Live in the Moment with Alicia Barry

I feel like I have been making lots of cards lately, so today I have created a pretty and delicate layout of my daughter instead.

I combined a number of chipboard pieces to create a focus point to frame my photo.  I believe that the frame piece was actually designed to be square, but I loved that it looked even more ornate turned on an angle. I combined this with flourishes to create the illusion of a full length embellishment.

I coated each of the swirl pieces in white paint first as this gives a far better vibrancy when color is added. I used a small paint brush to get into the small parts. You could also try using a sponge dauber for this, or go hands free and use paint sprays, if you are worried about damaging the small parts of the flourish. I used the same colour for the fern leaves. 

 I tried a few things with the title. First I primed with white paint. I used an ink pad first which on paper is a nice rose color, but on this came out far darker than I wanted, so I used pearlescent dimensional paint in soft pink. This gave me the additional bonus of textured paint. I simply "painted" it on using the nozzle. Remember that this will take longer to dry.

Once all my pieces were ready, this came together quite quickly. The main frame is lifted up on foam dots with the other pieces tucked underneath I fussy cut lots of floral pieces from patterned paper and tucked them under as well, making sure that the flourishes remained the focal point of the layout. This is also where I tucked in the fern leaves. 

I finished off with some small paper roses, and some tiny pearl paint drops. 

Supplies used:

Flourished Frame Marie

Live in the Moment

Fern Fronds

Fantasy Frame and Flourishes

Curiosities ATC Faux Book Box

Hello crafty friends!  It's Susan today with a wee box of curiosities.

This is the ATC Faux Book Box, which is 3" x 4 1/2".   This is the first time I've used linen hinge tape  and I think it turned out pretty well (if I do say so myself).

Here are the pieces -- the faux book box is on the right and the spine and cover are on the left.  The little pieces are extras that I always keep around.  You never know how useful they can be!

Glue the sides on, leaving the left side for last.

I measured the inside wall papers by standing it up and making a pencil mark.  I cut the paper for  inside back wall by tracing the outside of the box and trimming it down to fit.  It's a fiddly process but it works.

Next I primed all the surfaces with black gesso.

Once dry I chose the paper for the inside cover.  I adhered the paper to the inside with mod podge before adding the hinge tape because I really didn't know how much bulk it would add, and I wanted the cover to close properly.

I cut two pieces of hinge tape and adhered to the outside of the spine. (The tape is sticky on one side - this photo shows the sticky side.)  I set the book on it's end and positioned the spine and cover pieces where I needed them and pressed the hinge tape down.  The right side is shorter to fit the box wall - you'll see why in later photos.

For the inside on the cover, I cut another piece of hinge tape the same length as the left one above.  I used a paper trimmer to cut it in half length-wise, then trimmed one to the same shorter length as the right side.  I carefully aligned the first piece and used a bone folder to stick the inside hinge tape to the outside hinge tape, moving the cover piece back and forth to ensure flexibility.

Here you can see I peeled the paper backing off the hinge tape and positioned it to match the outside.

I used the bone folder to stick the hinge tape together before letting it stick to the box.

I very carefully painted the hinge tape black.

The outside hinge tape, too, but not so carefully.

Instead of inking the paper edges, I used paint since I had extra.

I added the papers to the inside of the box with Mod Podge.

Even though I painted the edges, I decided to sand them for a more finished look.  Then I painted them again.  *sigh*

For the flying pig cage, I traced the solid cage on my paper and cut it out freehand.  I used a gold metallic paint for the cage front.  Once dry I glued them together with a glue pen and set a heavy object on it until dry.

I traced the banner bit with pencil and cut it out.  After priming, I glued them together and painted the edges black.

I had a leftover flourish from my last project and added it to the spine.

Thanks for your visit today!

Cheers,
Susan

Gypsy Soul Laser Cuts Used
ATC Size Faux Book Box #BD12T
2" Cage w/Solid Back #BB43A
Banner Border Strips - Assorted #D34D
Fantasy Frame & Flourishes #D52D

Other supplies used
G45 Old Curiosity Shoppe
Mod Podge
Liquitex gesso
Stickles
Piece from old braces (closure)
Glossy Accents

Time to Discover Adventure

Hello fellow gypsy crafters!  It's Susan here, and I want to open the Gypsy Soul Laser Cuts door to adventure with you.  Don your best steampunk-ish outfit and get ready to travel the future-past.  Our door is found behind the red "gates" of the Square Shrine Gate Fold.

The first thing was to choose the papers that help tell the story.  The door paper here started the theme, and all others fell into place.  I outlined each GSLC piece and cut out with a paper trimmer.

