Julia's Kitchen

I have always hugely admired Julia Child for so many reasons.  She was such an accomplished woman who is known and loved worldwide. She earned 3 Emmys, 4 James Beard Awards, a Peabody, a National Book award and the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

She donated her Cambridge, MA kitchen to the National Museum of American History at the Smithsonian in 2001. It's where her TV show was frequently filmed.  The kitchen was her favorite room.  She described it as “the beating heart and social center of her household”.

I wanted to make a miniature version which was a big challenge as it's quite well known.  That meant I was going to have to hand build the cabinetry, but I didn't have to build the structure as it lives inside a GSL Deep Open Front Room Box which is available over at Alpha Stamps.

The room box is 10 inches wide by 10 inches tall by 5.5 inches deep which is a lot of space to work with.  The interior walls were painted with acrylic paint.  The floor is a sheet of DCWV Photoreal linen paper that reminded me of 1950s linoleum.  It took me a while to decide if I wanted the front facade and ceiling of the room box included.  I eventually decided to leave them off to allow natural light inside the room to show off all the tiny treasures. 

The kitchen window has blinds that I made by cutting a section of a manila folder the same width of a GSL 4 Panel Window then scoring it into pleats. You can't really see the sunny blue sky outside with the blinds on top but that's OK... I know it's always sunny outside Julia's kitchen window. 

Leaving off the ceiling and front facade left me with some tabs that needed to be covered. My solution was to paper the exterior all the way to the top of the tabs then glue 0.2 inch square bamboo craft sticks to the top of the tabs. Below those I glued lengths of 3/8 inch width x 0.078 inch craft sticks.

The finished effect looks like crown molding at the top of the room.

 The cat and artichoke artwork she displayed on her cabinets were reproduced and set into two of the GSL Connie's Mini Frames.

Here are some close ups showing the details and all the tiny kitchen ware, which were sourced both from my stash and Alpha Stamps.

This project was great fun and required me to plan ahead and learn a lot of new skills.  It will remind me of her every time I walk by it.  Thanks for stopping by!

GSL Products Used

Deep Open Front Room Box

Windows 4 Panel

Connie's Mini Frames

 

A Christmas Wish

Hi everyone!  Leigh Ann here on the Gypsy Soul Laser Cuts blog with my latest creation.  This is the clipboard from Gypsy Soul decorated with several other chipboard pieces, which I have titled "A Christmas Wish."

My first step was to cover the base of the clipboard with wood print paper from Simple Stories and then ink the edges with Distress Ink in Gathered Twigs.  I dry brushed the "clip" portion with white acrylic paint and then distressed it with the Gathered Twigs Ink as well.

Next I colored the smallest tree from the Pine Tree Shape Set with Distress Inks in Evergreen Bough and Iced Spruce.  I then used some craft glue and flocking powder to add a snowy effect.

Next, I took the smallest window from the 4 Panel Window set and dry brushed it with acrylic paint and then distressed it with Gathered Twigs ink as well.  I cut a piece of paper from the Simple Stories Simple Vintage Christmas collection to look as if Santa is peaking through the window.  I adhered it to the back of the window with glossy accents and then added flocking to look like there is snow in the window sill. 

I started to place these finished items on the clip board and decided I needed to add something to the left side for decoration.  I colored the street lamp from the Christmas Shapes set with Black Soot Distress Ink.  I colored the light bulb with a gold pen.  I also took the wreath from that set and cut small pieces of evergreen garland and glued them to the wreath to make it look like a real wreath.  I colored the bow with red paint and distressed it before attaching it to the wreath.  Then I attached the wreath to the street lamp. 

For finishing touches, I crinkled a piece of ribbon and tied it and a button with bakers twine.  I adhered this to the clip of the clipboard.  At the bottom I used the WISH letters from the Tim Holtz Typography Christmas pack, more evergreen garland, a Tim Holtz bell brad, and a pinecone that I bought from The Doodlebug, Inc. last year.

I hope you have enjoyed this tutorial!

I used the following Gypsy Soul Laser Cuts products in my project:

Christmas Shape Set
Windows 4 Panel
Pine Tree Shape Set
Miniature Clipboards

Have a great crafty week.

