Bird Lantern 2-A Peek-a-Boo Project

Some Eastern Bluebirds Migrate south for the winter others stay if the weather is agreeable and nourishment is plentiful. In Pennsylvania, where I grew up they were rarely seen in the deepest part of winter. They would return in the springtide as assuredly as the red-winged blackbird.

Many artists still like to illustrate the Eastern Bluebirds in snow. They are the inspiration for this artwork.

You can be a bluebird of happiness to those along the way. How we treat others does really matter. We may be the only joy they know. A neighbor told me I was kind and an encourager. I said back…we brighten each others path and lighten the others load. Be of good cheer the rainbows will return and that which is frozen will melt, even a frozen heart or withered spirit. 

1. Gather Supplies.
   
2. Cover GSLC Tree 2 with Cosmic Shimmer Lava Paste Colored with Alcohol Inks in Brown Tones. Using a  Small Plastic Spatula to Randomly Spread Paste.
   
   
3. Apply Pearlescent Glitter while Wet so Paste acts Like an Adhesive.
   
4. Once Fully Dry fill in Gaps and Highlight with Alcohol Inks in Brown and Green Tones using a Fan Brush.
   
5. Paint Swing part  of GSLC Bird on a Swing Shape Set with Copper and Gold Paints.
   
6. Paint Bird Part of GSLC Bird on a Swing Shape Set with Neon Yellow, Pink, Blue, and Orange Paints.
   
7. Use Adhesive Foam Circles of Various Sizes to Adhere Your Painted and Prepared Parts. Allow to Dry Fully.
   
8. Add a bit of Moss and a Battery Operated Tea Light to Inside of Decorated Metal Lantern.

Final Thoughts:

In the deep dark winter depending on its severity we begin to get cabin fever or loose hope of brighter days. Bluebirds are a reminder to be happy in each day:

“Be happy!” This is what these 

  bluebirds say.

“Just be happy, there is some

joy in everyday!”

Be like the bluebird, who never is

blue. For he knows from his

upbringing what singing can do.

~Cole Porter~

The Bluebird carries the sky 

on his back.

~Henry David Thoreau~

This bright blue bird of Happiness,

I send across the miles,

To carry joyous greeting

And fill your day with smiles.

Be as a bird perched on a frail ranch

that she feels bending beneath her;

Still she sings away all the same,

Knowing she has wings.

~Victor Hugo~

There is a candle in your heart, 

ready to be kindled

    ~Rumi~

Carry a candle in the dark, be a candle 

in the dark, know that your a flame

in the dark.

~Ivan Illich~

Thousands of candles can be lighted 

from a single candle, and the life of

the candle will not be shortened.

        Happiness never decreases by 

being shared.

~Buddha~

Supplies:  GSLC Bird on a Swing Shape Set , GSLC Tree 2, Small Metal Decorative Lantern,Cosmic Shimmer Lava Paste, Alcohol Ink in Brown and Green Tones, Small Plastic Spatula, Pearlescent Glitter, Fan Paintbrush, Gold and Copper Paints, Blue, Yellow, Pink and Orange Neon Paint, Adhesive Foam Circles, Moss, Battery Operated Tea Light

I cannot wait to see your interpretation of this project. Share it on the Gypsy Soul Laser Cuts Craft Group Page on Facebook. I would love to see what new creations you are working on!

Bird Lantern 1-A Peek-a-Boo Project

I’ve written about my fascination of birds in many of my blog posts before. From Walks in Woods-A Christmas Story, “He hears a chirping nearby and lolls up to have a dusting of snow fall upon his already frozen face.He sees the first chickadee of the day. The boy believes them the best of the snowbirds because they look like antique graying barns that stood whitewashed once brand new.  Read the rest of the story by clicking on the hyperlink above. 

A while back I was gifted a collection of ephemera with a variety or bird items among them, then another thoughtful  friend sent me a cloth calendar from 1987 that also featured birds upon it. This reminded me of one of the treasures I took from our ole homestead in Pennsylvania.It is a Vintage Bamboo Scroll Calendar we would get each year from R. S. Fought and Sons, a feed store where we would pick up our chicken feed. These are the inspirations 

for this artwork.

1. Gather Supplies.
   

   
2. Cover GSLC Catweed Shape Set with White, Gray, Pale Green and Quinacridone Nickel AZO Gold Acrylic Paints Randomly with a Paintbrush.
   
3. Apply Pearlescent Glitter while Wet so Paste acts Like an Adhesive.  Allow to Dry Fully.
4. Cover GSLC Fern Fronds with Pale Green and Quinacridone Nickel AZO Gold, Green Gold, Radiant Yellow and Color Shift Green Acrylic Paints Randomly with a Paintbrush.
   
