Giraffe Manor

Happy Saturday, everyone! I'm here to share a fun little matchbox project I just finished – Giraffe Manor. It's an actual hotel in Nairobi that I'd love to visit someday. It has a herd of resident giraffe who like to peek into the hotel windows hoping for a treat. Here's how it came together using a GSL Peaked Roof Matchbox, available at Alpha Stamps.

I folded the matchbox along it's score lines. The papers I selected were Graphic 45 Time to Celebrate, a Paper Studio sky and a Tim Holtz burnt orange. All were cut to size to fit the interior. 

I inked the edges of the paper using a Ranger Distress Ink Pad in Vintage Photo and painted two of the GSL House Ornament Window Trim windows in a white acrylic paint.

Those windows were backed with a soft green from the same G45 collection. To mimic vines growing up the side of the building, I glued some green Flower Soft in place.

For the outside of the matchbox, I chose a green leafy paper from BoBunny's Dreams of Autumn collection. I had a scrap of chipboard I had saved from the GSL House JewelryPieces (I save everything...) and used it to frame a giraffe image I cut from the back side of a package of BoBunny Noteworthy Die Cuts (told you I save everything...). I painted the chipboard with Quinacridone/Nickel Azo Gold paint.

Here are all the components glued in place and waiting to dry. 

I added a small plastic giraffe peeking through the window and square brass beads on the bottom for feet.

Then added a scrap of gold trim along the roof line and finished the piece off with a brass star.

 Thanks for stopping by!

GSL Products Used

Peaked Roof Matchbox

House Ornament Window Trims

House Jewelry Pieces

Other Products Used

Tacky glue

Graphic 45 Time to Celebrate Patterns & Solids

BoBunny's Dreams of Autumn

Paper Studio sky scrapbook paper

Tim Holtz burnt orange scrapbook paper

Ranger Distress Ink Pad – Vintage Photo

White acrylic paint

Quinacridone/Nickel Azo Gold paint

Green Flower Soft

Square brass beads

Gold trim

Brass star

Small plastic giraffe

Tiny Travel Treasures

Happy Saturday, everyone! Connie here with a project near and dear to my heart. My husband and I just returned from a fabulous cruise vacation that spanned 26 countries. I picked up tiny bits and bobs along the way and knew exactly how I would showcase them... in a GSL Bookcase 1 to 12.

The bookcase came together super fast. Here are the pieces laid out just prior to assembly.

I painted it with black acrylic paint and decided on a nice neutral gray paper from Tim Holtz for the back wall. I painted around where the paper would be adhered so the seams wouldn't show. 

The paper was glued in place then the entire piece was assembled using tacky glue and set aside to dry.

I added our cruise map to the top shelf along with a commemorative pin we received during our travels.  On the second shelf I adhered a piece of the business card from the cooking school we attended in Thailand. Next was a miniature aboriginal-style painting I made and finally the entrance pass we received while visiting the Borobudur temple in Indonesia. 

The only thing left to do was glue in place our treasures, which included brass miniatures from Sri Lanka, a tiny pitcher I picked up in Malaysia, some coral and shells from the South Pacific and a miniature rhino.

More brass, a guinea hen feather from Kenya, a tiny natural history book, a shark vertebrae from Fanning Island and a seed pod from Australia.

 This is a great way to keep some tiny memories at hand, instead of in a box somewhere.  

Thanks for stopping by!

GSL Products Used

Bookcase 1 to 12

Other Products Used

Tacky glue

Black acrylic paint

Tim Holtz neutral gray scrapbook paper

Travel treasures

UFO Shrine

Happy Saturday, everyone! Today I am sharing a fun little UFO shrine I made using one of the GSL Mini Shadowbox Set boxes.  I just love working with these things!  I have had a UFO shaped locket in my stash for a while.  It was always going to be used for beaming up some tiny farm animals.

I assembled the shadowbox with tacky glue and marked the ceiling of the piece where I wanted to insert an eye screw to hold the locket in place. 

I used a Paper Studio sky scrapbook paper for the interior and Kaisesrcraft Sublime paper for the exterior of the box. The paper edges were inked with Ranger Distress ink in crushed olive.

I cut a triangle of green foil paper and glued it on the back wall of the box directly underneath where the UFO hung.

Tiny HO scale sheep were 'beamed up' by adhering them to the foil. I painted two HO scale figures from the Preiser Carnival collection as shepherds.  A scrap of green felt was used for the pasture. The sheep and figures were glued in place with E6000.

For the top, I nestled a few glow in the dark maggots inside a miniature plastic dome. These were a gift from a friend who obviously 'gets' me. I think they might actually be night fishing lures. On each side I added a few snippets of artificial Queen Anne's lace. 

I glued on some metal lined glass beads as feet.  The only thing left to add was a bit of roving as the mysterious cloud the UFO descended from.

Thanks for stopping by!

Gypsy Soul Items Used

Mini Shadowbox Set

Other Items Used

Tacky glue

E6000

Acrylic paint

Kaisesrcraft Sublime and Paper Studio sky scrapbook paper

Ranger crushed olive distress ink

Green felt

Green foil

UFO charm

Eye screw

HO sheep and human figures

Artificial Queen Anne's lace

Glow in the dark worms

Metal tray with plastic dome

Metal lined glass beads

Roving

Miniature Bakery Cart

The GSL Square Shrine Shadow Box has a one inch facade at the top. I've used these before to make miniature storefronts. For this project, I flipped it upside down in order to turn it into a miniature bakery cart. 

The shadow box comes in 6 pieces; top, bottom, sides, back and the facade. It is easily assembled using a bit of tacky glue. 