The hinges are made from self-adhesive linen hinging tape (Lineco brand, on Amazon).  I cut lengths for the front and back, and carefully positioned my shrine pieces to 1/4" (6.35mm) apart.  This was fiddly and the parts moved easily, so be careful when laying the tape down.

The linen tape is super thin.  Separate it from the backing and carefully position.  Here I have already done one side and am matching up the tape.

Press a bone folder or other pokey thing into the hinge to help front and back tape stick to each other. Do this on both sides and feel free to move the gates open and closed to get a solid stick.

I painted my hinges with black gesso.  I'm a huge fan of the super-flat paint effect and use the gesso as paint often.

Here I've inked the edges of my papers and am using Mod Podge to adhere to each shrine piece.  A brayer, that bone folder, or other flat object is useful to rub across the paper to spread the glue and flatten any high spots.

Since not all my papers were perfectly cut I had to sand them down and re-ink.  I always realize that inking before adhering is not the best use of time, but there was that one project years ago where I couldn't re-ink without messing it up.  So I always take that precautionary step.

Time to cut out the laser cut components!  I usually just press down on the connectors with a blade to release them.

Here are the components I think I'll use: discover, adventure, one of the "butterfly of gears", parts of "fantasy frame and flourishes".  The flourishes one is great - I don't tend to use frames but this one cut up nicely and gave me a lot of smaller flourishes.

Time to paint all black with gesso.  I'm not sure what the end colors will be at this point, but I'd rather paint over a black base on this project than a white gesso base.

Here the gears have been painted with metallic paints and the butterfly has it's copper base coat.  I cut the "discover" word to fit the two panels.  I removed the chevrons from "adventure" a couple of projects ago but never used it; it's perfect here!  It got a metallic coat of paint also.

In my never-ending quest for texture, I played around with gels to soften the laser cut edges and make them more of an organic part of the project.  I started to dry with a heat gun, but I'm not really sure if that's appropriate with gels, so I decided to be patient and let it air dry.

Patience didn't last.  As the DIS dried I saw it wasn't going to be organic enough.  I decided on an all-over texture with a rough brush and a transparent gel that isn't self leveling (as the one above).

Here it is dried -- you can see some of the brush texture.  It was too glossy for me so I coated with matte varnish and went to bed.

In the morning I had to touch up missed varnish spots and added Glossy Accents to the magnifying glass above the I.  Since the reverse side of the clock face and butterfly might be visible, I painted them black.

Here is the full project.

I love how the two-panel "discover" worked out.

And the reverse!

I hope today's post inspires your next Gypsy adventure!

Cheers,
Susan


Gypsy Soul Laser Cuts Used
Square Shrine Gate Fold #BD1A
Discover #C33N
Chevron Words Small (Adventure) #C7I
Steampunk Shape Set (Gears, Clock & Hands) #D33A
Butterfly of Gears #D20F
Fantasy Frame & Flourishes #D52D

Other Supplies Used
Bo Bunny Timepiece
Liquitex black gesso
Mod Podge
Ranger espresso ink
Golden Regular Gel (matte)
Golden Self Leveling Clear Gel
Liquitex matte varnish
Tim Holtz knob
Ranger Glossy Accents
Ranger Stickles in Diamond, Antique Bronze
Zig 2-Way Glue pen for discover, adventure
White glue for gears
Dresden trim
Metallic brads

Haunted Dress Shop

Hey there Peeps. Ginny here to share a Halloween project created with some fabby chippies from Gypsy Soul Laser Cuts.

It's a haunted dress shop!!! How fun is that?

 

I'm using the frame to the Coffin Box to create a bit of a shadow box.

There's a glittery flourish layered over a fussy cut spiderweb.

Flowers with netting add a great texture.

The dress form has a spooky inspired outfit on all ready for a Halloween party.

I wiped down the chippies to prepare them for finishing.

 A little trick I've learned while cutting down paper to fit inside something is to add a bit of a folded tab so you can easily pull the paper out if you need to until you get the shape trimmed just right.

Painting the coffin box lid and flourish frame with a creamy acrylic in metallic black.

Now adding silvery embossing powder then heat setting.

Beginning the outfit with a striped patterned paper.

Using a doily patterned paper to create a skirt.

Two layers of doily topped off with a spiderwebby pattern on velum.

 Many layers of foam tape to secure the dress form in the coffin shadow box. This also adds nice dimension.

Last but not least....a haunted sign and fussy cut bat.

Gypsy Soul Laser Cuts~  6 Inch Coffin Box, Fantasy Frame and Flourishes, Vintage Seamstress Shapes Set.

Wishing everyone a happy and productive day : ) G