Star Wars Advent Calendar

My grandson has just turned five years old and is obsessed with everything Star Wars. For Christmas this year, I made him the perfect gift using the GSL Advent Calendar Shadowbox.

 It comes with the large base piece, four exterior pieces, interlocking interior pieces and lots of spacers. 

After assembling it with tacky glue I painted the exterior and drawer slots with black acrylic paint.

 

The GSL Set of Pre-Cut Drawers are easy to assemble using a bit of glue. I used craft clips to hold them in place while the glue dried.

The Tiny Number Plates - Silver, which are available at Alpha Stamps, are the perfect size for this project.

To fill the large space in the center of the shadowbox, I cut black chipboard to size and added some black and white images that were edged with tiny dot dresden border.

 This is for a five year old so of course there had to be glow in the dark stars added!

The last thing to add were some Star Wars figures. These were glued in place with E6000. Not to worry, he's also getting some other Star Wars figures to play with this year. 

The only thing left to do is fill the drawers. I am hopeful he will enjoy this as a keepsake for many years to come. Thanks for stopping by!

Gypsy Soul Items Used

Advent Calendar Shadowbox

Set of Pre-Cut Drawers for Advent Shadowbox

Tiny Number Plates – Silver

Other Items Used

Acrylic paint

Tacky glue

E6000 glue

Printed images

Tiny dot dresden border

Glow in the dark stars

Star Wars figures

Hearts and Butterflies Greeting Card by Susan

Hello friends!  I have an anniversary card to share today. I've used lots of fun Gypsy Soul Laser Cuts bits and bobs including butterflies, heart dangles, and wee little number plates.  I made this for my sister Lora, who also happens to be on the Gypsy Soul Laser Cuts education team.  I hope she doesn't take a sneak peek at my post before she receives the card!

I started with the Butterflies and Dragonflies cut.  Look how many choices are on the card!

Separate the cuts from the card -- I usually just press a blade into the board at the little stay-tabs.  Repeat on the other side if needed.

I dabbed white gesso on each piece and allowed to dry.

I positioned the heart frame top over the scene I wanted and traced it with a pencil.  I cut it inside the pencil lines so it wouldn't overlap on assembly and used brown ink on the edges.

Paint was next!  First I coated everything in creme white and quickly became bored with it.

I didn't take photos along the way, but I used these paint in roughly the left-to-right order.  The white on the end was mixed with colors to lighten them.  A little water diluted the paints so I could blend them in.

Here's the butterfly result.  Pretty!  The beaded hearts and bead trim were sponged with very diluted brown paint.  I used a brown marker to color the heart base so white didn't show through.

The Viva Pearl Pen is useful for pearls but keep in mind the dots will dry like little daggers if you don't make sure the tops are rounded when applied.  I didn't work carefully enough, I'll admit.  I ws able to push the dagger dots down a bit once dried.

The number plates are finished and don't need any treatment.  I used a straight pin to poke holes in the beaded heart where I wanted to attach the number plate.  Small vintage eye pins did the trick!

Once the card was embellished I decided to add a glassy surface in the heart using Diamond Glaze.

And here's the finished card!

Happy anniversary Lora and hubby!  I love you both dearly.  :)

Cheers,
Susan


Bead Strand Heart Dangle #D12H
Butterflies and Dragonflies #D69A
Bead Strands #D99K
Tiny Number Plates White #C8TW (coming soon!)

Other supplies used
Sewing machine
Scor Tape
Clear fabric glue
Liquitex white gesso
Brown and ivory card stock
Pink Paislee paper
Mulberry paper flowers
Vintage tatting
Vintage crochet
Lumiere paints
Ivory acrylic paint
Viva Pearl Pen in creme