Inner Child by Betsy Skagen

The weekend is here. When the week has been especially trying, it can feel as if your inner child is a little battered. 

Or maybe, the inner child is still whole, but its protective nook inside the heart sustained some damage, the glass window shattered. 

To be honest, my inner child feels great, but I just liked the concept of this art piece.

To make it, I began with the Little Heart Niche, which as you can see, includes a handy hanger for the back.

I adhered the pieces to the backside of a sheet of scrapbook paper and fussy cut the paper to match the chipboard.

I then reinforced the corners of the niche with some tape--just to give it some extra strength--and glued the niche onto the heart.

Next, I applied Distress Grit Paste, pressed heart stamps into the paste and dried with a heat gun.  I darkened the edges of the heart with black ink and then sprayed everything with purple and black ink sprays. After the ink dried, I applied embossing ink, sprinkled Rocky Road Baked Texture onto the surface and activated with heat gun.

I cut a frame from chipboard, applied embossing ink and covered it with Rocky Road Baked Texture and activated with heat gun. I used the same technique on a heart paperclip.

While the frame and paper clip cooled (be very careful when heating any metal with a heat gun!), I glued thin sheets of broken mica over the top of the niche.

I then shredded and inked some cheese cloth, sprayed a small figurine candle with distress ink and adhered these inside the niche.

After gluing the paper clip and frame in place, I printed, cut out and inked the edges of my words and adhered them to the heart.

Thanks for stopping by to check out the tutorial. I hope you have a lovely weekend. If it is even a little bit as cold as it is here in Minnesota, I hope it gives you an excuse to stay inside and create art all weekend long! -Betsy

Great Stuff

Little Heart Niche
Dress My Craft scrapbook paper
Distress Grit Paste
Heart stamps
Beacon Fabri-Tac
Spray inks
Distress Black Soot ink pad
Distress Vintage Photo ink pad
Seth Apter's Rocky Road Baked Texture
Embossing ink
Grit paste
Chipboard
Paper clip
Mica sheet
Cheese cloth

Mine Tags Taste like Honey

I have always been drawn to encaustic art, yet I have never quite managed to begin the process for using it in my own crafting. For quite awhile I had been planning on using Gypsy Soul's Honeycomb & Bees in an encaustic project--because shouldn't every honeycomb project be created with beeswax?

That is why I was delighted when Seth Apter developed his Vintage Beeswax Embossing Powder. I combined the Honeycomb & Bees with the Embossing Powder to create a faux encaustic look on  three golden honey-colored tags.

To make the tags, I began by collaging vintage dictionary pages about bees onto manilla tags.

Next I cut the Honeycomb into sections and painted them and two of the bees 

with yellow paint. When dry, I added flecks of white paint and inked the edges with brown ink.

I hope you forgive me, but I had so much fun creating these tags that I forgot to take photos of the next few steps.

I spritzed the tags with Tattered Leather Spray and dried them with a heat gun. I then flicked droplets of High Impact and Glimmer Glam Paint onto the tags. After drying with a heat gun, I inked the edges of the tags with brown ink. 

Next I dabbed tiny drops of glue randomly on the tags and added gold flakes to the tags. I also covered one of the bees with gold flakes.  

After adhering the honeycomb and bees to the tags, I covered each of the tags in embossing ink and coated with Vintage Beeswax embossing powder. I set the powder with a heat gun and repeated this process four more times to give the tags the encaustic look. 

Finally, I painted each tag with matte medium to remove the glossiness. After the tags were dry, I threaded ivory ribbons through the holes. 

Thanks for stopping by the blog today. I hope that this project inspires you to BEE creative. Have a fantastic week. - Betsy

Great Stuff

Honeycomb & Bees- Small
Seth Apter's Vintage Beeswax Embossing Powder
Acrylic paint
Vintage Photo Distress Ink
Tattered Angels Glitter Glam Paint
Tattered Angels High Impact White Paint
Tattered Angels Glimmer Mist Tattered Leather Spray
Embossing Ink
Gold flakes
Matte medium
Ribbons

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

Altered Christmas Window

Hello! Cherry here at the Gypsy Soul Laser Cuts Blog.

I have a fun altered Christmas window to share.

I started by tracing my chosen paper onto the Dimensional Window Kit

.

 I then cut the window with my paper cutter to get a nice straight line and than adhered with paper and lightly sanded the edges.

 I then covered my back window with my other pattern paper and then layered both pieces together.

 From there I wrapped my ribbons around the window and adhered my embellishments to each window pane.

Here it is finished.

Thanks for visiting the GSLC blog, Cherry

GSLC Supplies-

Dimensional Window Kit

Santa Baby and Under the Mistletoe

Hello GSLC paper peeps!  Time to get our Christmas crafting on!

Cherry here today to share a couple of fun ornaments for Gypsy Soul Laser Cuts.

I used their sweet mitten micro mini book and just used them separately.

I covered each one in papers by tracing them onto my chosen papers.

 I used sewn crepe papers for my cuffs and added ribbons, images, snowflakes, and other sweet embellishments to make them unique.

 These would make adorable ornaments for the tree or tie to a very special package this season.

 Here they are done! 

  

Here is my other one....different colors....so many combinations you can come up with. This one I added feathers to the base of the cuff of the mitten. 

Thanks for visiting the Gypsy Soul Laser Cuts blog, Cherry

 Gypsy Soul Laser Cuts supplies-

mitten book micro mini

Time for Santa

  Hello paper peeps!  Cherry here at the Gypsy Soul Laser Cuts blog today.

I have a fun ornament made with the holiday season in mind.  Which is not far off.  Ten Saturdays before Christmas.  Yes. Really!

I made the base of the ornament from the Gypsy Soul Laser Cuts Alarm Clock.  I started by painting it red, distressing, and waxing it to bring out the worn appearance.

 Lots of goodies were added to give the clock a fun retro appearance.

I added twine to hang it, ripped gingham fabric, green seam binding, and topped the ribbons off with berries.

Here it is done!  Thanks for visiting the Gypsy Soul Laser Cuts blog, Cherry

Gypsy Soul Laser Cuts supplies-

Alarm Clock