Vintage French Inspired Greeting Card

Well hey there and happy Sunday to all of you! Today's project share is a greeting card with one of my favorite chippies from Gypsy Soul.

This chippie is the Filmstrip Mini Sheet. It's just the perfect size for cards and you get several on the sheet so you can really layer them up with your paper collections.

For this card I chose to add images to the back of one and use the other as is to give this card some fun texture and interest.

It's a bit tough to see but I also added a nice layer of Glossy Accents inside the openings to create more of an embellishment look.

 I've added some metal key charms that coordinated with the Eiffel Tower image layered into the bow and twine and topped it off with a pretty little vintage Mother of Pearl button.

This chippie is added between the cut aparts and I love the subtle detail.

Pretty coordinated flowers are the final finishing touch.

 This chippie is the Film Strip Mini Sheet....perfect for cards and tags.

I wanted a really flat finish so I used a PITT pen. This is a permanent pen that will not run when other finishes are added. It's important to allow to dry before adding to it so it won't smudge.

I used a glossy accent inside the openings and let that dry as well before adding it to my card.

Gypsy Soul Laser Cuts~ Film Strip Mini Sheets

Wishing everyone a happy and productive day : ) G

VHS Cassette Tape Rental in Miniature

I was recently told that VHS rental is coming back to fashion. My first reaction was - I need to celebrate this in miniature! I've been eyeing the GSL Bookcase 1 to 12 and decided it was perfect. 

As with all of my projects, I start by laying out all the pieces to see how everything fits together. This one is super simple to figure out.

I decided to give the inside of my bookcase a neutral finish to make the shelf contents stand out so I gave the inside surfaces a coat of gesso as primer, followed by a coat of off-white acrylic paint.

Once dry, the bookcase was assembled using tacky glue. I used rubber bands to hold everything in place while the glue dries. Once dry, I gave the exterior a coat of gesso followed by a bright red acrylic paint finish.

The GSL Filmstrip Mini Sheets made the perfect décor for the sides of the case. I gave each one a coat of black acrylic paint.

Next came the fun part! Searching for images of some classic movie posters that I resized to perfectly fit inside the filmstrip openings.

Once assembled, they were glued onto the sides of the case.

To make the tapes, I started with dollhouse construction bricks I've had in my stash forever. If you aren't able to find them, you could also use scraps of wood cut to size. I painted the bricks black to mimic a tape cassette. Searching for images was fun. I was surprised how many VHS tape covers I was able to find. I adjusted the size for print, cut them out then used a scoring board to make the creases nice and crisp then glued them onto the bricks.

I knew I wanted to have some candy and popcorn on the top shelf because every VHS rental place I've ever been to sold to-go movie snacks. The popcorn box and Snickers display were free printable miniatures I found online. Same for the M&M's. To make a display case for the M&M's, I cut a tongue depressor and some coffee stirrers to size, painted them red then glued them together with tacky glue. The little Snickers and M&M's packages each got a small piece of coffee stirrer glued inside as a filler. 

Final touches include a Starship Enterprise that started life as a Hallmark mini ornament, a ceramic popcorn bucket from my stash of miniatures and a Be Kind Rewind sign made from cardstock glued to one of those dollhouse bricks to make it stand up.

 Thanks for stopping by!

Gypsy Soul Laser Items Used

Bookcase 1 to 12

Filmstrip Mini Sheets

Other Items Used

Gesso

Acrylic paint

Tacky glue

Printed images

Scoring mat

Dollhouse bricks or wood scraps cut to size

Wooden tongue depressor
Wooden coffee stir sticks
Bits and bobs

Tiny Dancer by Betsy Skagen

I had so much fun making this altered art project. After my massive undertaking of Kringle's Toy Store, I wanted to tackle something a little less time consuming.

I think one thing that made the Tiny Dancer Shadowbox so much fun is that when I started I had no idea what the end result would be. I began by gathering the tiny pink dancer and the Mini House Shadowbox and let serendipity take its course.

