A Mid-Century Modern Memento Album by Betsy Skagen

A talented friend of mine has taken on the challenge of giving her entire house a Mid-Century Modern updo with only inexpensive secondhand goods. 

Her ingenuity impressed me so much that I thought she should memorialize her project with a mini album. As a surprise for her, I made this little album so she could paste in before and after pictures, make notes of her awesome estate sale finds and even add in inspiration and ideas from magazines. 

The best part about this project is that I was able to do something nice for a friend, without going to a lot of cost or time. 

To make your own Mid-Century Modern Album, begin with an empty spiral bound album.

Cover the front and back with a coat of white acrylic paint. 

Apply Molding Paste to the front through a stencil with repeating shapes. As you can see from my photo, there are inherent dangers in working in the great outdoors. After the paste dries, repeat with another stencil on the back cover. 

While the paste is drying, paint the Mixed Media Fragments Retro with assorted colors (preferably following Mid-Century color palettes).

Give the front and back cover, including the raised stencil surfaces, another coat of white paint. After it dries, paint the raised stencil surfaces in another color. 

Adhere the Mixed Media Fragments and translucent Dew Drops to the front and back covers. 

Use your computer to design a title graphic for your album. Print and adhere to the cover. Outline the edges of your Mixed Media Fragments in a darker shade. I used Distress Markers to do this. 

Add Atomic Atomburst and Atomic Coordination paper to the inside front and back cover. 

That's all there is to making this quick and easy book. 

Great Stuff

Mixed Media Fragments Retro

Atomic Atomburst Digital Paper

Atomic Coordination Digital Paper

Dew Drops

7gypsies blank album

Acrylic paint

Tim Holtz Distress Markers

Beacon Adhesive

"Art" mixed media layout by Lynne

Hello friends-as a lover of all things artsy, this quote spoke to my gypsy soul, and I hope it does to  yours as well! Sometimes I enjoy using a meaningful quote on a page (I usually find them on Facebook) rather than a photo just for a change of pace.

I have had this fabulous Colorbox  "Teen Angst" paper for ages and still love the funky, eclectic feel of it; the Mixed Media Fragments complemented the paper perfectly and the Palette and Brushes was just right for the theme of the quote.

I started off by painting each piece with acrylic paint; the palette piece was then run through this embossing folder to create the textured surface:

After rubbing the surface of the palette with a pearlized ink, I punched 1" circles of various colours from my papers, then added paint drips with coordinating acrylic paints. I lightly inked the edges of the palette for dimension.

The paintbrush handles and palette knife were heat-embossed with UTEE for a glossy look. Because the papers are so vibrant, I wanted my embellishments to stand out sufficiently.

This Fragment was painted black, then heat-embossed with UTEE also-I love the glossy finish!

This Fragment from the Retro set was stamped with Versamark ink with this Prima stamp, then heat-embossed with Lindy's Stamp Gang Midnight Gold embossing powder.

I added some stenciling with homemade texture paste, a few metal embellishments and a little fussy-cutting, then finished the page off with a few sprays of orange and yellow mists.

I hope you enjoyed seeing my project, and I'd love to see something you create that incorporates a quote....that is your challenge, should you choose to accept it!! Have a super week, and thanks so much for stopping by.

GYPSY SOUL ITEMS USED

Palette and Brushes
Mixed Media Fragments Retro
Mixed Media Fragments 1

OTHER ITEMS USED

craft concepts embossing folder
Prima stamp
Versamark Ink
Lindys embossing powder
Colorbox papers
UTEE

Simple Business Card Holder

Hi everyone, Angela here with a really easy project for you. I was in need of a business card holder for a new project I'm working on so I decided to put together and decorate the one I got from Gypsy Soul Laser Cuts.

Here are the bits for the holder laid out on my bench:

As is the case with most of the Gypsy Soul Lasercuts "buildable" pieces you put this together from the inside out

Once I had established that I knew what piece went where... I know, I can hear you saying "there are only 5 pieces for goodness sake", believe me I can get that wrong very easily! ...I took the thing apart to decorate.

First I gave each piece a coat of Brushed Pewter distress paint on both sides. I took one of the Mixed Media Fragments Retro and laid it down like a stencil and drew round it with a sharpie on what was to be the inside of my finished piece.