5. Apply Pearlescent Glitter while Wet so Paste acts Like an Adhesive.  Allow to Dry Fully.
   
6. Paint Swing part  of GSLC Bird on a Swing Shape Set with Copper and Gold Paints.
7. Paint Bird Part of GSLC Bird on a Swing Shape Set with Gray, White, Tan, Yellow Acrylic Paints.
8. 
   Use Adhesive Foam Circles of Various Sizes to Adhere Your Painted and Prepared Parts. Allow to Dry Fully.
9. Add a bit of Moss and a Battery Operated Tea Light to Inside of Decorated Metal Lantern.
   
   
   

Final Thoughts: 

Lately I’ve been wishing my days away, wanting t change the pages on the  calendar, trying to get to summer. It’s not that I mind the cold or the winter season. I want this school year in particular to be over. I have a a few good classes and exceptional students in all of them, but a few have broken my spirit and taken away the joy of teaching. I am sure that the past three years have been challenging for many of us, but it has totally changed education and teaching. I’ll not dwell on it as I am on winter break as I write this and want to savor every moment of it.

I’ll instead focus on an all time favorite poem of mine:

“Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening” 

by Robert Frost.

Whose woods these are I think I know.

His house is in the village though;

He will not see me stopping here

To watch his woods fill up with snow.

The little horse must think it queer

To stop without a farmhouse near

Between the woods and the frozen lake

The darkest evening of the year.

He gives his harness bells a shake

To ask if there is some mistake.

The only other sound’s the sweep

Of easy wind and downy flake.

The woods are lovely dark and deep.

But I have promises to keep, 

And miles to go before I sleep,

And miles to go before I sleep.

“The Snow-Bird” 

by Frank Dempster Sherman

When all the ground with snow is white, 

The merry snow-bird comes,

And hops about with great delight

To find the scattered crumbs.

How glad he seems to get to eat

A piece of cake or bread!

He wears no shoes upon his feet, 

Nor hat upon his head.

But happiest is he, I know

Because no cage with bars

Keeps him from walking on the snow

And printing it with stars.

We must choose our own happiness and do waits within our power to bring light into our current darkness. A single candle lit illuminates a whole room.

Supplies:  GSLC Bird on a Swing Shape Set , GSLC Catweed Shape Set, GSLC Fern Fronds, Small Metal Decorative Lantern, White, Gray, Tan, Yellow, Gold, Copper, Pale Green, Green Gold, Quinacridone Nickel AZO Gold, Radiant Yellow, Color Shift Green Acrylic Paints, Paintbrush, Adhesive Foam Circles, Moss, Battery Operated Tea Light

I cannot wait to see your interpretation of this project. Share it on the Gypsy Soul Laser Cuts Craft Group Page on Facebook. I would love to see what new creations you are working on!

Wicked Witch

 Hi Guys, 

Jess here.  Meet the sweetest wicked witch ever.  

Using a gel medium, cover your art doll with the paper of your choosing.  I covered the front and back of my doll using pages from an old shorthand book. 

Go around all of your edges with Distress Ink in Antique Linen. Using an awl make holes in your doll for her joints and put her together using brads.  

You might notice she is missing her head. I used an image and then popped a witch hat on her head. 

I just glued the head to the body.  

The witch hat is mounted on a scrap of chipboard that was the edge of something I had from Gypsy Soul.  I ran the hat through my Xyron sticker maker and then just trimmed the chipboard around my new sticker.  The fabric on her hat is that same as her skirt.  I took white cheese cloth and sprayed it with Distress Stains.  The vintage bingo marker has a little spider rub on. 

The Bird Cage is covered with Emerald Creek Embossing Powders.  Instead of carrying a bird, she has a little bat in there.  

I cut her boots out of cardstock.  They are a little wonky since I freehanded them, but witch shoes don't have to be pretty.  

I love the brad on her belt and the necklace details too.

Here she is one more time.

Jess

GSLCuts items:

 Medium Art Doll

2 Inch Cage with Back

little bat

You can't cage your heart

Hi Everyone,
I love to create for Valentine's day.  I have a fun necklace for you today and it was really easy to make.

Start with your birdcage chipboard.  I used the 3 inch version for this project, but it is available in two additional sizes.
I embossed both sides of the top piece.

The heart is a die cut piece of paper that I wet and crumpled into a ball.  I flattened it, dried it with my heat tool, and then sanded it to highlight the wrinkles.

The wings are painted with a couple light coats of acrylic paint and then grunged up with a brown ink and some bronze paint.


The back of the birdcage that the heart will be on is embossed in a slightly different color than the front and it doesn't have full coverage. I wanted some of the chipboard to peep through. The back of the piece is embossed in the same color as the top piece of the cage.

The wings are attached to the heart using foam tape.  I used foam tape and a strong adhesive to attach the heart to the back of the cage.

A large jump ring holds the two pieces of the cage together.  The cage pieces are not attached in any other way.  I want the cage to swing open when I wear this piece.

I hope you like it and maybe make one for yourself!

Jess