The paper I used for the front is a Paper Studio white brick scrapbook paper from Hobby Lobby. I used the front facade piece as a template for cutting the brick paper to size.

The interior wall paper is from Graphic 45's Cafe Parisian collection. I used a few scraps of wood grain paper for the floor and ceiling. They were all glued in place prior to assembling the shadowbox.  Once the glue was dry, I flipped the front facade over and used an X-Acto knife to cut along the inside edge to leave an opening.

I painted a GSL Branch and one of the GSL Stackable Label Shapes with off white acrylic paint. 

The branch was glued inside the box as a bit of back wall decoration. For the display table, I cut a tongue depressor to the size I wanted and selected two miniature wood ball finials for the table's feet.  These were also painted off white.

I painted a set of GSL 1.5 Inch Straight Wheels with black acrylic paint and glued some pretty brads in their centers. The two rear wheels were glued onto axle mounts that were painted off white.

Here is the table set inside the cart. I cut a cafe menu from a sheet of Graphic 45's Cafe Parisian paper. It was set in place on top of foam squares. 

I got out my polymer clay, paper clay, miniature pastry molds, polymer clay cane slices, paint, glitter and miniature dishes to fashion some fun pastries. 

The Boulangerie Patisserie sign was also cut from a sheet of Cafe Parisian paper. I adhered it to the stackable label with a foam square. A few miniature flowers were added as embellishment. 

 Thanks for stopping by!

Gypsy Soul Items Used

Square Shrine Shadow Box

Branch

Stackable Labels Shape Set

Wheels 1.5 Inch Straight

Other Items Used

Tacky glue

Acrylic paint

Paper Studio white brick scrapbook paper

Graphic 45 Cafe Parisian papers

Foam squares

Brads

Tongue depressor

Wood ball finials

Polymer Clay

Paper Clay

Miniature pastry molds

Polymer clay cane slices

Miniature dishes

Ocean Floor Grotto

Happy Saturday, everyone! Today I want to share with you how I crafted my vision of the ocean floor. I wanted to depict depth so chose to use the GSL Shrine Grotto, which stands ten inches tall. 

The shrine comes in five pieces that are easily assembled using tacky glue. The paper I chose for the interior is a pretty gradient blue by American Crafts. 

For the seabed, I used cork scrapbook paper cut to size. The color and texture of it reminds me of sand.  The papers I chose for the exterior are from Graphic 45's ocean themed Sun Kissed collection.

I painted GSL Coral Chipboard Set which is available at Alpha Stamps, and GSL Seahorses & Seaweed (coming soon) with acrylic paint to complement the Sun Kissed papers. 

The octopus rests on a perch made of glow in the dark vase filler glued together with E6000 to form one large rock. I could have used an actual rock but glow in the dark is lots more fun!

The octopus is a super detailed Schleich toy figurine. I got out my supply of shells to add to the ocean floorscape.

The finished grotto needed something pretty to top it off. I selected a gorgeous starfish and some silk flowers that complimented the Sun Kissed papers. 

Thanks for stopping by!

 

Gypsy Soul Items Used

Shrine Grotto

Coral Chipboard Set

Seahorses & Seaweed (coming soon)

Other Items Used

Tacky glue

E6000 glue

Schleich toy octopus

Graphic 45 Sun Kissed collection

American Craft gradient blue paper

Cork scrapbook paper

Glow in the dark vase filler

Shells

Starfish

Flowers

A Wizard of Oz Tribute

Happy Saturday, everyone! Today I have a really fun piece to share with you, my tribute to one of the best movies of all time – The Wizard of Oz. I was inspired to make this when I saw the GSL House Ornament Kit 

Let me take you through how it was made.

The first thing I assembled was the GSL House Ornament Base. It's basically just a short box. It has a top, bottom and four sides. Super simple to put together with a bit of tacky glue.

After the glue dried, I painted the sides with black acrylic paint and added a yellow brick road image that was printed on cardstock.

The house comes with the floor, four walls and two roof pieces. The chimney section may be found on GSLHouse Ornament Chimney and Dormers. A cool feature of the floor is it has a pre-scored section that you can cut  and remove if you want to set your little ornament house on top of a battery operated candle. For this project, I left it in place.

For the farmhouse siding, I printed a photo of barn wood onto cardstock, shrunk it to size and cut to fit using an X-Acto knife.

I found a tiny black and white checked Paper Studio scrapbook paper for the house flooring. I painted the window grills with white acrylic paint before gluing the siding paper on the house.

The trims come in two versions, with and without upper panes. I painted all of the window trims white and then decided which ones I wanted to use. I'll save the others for a future tiny project.

Once the trims were in place, it was time to glue on the roof pieces. The rubber band is just to hold the roof pieces in place while the glue dried. I chose a Tim Holtz Idea-Ology paper to cover the roof.

The witch's feet were sculpted out of white polymer clay then baked.

I painted the shoes on using a bright red acrylic paint once they cooled off. I added stocking stripes with a black sharpie. To complete the look I coated the shoes in tacky glue then dipped them in fine red glitter.

For the foliage, I used a combination of Tiny Treasures Mini Grass in a Jar, Flower Soft Meadow and

dried moss, all applied with tacky glue.

The shoes and house were glued in place to complete the project. 

 Thanks for stopping by!

Gypsy Soul Items Used

House Ornament Kit

House Ornament Window Trims

House Ornament Chimney and Dormers

House Ornament Base

Other Items Used

Tacky glue

E6000 glue

Acrylic paint

Printed images

Paper Studio checked paper

Tim Holtz Idea-Ology paper

Tiny Treasures Mini Grass in a Jar

Flower Soft – Meadow

Moss

Polymer clay

Sharpie pen

Fine red glitter