The house that snark built

This is the house that snark built.  

It's a bittersweet day for me today.  After three years with the Gypsy Soul Laser Cuts team today will be my last post.  I have loved every second I have been on the team and promise I won't be gone forever.  So, for this post I decided to go out the way I came in- full of snark.  

This project was made with the House Oddities box.  This kit includes the box and all the little houses inside.  It's pretty amazing.  

I started with two sheets of watercolor paper and used Distress Oxide Sprays to color them.  The first sheet has Broken China, Wilted Violet, Pumice Stone, and Cracked Pistachio Oxides.  After the initial layer of Oxides I added some PaperArtsy Infusions in Rocky Road. I areas that were still exposed got hit with Distress Ink in the corresponding colors.  

The second sheet was made using Picked Raspberry, Peacock Feathers, and Squeezed Lemonade Oxide Sprays.  I added Infusions in Violeta and filled in the blanks with Distress Ink.

The houses are hinged together using plain white sports tape.  I cut a small piece and put it on the front of the house.  A second piece went on the back so there was no stick exposed tape.  I knew I wasn't going to make the pages too thick with embellishments.  If you want to recreate this house and know you will have chunky pages just make the hinges longer.  The hinges are painted with colors that correspond to the pages.  

I cut the watercolor paper to fit each house and then stamped up the backgrounds.  I used several of Tim Holtz Stampers Anonymous sets (CMS364, CMS341, CMS328,CMS302, CMS294,CMS261, CMS187, CMS172,CMS083, and CMS081) for this.  Some of the backgrounds were stamped using Archival ink in Hydrangea and the rest were stamped using Staz-on Pigment inks.  

Part of the stamping was done before the embellishments were added.  After the paperdolls, sentiments, and other bits were glued down I added a bit more stamping. 

Once all the stamping was done I went back in with various gel pens to add doodles and scribbles.  

So this is what the front row of houses looks like all stretched out.  

You can see I added bits to some of the pages.  The little crown, chain, party hats, and coin add just a bit of bulk but I took that into account when making the hinges. 

 Here are the back pages of the house. 

 Now these could be the front.  It just depends on how you fold them up. 

 I had so much fun picking out the paperdolls and the snarky sentiments for each. 

The exterior is quite simple to put together. 

I painted the exterior black and the interior with Dina Wakley's Lime.  Once it was all dry I used Beacon 3 in 1 glue to stick it all together.  Don't glue the front to the box or you won't be able to get inside! I gave the exterior a spritz of gold ink spray just so it wasn't flat black.

 The interior was splattered with the same color paints I used to color the hinges in the book. You can see the little houses all fit right inside the box.  

You can hinge the door to the houses, so when you pull the door open all the houses come right out.  I decided to do mine a bit differently and I actually used Tim Holtz hinges to hinge the door to the box.  The door panels were covered using the same background paper that covers the houses inside. 

Here you can see the top of the box was stuck to the door using a layer of foam tape.  The door is hinged to the side of the box using the metal hinges.  I used an awl and then was able to use brads to attach the hinges.  Please pardon my hand in here, the wooden base I use to take my photos is a bit warped so sometimes projects want to fall over.  

The final touches were added by spraying the finials with Oxide sprays in Peacock Feathers and Cracked Pistachio.  They got splattered with the paint too.  The baseboard doll was edged with gold(and the entire backside is painted gold too).  He got his snarky sentiment and was glued to the box using super glue.  

I hope you enjoyed my project today.  I had so much fun making it! 

Happy Crafting,

Jess

Wear it again tomorrow

Hi Guys,
Jess here today.

I've been in a bit of a snarky mood lately and when I saw this lady I knew she needed to be used for a project.

I started by taking my Laurel Frame and covering it with a layer of gesso using a foam brush.  Using the same brush I added some Dina Wakley Paint.  I didn't clean the brush between uses so there was still gesso in there creating different shades of blue. 