Leigh Ann

This Would Make Doing the Laundry So Much More Fun by Betsy Skagen

Let's face it, doing the laundry would be so much more fun with a retro pink washer and dryer.

Stashing a bottle of wine in the basket of clean towels, like this happy homemaker has done, probably wouldn't hurt either.

Thanks to the pairing up of Gypsy Soul Laser Cuts and Canvas Corp Brands, those of us who can't have a life-size retro pink laundry room can at least make one in miniature. Heck, with a little ingenuity, we can even have a sink bursting with bubbles!

How to Make a Retro Pink Laundry Room

Begin by creating your room base. I created a room from three squares of 9" x 9" foam core because I wanted a little bigger set, but  you can opt to assemble a Gypsy Soul Laser Cuts Room Box if you put fewer pieces of furniture in the room.

It is easier to adhere the floor and wall covering with a matte medium before gluing the room together. Use 7gypsies paper for wallpaper and faux white pine cardstock to create the floor. Then cut faux wood strips from the 7gypsies Architextures 8 x 8 paper pad and adhere to your wall panels to create a baseboard.

Paint a Window 4 Panel with white acrylic paint. Place a rectangle of  Blue & Ivory Mini Dot Reverse behind it and glue to the wall. Add some curtains by scrunching some pink and white scrap fabric with a hot glue gun.

It is easy to stick on and even reposition the vintage laundry starch sign with nifty Architextures removable ephemera.

The Table

Next assemble the  Tile Top Table using a strong adhesive. A lot of people wonder what to use for this kind of assembly. My personal favorite is Beacon Fabri-Tac because it is thick, dries quickly without me having to hold pieces in place and doesn't have nasty fumes.

Paint the table an off-white color. When dry, give the table an older, distressed appearance by accenting it with brown ink. Next, take one of the green pieces from the 7gypsies Architextures Junque Pack Attic and cut apart little squares and adhere to the top of the table, creating miniature tiles. Cut two rectangles and add to the front of the drawers and add small brads for drawer handles.

The Washing Machine

Find a small round plastic container to reuse (I used a micro bead container). Center the container on one of the 3-inch cube panels (Coming to Gypsy Soul Laser Cuts soon) and trace around it.

Cut this out, but err on the side of cutting too small a hole because if you cut too big a hole, you are, shall we politely say...screwed. Finish the hole with a file or sandpaper so that your container snugly fits inside it.

Remove the container, assemble five sides only of one of the 3-inch cubes, placing the round hole you made in the front and keep the bottom panel of the cube off. Prime the washer with a coat of gesso.

Take the remaining panel and instead of placing it on the bottom as intended, glue it to the back of the cube with approximately 1/2" sticking above the cube to create a panel.

Give the washer two coats of pink acrylic paint and a final coat of gloss gel medium. Punch starbursts from silver foil tape and adhere to the top panel. Cut a larger circle from the silver foil, adhere to panel and add a black bead.

Insert the clear plastic container and hot glue into place. Open the container and add small pieces of fabric to your "wash load".

The Dryer

Take one panel from the second 3-inch cube set and cut out a door. Sand the edges of the door and the panel so the door will open and shut smoothly. Prime all the pieces with a coat of gesso.

Punch a hole so that you can later insert a brad door handle. Use linen tape to create your door hinge and adhere one side of the hinge to the interior of the door and the other side to the panel interior.

Assemble the cube, placing the door hole you made in the front.

Give the dryer two coats of pink acrylic paint and a final coat of gloss gel medium. Paint a brad silver and when dry insert it into the door.

Just like you did with the washer, punch starbursts and cut a circle from silver foil tape. Adhere these with another black bead to the front of the dryer.

Cover both a plastic flexible straw  and metal nut with silver paint. When dry, trim the straw down and glue the flexible edge into the hole of the nut.

Decide where you want to place your washer and dryer. Center the straw/nut combo with the middle of the dryer and glue to the wall. 

 Washboard, Laundry Hamper & Sink

To make the washboard, adhere silver foil tape to both sides of a thin piece of chipboard and cut into a small rectangle. Run this through a corrugator paper crimper. Cut strips from the "crates sheet" of the 7gypsies Architextures 8 x 8 paper pad and adhere to both sides of chipboard. Make the washboard top, sides and bottom from these strips. 