Tutorial on How to Make the Tiny Dancer Altered Art Shadowbox

Begin by adhering decorative paper to what will be the interior sides of the Mini House Shadowbox 1.

Stamp clock and moon images onto the interior back of the box with embossing ink, apply Charred Gold Embossing Powder and heat set.

Cut a Filmstrip Mini Sheet so that it appears torn. Apply Charred Gold Embossing Powder to the filmstrip using embossing ink. Heat set. Then apply Verdigras Sparkle Embossing Powder using embossing ink and again heat set.

Assemble the Mini House Shadowbox using strong adhesive. Adhere decorative paper to the outside. Stamp a ticket onto paper. Distress with brown ink. Cut out, while leaving an edge to form a stand.

Ink the edges of the house with brown ink. Apply embossing ink and Charred Gold Embossing Powder to the corners, roof peak and roof edges. Heat set.

Glue the filmstrip, ticket and dancer inside the box. Add fringe ribbon to the roof line.

After you hang a star from the ceiling and add fringe ribbon to the roof line your Tiny Dancer Shadowbox is complete.

Great Stuff

Mini House Shadowbox 1
Filmstrip Mini Sheet
Emerald Creek Charred Gold Embossing Powder
Emerald Creek Verdigras Sparkle Embossing Powder
Embossing Ink
Tiny Dancer
Gold star
Rubber stamp of ticket
Black and brown ink
Fringe ribbon
Beacon Fabri-Tac

The American Dream by Susan

"The American Dream is that dream of a land in which life should be better and richer and fuller for everyone, with opportunity for each according to ability or achievement."    --James Truslow Adams, historian, 1931
****

Hi crafty folks!  Today I want to share a vintage-style American dream tucked inside the 4" x 4" Mini House Room Box.  This young couple is just starting out and have saved their pennies for a home.  Let's build it!

First thing is a bit of a warning that this is an image-heavy post.  A lot goes into home construction.  ::nod nod::

I measured and cut vintage ledger paper to cover the back wall (including the attic area) and side walls.

Then I laid out the parts before gluing  -- notice the right wall is upside down?  Luckily I did, too.

Brick is my favorite construction and this young couple deserves the best!  I used the Brick Wall 2 stencil and molding paste on the back and sides.  Allow it to dry overnight.

For the roof I used the pointed Chipboard Shingles.  I gesso'd a bunch then cut them down to 4 points each, which allowed me to stagger the points.  Next thing was to glue them down and allow to dry, then cut with heavy duty scissors.  I tried to use a guillotine paper cutter but the shingles were too thick.  A little sanding helped to clean up the cuts.

Time to paint the bricks!  This isn't a real brick factory so I had to paint them... You know how it is.  I've made bricks a couple of ways so far, and this time I used my education teammie Nicola Battilana's video tutorial.  It was very helpful!

I glued tiny little rocks to the base and let it dry overnight.

So back to the roof!  I needed to cap it off.  My idea was to cut a piece of thin chipboard, score it, and glue it down.  In the second photo, you can see I found a big enough blank in the middle of another GSL Cut laser cut.  Yay!   

To finish off all the roofing edges I mixed molding paste with black gesso (even though the photo shows acrylic paint -- oops).  I carefully applied it to the peak and all the edges in layers, allowing it to dry each time.  It took a couple of layers to fill it all in and look like roofing tar.  Or whatever that's called.  The black stuff!

For an inside element  I used a piece of felt (just because it was close by) to dab black paint on a Filmstrip Mini Sheet then cut down photos of the couple.

And finally, they moved in!

Here's a view of the filmstrip and see their first house number plate?  That's from the white set of Faux Metal Number Plates.  There is a mini wood spool popping out from the back wall.

Here's a finish view of the roof peak.  See how I softened the edges with the molding paste mixture?  Once that was dried I did a bit of finish work with a fine sand paper and coated it all with flat black paint.

GSL Cuts Used
Mini House Room Box 4x4 Open #D13WB
Chipboard Shingles - Pointed #D119P
Brick Wall 2 #D42D
Filmstrip Mini Sheet D12J
Faux Metal Number Plates (White) #LN042114001