coin
  Bronze
  Burnt Umber
  Beachouse Blue
Tim Holtz Brick Stencil
Miss Lillian's Gilding Paste (Moss, Black Gold, Patina)
White gesso

Thanks so much for stopping by, and I hope you feel inspired to make your very own chipboard embellished mixed media canvas.

Have a wonderful day, and remember to take time to play!

Barbara

Christmas Oddities Box by Gloria

Hello, it is Gloria with you and I have a Christmas home decor item to share today.

I used the House Oddities Box to create a table-top (or mantle-top) decor piece that is also a storage box! The box measures 6 1/2" x 3 1/2" x 3 1/2" and comes with a chipboard door and seven (7) chipboard house shapes. (I am using the houses for another project.)

The box is the perfect size to store a candle, some gift tags, or even one of those creepy Elf on a Shelf dolls! I decorated with a gold, black, and red scheme, with lots of sparkle and bells!

Let's get started!

Wipe down all the box pieces to remove the soot from the cutting process. Glue decorative paper to the inside surfaces of all the pieces, including the inside of the lid.

Assemble the box. I reinforced all seams with washi tape. This also helps to hold the box together while the glue sets.

Attach the lid to the box. I used washi tape to create a flexible hinge for my lid.

Mark where you wish your door handle to go and drill holes through the lid and the decorative door piece. I used an anywhere hole punch to create my door knob holes.

Cover the outside surfaces of the box with decorative paper. I adhere my paper with a matte gel medium, using a foam brush.

Use various inks (or paints) to color your chipboard accent pieces. To color the door, I sponged on various red pigment inks, allowing them to dry between coats.

I used white ink to color a bird cage from the Ornamental Birdcages Shape Set. While the ink was wet I heat embossed the birdcage with shabby embossing enamel. I repeated the process, using white ink and white embossing powder on snowflakes from the Snowflake Shape Set and the Winter Shape Set.

I selected "two turtle doves" from the Birds Shape Set and colored them with gold pigment ink.

Glue the door to the box lid. Add a decorative knob.

Create a "wreath" for the door. Start with the ornamental birdcage. Glue a chipboard or other decorative sentiment to the right side of the birdcage. Layer snowflakes and a large flower. I added a jingle bell to the center of one of the snowflakes. Add the birds in the next layer, using foam tape or scrap chipboard to lift them off the base. Glue metal bells and a loopy bow to the top of the birdcage.

Glue the decoration to the door, making sure to avoid the area around the knob. Add more decorative elements, as desired. I added more velvet leaves, a pine cone, and a few Christmas do dads.

Wrap gold ribbon around the top and sides of the box, securing on the bottom. Create a large bow from the gold ribbon and glue the bow to the top of the box.

Add Christmas sprays and do dads, as desired. I poked through my stash of Christmas odds and ends to create my box topper. I wanted to stay in the gold and red theme. Everything is attached with hot glue.

If you want to use the box for storage, make sure you do not accidentally glue the door shut! Use black ink to cover any raw chipboard edges. I wrapped the sides of my "door frame" with the gold washi tape. (I wish I had inked it with the black ink instead.)

Thanks for looking!

~ Gloria Stengel: Scraps of Life

Supplies Used:

Gypsy Soul Laser Cuts:
House Oddities Box
Ornamental Birdcages Shape Set
Snowflake Shape Set
Winter Shape Set
Birds Shape Set

Partner products:
Graphic 45 papers: St. Nicholas 12x12 pad
Graphic 45 chipboard: St. Nicholas Decorative Chipboard
Graphic 45 washi tape set

Other: shabby embossing enamel, white embossing powder, pigment ink (white merlot, cranberry, gold), black dye ink, gold ribbon, twine (red, sparkle, gold), craft bells, various Christmas floral elements, metal door knob, matte gel medium, wet glue, hot glue

"Ready to Fly" - Art Journal Page by Mary

Welcome to the blog today! I have a page from my art journal page to share with you. My inspiration was lyrics from a song (Ready to Fly by FFH) and I knew which of Gypsy Soul's products I had wanted to use! I first used a light blue chalk to lay a sky base. To make the "clouds," I cut a piece of scrap paper into two different cloud shapes. I then used the template and a darker blue chalk.

The hot air balloons were covered with paper and distressed with ink while the baskets were heat embossed!

 The letters on the balloons are adhesive and the other words are rub-on letters.

 The three birds were all inked and then liquid embossed.

On the left is my first page and I didn't like it! That is the great thing about art journaling; you get a chance to play around with different techniques. I took the pieces off, rechalked the clouds and reattached the pieces. I so like the final page way better. It is less cluttered and I still feel the inspiration of the lyric.

Thank you for dropping by today!

Gypsy Soul Laser Cuts Products Used
Hot Air Balloon Stack Up
Birds Shape Set

Other Items Used 
Chalk
Prima Paper
Gathered Twigs Distress Ink
Rub-on and Adhesive Letters from stash
All Night Media Liquid Embossing - Clear Glass Finish
Stampendous - Aged Marine Embossing Enamel