To make the laundry hamper, cut four 2 5/8" narrow wooden dowels; six 1 1/2" dowels; and four 2 1/2" dowels. Hot glue the six dowels to the four 2 5/8" upright dowels. Then glue the 2 1/2" horizontally in place.

Cover with silver paint.

Cut a 6" strip of fine mesh. Lay a thin nylon string along the top edge, fold the mesh over and glue in place. Do this without getting glue on the string so that the string can still move freely. Repeat on the other end with the same piece of string. Glue both sides together to form a bag with a drawstring closure. 

Repeat to make a second bag and fill the bags with small bits of fabric.  

To make the sink, I actually altered an old wooden dollhouse sink. Paint the interior of the sink and cupboard white, the exterior pink and the faucet silver. Cover all with gloss gel medium. Cut a curtain from Canvas Corp Pink & Ivory Mini Dot Reverse. Cut a wavy pattern along one edge and punch holes along the opposite edge. Thread a narrow dowel through the holes and insert into the cupboard as a hinge.

Fill the sink with miniature antique glass beads and glue in place. Coat lightly with gloss gel medium and sprinkle with Twinklets Diamond Dust.

It's all in the Details

Bringing the laundry room together is all the little details. You can easily make the Happy Homemaker, vintage laundry boxes and the jar labels (and a whole lot more) from retro papers I designed.

Well, I hope you enjoyed the tutorial. I'm off to do the laundry. -Betsy

Great Stuff

3 inch-cube (two) Coming to Gypsy Soul Laser Cuts soon!
Tile Top Table
Window 4 Panel
9" x 9" squares of foam core (three) or Room Box set
7gypsies Architextures Junque Pack Attic
7gypsies Architextures 8 x 8 paper pad
Canvas Corp Blue & Ivory Mini Dot Reverse
Canvas Corp Pink & Ivory Mini Dot Reverse
7gypsies Trousseau 8 x 8 paper pad (retired)
Vintage Laundry #1
Vintage Laundry #2
Retro Pink Household
Beacon Fabri-Tac
Twinklets Diamond Dust
Glass jars
Set of unlabelled jars, bottles and tins
Metal mouse
Small plastic container
Silver foil tape sheet
Starburst punch
Assorted beads
Assorted miniature items from personal collection
Matte medium
Gloss gel medium
Brads
Narrow wooden dowels
Fabric
Fabric mesh
White nylon string
Thin chipboard
Acrylic paint
Hot glue gun
Corrugator paper crimper

Believe in the beauty of your dreams by Betsy Skagen

Eleanor Roosevelt's statement, "The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams," is so powerful in my life right now that it inspired me to make this mixed media piece.

While mixed media in its strictest definition is not one of my strongest skill sets, I am always trying to learn more and improve little by little.

I began this piece by painting the Celestial Shape Set moon gold. However, I found it flat and boring.

So I covered it with gold crackle paste and let it dry overnight. Next I rubbed  brown cream wax into the surface, wiping off the excess. Then I applied black Gilders paste wax to the edges. My moon was looking so much better than when I first painted him.

The next step in this process was to prepare the other chipboard pieces. One thing I have learned over the years is that ink is the easiest way to color chipboard black. I applied black ink to both the Street Lamp and the Mini Fence and Gate. What's nice about this is there is no drying time and no paint globs to hide the detailed intricacies of the chipboard.

I also gave the Windows a coat ivory of ivory paint. When dry, I aged them with tan distress ink.

At this point I was getting into the groove of the project. Yep. I was really having fun. A blast even. In fact, I was having so much fun that I completely forgot about taking pictures.

Oops.

Please bear with me as I describe the next few steps without any pictures. Sorry about that. (It really was fun).

I cut a sheet of white glossy paper and used masking tape to attach a floral stencil and then added a geometric stencil to the base of the paper.

Next I dribbled alcohol ink in different shades of blue and green into the stencil holes. More spread under the stencil than I would have liked, but I decided not to fret about it. Besides, what could I do?

After I had completely filled the stencil holes and given the alcohol ink a few minutes to dry, I removed the stencils.

Because of all the bleeding when the ink went beneath the stencil, I outlined the pattern with blue, green and black gel pens. I also drew in a silhouette of a tree branch with a black Sharpie.