Using the script stamp from the Tim Holtz Entomology Set(CMS328). I stamped across the frame in Hickory Smoke Oxide Ink.  I sealed the ink using Micro Glaze. 

This photo was cut to fit inside the frame.

For the back panel I used a 5x7 canvas board and loosely painted it using the paints pictured.  I added some stamped bits from the Time Holtz Mini Media Marks(CMS364).  These were done with Archival Ink in Black Soot and Hydrangea.  Before I finished my project I added in a bit of Victorian Velvet Distress Paint to pick up the pink you see in the background piece.  

To mount the photo I used a piece of humble cardboard.  Peel parts of the top layer to expose the corrugate and then cover with gesso.  I did a couple thin layers to cover all of the brown.  I added some collage paper to the bits that still had the full cardboard using collage medium.  To color the cardboard and collage paper I used Distress Crayon(Victorian Velvet, Cracked Pistachio, Worn Lipstick, and Gathered Twigs) and water to give it a dreamy hazy look. Pearl details were added to the frame and the snarky sentiment. 

To complete the piece I painted a set of  Mini Petal Corners using Dina Wakley Ancient Paint.  

 A couple close ups of the finished details. I ended up going back with Jet Black Archival ink and restamping the script on the frame.  I added a bit of DIstress Crayon in Gathered Twigs to dinge it up.  There is a teeny bit of the Dina paint in Ancient on there too. 

I love the grungy look the cardboard gives. 

Layers and details.  

I hope you like her and take her sage advice!

Jess

Double, double toil and trouble

Hi Everyone,
 Jess here today with an award for the best witch.

Start by embossing your Small Swirl Medallion using Oil Rubbed Bronze embossing powder from Emerald Creek.

For the base of the ribbon I took a bright green ribbon and sprayed it with Distress Spray stain in Picket Fence to give it a good base coat.  Once the Stain was dry I used various stains and paints to get the color I wanted.  This is the center of the ribbon that I popped off, but you can see the base colors.  

Assemble your Tiny Shadowbox House.  I always paint and paper my house before gluing it together.  I painted all of the edges black and stippled on gold, bronze, and green paint.  The inside of the house has patterned paper that I inked up a bit.  

The roof of the house was made using a 3d impresslit and some gold paper.  Once the paper was embossed I colored it using alcohol inks. 

I added a teeny bit of moss to the floor. 

To make the ribbon tails I used muslin. 

Using archival inks I stamped the muslin and added color using spray stains.  The edges got a bit of Distress Crayon and metallic paint.  Once they were dry I just glued them to the back of the ribbon. 

Glue the Small Swirl Medallion to the center of the ribbon.   Then glue the Tiny Shadowbox House to the center of the medallion.  

Your ribbon is finished and ready to wear.  

Happy crafting,

Jess

ATC Journal

Hi Everyone,
Jess here today to show you this awesome ATC ticket journal that will be coming soon to the Gypsy Soul Laser Cuts store.

Start by adding a thin layer of gesso to the journal on the front and the back.  Once it is dry paint with Deco Art Fluid Acrylic Paint in Titan Buff.  Using Distress Collage medium adhere small pieces of Tim Holtz Tissue wrap and Collage paper to each side.  Be sure you cover the entire journal with Collage Medium as it makes it easier to move around your color later.

Once the collage medium is dry add stamps using archival inks. 

After you are happy with your base you can add color using Distress Crayons, paint, and gel pens.

Cut a piece of the honeycomb and emboss it. I added bits throughout the journal and just cut the pieces to size as I went.   

The crown is colored with a gel pen.

Here the honeycomb and bee are colored using a gel pen. 

These little bits are the centers of the comb. They are supposed to be waste, but you can always put those little bits to good use.  

To hold the journal together I used a large vintage pin I just purchased at a local junk show. 

Here are a few closeups for you too. 

Enjoy!

Jess