I used the same sharpie to colour the pattern in.

I used a paint brush with a blob of paint on my glass mat to paint round the edges.

I then glued all the pieces together and used the same "fragment" as a stencil again but this time I painted in the gaps. I used a small paint brush and squeezed a little paint out on to my glass mat then applied this in each space from the middle outwards. This was to stop the wet paint running under the chipboard fragment.

Once I had painted the outside I decided that the inside was too bright so I went over it with a thin coat of the same "Seedless Preserve" distress paint that I used on the outside.
Here is my finished project:

As you can see I had to place my business cards in side ways as they are not a standard size card (note to self - need to make new business cards to a standard size lol).

Supplies:
Business card holder
Mixed media fragments Retro
Distress paint in Brushed Pewter and Seedless Preserves
Purple Sharpie
Cosmic Shimmer Acrylic glue

Retro Style Cards

Hi everyone!  Barbara here today on the Gypsy Soul Laser Cuts blog with a couple of retro style cards for you.  These cards can be used for any occasion, especially if the recipient is into vintage or retro styles.

Milk Can Card:

This is what the chipboard looks like.  I left the bits from the detail cuts in the milk can.

Paint milk can with black gesso and sprinkle salt over it while still wet.  Let dry.

Rub salt off of milk can and paint a light coat of Vivid True Silver, allowing some of the black to show through.  The salt left a cool texture on the can.

Use a silvery dimensional paint (steel) and make 3D lines where the detail cuts were made in the can.  Set aside to dry.

Paint two of the Mixed Media Fragments Retro with white gesso and let dry.

Paint the diamond retro piece with Rusty Hinge acrylic paint.  Let dry.

Adhere polka dot print paper to card front.  Cut diamond retro piece apart and adhere to card front, as shown.

Resize and print collage image onto white card stock.  Distress and ink edge with brown distress ink. Adhere to center of milk can, and adhere can centered over the retro diamond pieces.  Fussy cut print milk can, milk circles, and tags, adhere to front, as shown.

 Coffee Commercial Card:

Paint retro circles with Malted Milk acrylic paint.  Let dry.  Glue to black print paper, trim excess paper around retro circles.

Adhere red print paper to card front.  Glue retro circles to card front, and use punch out piece of unfinished chipboard from inside one of the retro circles, adhere to card, as shown.  This will help give a level area for adhering the TV in a later step.

Paint retro TV with black acrylic paint.  Let dry.  Resize and print coffee advertisement to fit inside TV screen.  Trace around TV and cut away excess paper.

Glue retro TV over collage image.  Paint antenna with Vivid True Silver acrylic paint.

Adhere retro TV to card front, as shown.  This is why that extra piece of chipboard was necessary, to help stabilize the TV when adhered to the front.  Add stickers "ridiculously good" to front, as shown in finished photo above.

Supplies Used:

GSL Retro Frame Set
GSL Milk Can
GSL Mixed Media Fragments Retro
Black card stock
Jenni Bowlin Classic Red/Black Paper Pad
Collage Sheets
ColourArte Vivid True Silver
Acrylic Paint (Malted Milk, Rusty Hinge)
Lumiere Steel 3D acrylic paint
Chit Chat Word stickers

I hope you enjoyed my retro card projects today.  Check your stash and see what fun things you can find to use with any of the fabulous Gypsy Soul Laser Cuts.  You may surprise yourself at how easy it is to make some really creative cards that everyone will be talking about.

Thanks for stopping by, and don't forget to play!

Barbara

Eyeglass Retro Tags from Shanna

Hello to you all. Shanna here with a little weekend inspiration for you.

I got some new paints to play with my new chipboard pieces. 

Let me know what you think!

I first gave my tags a layer of gesso then went over with some gelatos. 

For this tag I rubbed over a stencil with a baby wipe. I used Dylusions paint to cover the retro fragment and then Teal Zicron and Mediterranean Blue ColourArte h20's on the eyeglasses. 

Then this tag I used a different color of Dylusions paint with a stencil and another color on my frgament piece. I used Dreams Bloom and Playful Peony on the eyeglasses.

I finished both tags off with seam binding and some Tim Holtz phrases.

Items Used:

Mixed Media Fragments Retro

Eyeglasses Shape Set

ColourArte Twinkling H20's