Guess what! I finally have a picture for you!

As you can see, I ran into a problem with my tree branch becoming too wide, but I didn't worry about it because I knew the moon would cover it up.

I adhered the moon, windows and vintage girl.

Then I used gloss gel medium to adhere the vellum quotation, fence and street lamp. I drew additional patterns over the vellum to tie the pieces together.

Great Stuff

Celestial Shape Set
Mini Fence and Gate
Christmas Shape Set (Street Lamp)
Windows 4 Panel
Girl from Snarky Ancestors #3
Black distress ink
Tan distress ink
Gold Crackle Paste
Brown Wax
Black Wax
Glossy white paper
Masking tape
Floral stencil
Geometric stencil
Alcohol ink in assorted blues and greens
Gel pens in blue, green, and black
Black Sharpie
Gloss gel medium
Quotation on vellum

Fairy Tales and Secret Doors

I've had a lot of fairy tales running around in my brain for the last couple of weeks and they are ripe with endless possibilities. So much so that it's very hard to get them out of ones head! Not that I'm complaining, I love fairy tales, but they do seem to have a mind of their own and tend to go galloping off with a person on little side trips!
I was thinking of pivotal moments in fairy tales and wandered down the Sleeping Beauty path whilst playing with the Hidden Drawer Book Box and this project is a result of that.
That moment before Aurora touches the spinning wheel needle. Open the box and it tells you a story.........

I had a lot of fun using Lumiere Metallic Acrylics and Liquid Pearls dots for embellishing the cover and inside the box. I like the pearls in her braid.

All the papers were from 'An Eerie Tale' by Graphic 45. The fancy green and purple curlicues are from the Wrought Iron Set.
I cut up various bits to suit the space they were going in to and primed them all with Gesso. After they dried I used Metallic Olive Green acrylic paint (from Lumiere) on the inside pieces. The purple bits on the outside of the box I colored with Jaquard Dye-na-Flow Violet fabric paint. Let me tell you, that stuff is fun to play with! The colors are fantastic and they mix well with each other. I spent far too long playing with them on various surfaces. Including my skin, accidentally. It was a little awesome....The violet made my skin look really cool.....kind of like Violet Beauregarde from "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory".

SUPPLIES:
Wrought Iron Set
Hidden Drawer Book Box
Windows 4 Panel
 (Window is the medium one and used behind the old spinner and Sleeping Beauty)


Additional supplies:
Lumiere Metallic Acrylic Paint in Olve
Jaquard Dye-na-Flow Ink in Violet
Liquid Pearls in Blackberry and Key Lime
Wooden knob
Swarovski Crystal in Aurora ( I thought it apropo)
Glue
Matte Medium (I like Liquitex)
Graphic 45 'An Eerie Tale' paper

Thank you for visiting!

1980s Punk Scene

Hey guys it's Jess here again with the last bit of my punk room box. I'm going to finish up by showing you a mini tutorial on window-dressing, and then showing you how my room box turned out.

Last time I showed you how I worked with the GSLC 4 Panel Windows to make them 3D with foamcore. Now we're going to dress it up a bit more. Below is your 3d-ified 4 Panel windows from last time.

This is Shaper Sheet from Woodland Scenics and is cotton on one side and a thick sort of aluminum foil on the other side. It's very useful for a wide array of crafting projects and today we're using it for a window dressing for GSLC.

Picking your material, cut it in the general shape of three loops. It's not overly important to be exact here (I'm never exact it my cutting and measuring. If I try, I always fail at it). Cut the material larger than your Shaper Sheet, also in the same general shape.

Use hot glue to glue the two pieces together. Just squish em' together. The back side won't show. No need to be clean.

Then I squished each of the three pieces upwards and then in on top of each other, creating that late 80s/90s window dressing look for your window. Easy peasy lemon squeasy. 

The Punk Bedroom

Full view of the bedroom.

Posters, bed, pizza box, radio....

Comics, sock, skateboard and records.

Box of books.

Table with boom box and various cassette tapes piled. A box of comics underneath, a stray sock, some records, an old pizza box.

Stained mattress and open comic book on the bed. Stickers on the headboard. 

GSLC Products

Standard Bed 1:12

Windows 4 Panel