A little experiment with the same chiboards

   Hi everyone!

Myry again and today I'm going to do a little experiment! 

You can try it with any chipboard but you need two equal. I'm going to use this spectacular butterfly.

First paint the A side of one of the chipboards, and the B side of the other with gesso. The idea is that both faces match.

Once dry cut a piece of acetate the size of the chipboard.

Paint both chipboards with paint, with glitter... do it to your liking!

When it dries, glue one to the acetate, cut the excess, turn it over and glue the other.

What do you think? I think it can be an interesting embellishment.

Gypsy Soul Laser Cuts items used:

Butterfly Of Gears

Other items used:

Acrylic paints 

Glue and scissors

Acetate

wings of time

Hi everyone, Ann here today, sharing an ATC shrine that I call "wings of time."
From the moment I set eyes on the ATC Shrine-Time, I envisioned a Fornasetti face within the circular clock area of the door, but I was unsure where I would take it from there. I put off working on the project for a while and finally decided that it would be best to simply start and see where it would lead...
I apologize for the lack of process photos in this post, it seems once I started working, I was so intent on creating that I forgot to stop and capture all the steps. My hope is that my description is easily understandable.

I begin by painting all the pieces of the ATC Shrine-Time black. Then I locate the image that I intend to place within the clock face. I trace the outermost edge of the circle (clock) shape onto the graphic and fussy cut. A piece of black cardstock is adhered to the reverse side of the image so that when the door to the shrine is open, it will appear as a solid plane. Before adhering the face piece, I emboss the clock hands on the shrine door. This is easily accomplished with a VersaMark pen and gun metal embossing powder. I heat set the powder on the exterior surface and then complete the same process on the inside. I let the embossing cool and then adhere the image that has been cut to size in place.  Once the iconic image is set, the project seems to direct itself.

I know that at some point I would like the shrine to be functional, a place to store artist trading cards. For this reason, the interior of the shrine is not embellished with protruding objects. Everything inside is kept fairly flat. The rear panel of the shrine is covered with a piece of black and white tweed pattern paper. I ink the paper with hickory smoke and milled lavender distress ink to coordinate with the Fornasetti image. A sentiment is layered onto wilted violet oxide-inked cardstock and attached to the back panel reading "REMEMBER YOUR WINGS."
A stamped and colored butterfly is attached to the solid black circle on the inside of the shrine door. The butterfly's body is an embossed clock hand from the GSLC Steampunk Shape Set.

The Rear of the shrine contains a Gypsy Soul Laser Cuts Butterfly of Gears. I love this chipboard piece. It is sold as a set of two identical butterflies, I am only using one for this piece, but I already have a plan for the second butterfly.

The butterfly has been painted with seedless preserves distress paint and then dipped in wilted violet oxide ink to create a beautiful finish. Some of the steampunk cogs and gears are embossed, as well as the body, and tips of the wings. I use the same method that was used for the shrine's clock hands, a VersaMark pen and gun metal embossing powder. When the embossing has cooled, Ideaology metal embellishments are adhered to the butterfly with collage medium. Once the collage medium is dry, the butterfly is attached to the rear panel with collage medium and set aside.  A big chat "FLY" sticker is inked with wilted violet oxide ink and then attached below the butterfly.

I secure a ball hitch through the circular opening on one of the clock hands of the shrine door. This becomes a knob that allows easy access to the shrine's interior. I also emboss four wooden beads and attach these to the base of the shrine to raise it up off the surface it stands on. The crown atop the shrine is another piece from the Steampunk Shape Set. This set has so many pieces, I find myself reaching for it often to use on my projects. The crown has been colored with wilted violet distress oxide and then splattered with seedless preserves paint. The tops and back side of the crown has been embossed with gun metal embossing powder.

I really like the way that this ATC shrine turned out. The Gypsy Soul laser cuts store has many different ATC Shrine styles, from nautical, to steampunk, and everything in between. It's definitely worth checking out! I hope that you are inspired to create something of your own, perhaps something that you have put off because you are unsure of how it will turn out. You will never know if you don't start somewhere.

Thanks so much for stopping by the blog today,
 I really appreciate you taking the time.
~Ann

Gypsy Soul Laser Cuts used:
ATC Shrine - Time
Butterfly of Gears
Steampunk Shape Set

With a Head Full of Numbers

Hello and happy Friday!! Jennalee here today with a project featuring a few of my favorite things wings and rust!! The Butterfly of Gears wings from Gypsy Soul Laser Cuts are the inspiration behind this piece. Who knew you could make wings better by adding gears?

The Butterfly of Gears comes in a 2 pack and are just so inspiring. 

To add faux rust to your wings paint a base layer of white acrylic paint using a cosmetics sponge to dab it on. Using the same sponge randomly dab on Distress Grit Paste and allow to air dry. Once dry sprinkle a generous amount of Rusty Car Infusions directly onto the wings. Spray generously and allow the water to work its magic. Keep adding Infusions and spraying until desired coverage and color is achieved. 

Once the infusions have dried fill in any white areas with Rusty Hinge and Walnut Stain Distress Crayons. Using a very light touch add some detail with Cracked Pistachio Distress Crayon. 

Faux rust three Tim Holtz Hardware Heads using Ginger, Latte and Mushroom Alchohol Inks. Add detail with Walnut Stain and Cracked Pistachio Distress Crayons. Adhere to gears on wings. 

Add faux rust to Clock Hands using Rusting Powder from Paper Artsy. 

Create a ruler piece using the ruler from Tim Holtz's Thrift Shop Ephemera pack and a piece of scrap chipboard. 

Add Distress Crazing Medium to the ruler image and once dry add Walnut Stain Distress Crayon. 

Prepare a Ticket Booth ticket colored with Fired Brick Distress Oxide Spray. 

Gather chosen Ephemera pieces and distress using instant coffee. Layout collage and adhere to book cover. 

Layer dial, wings and Found Relative on top of the collage. 

Adhere Clock Hands to the ruler and then adhere to the bottom of the book cover. 

Add faux rust coloring to a Tim Holtz Vintage Clip using Ginger, Latte and Mushroom Alcohol Ink. Add details with Cracked Pistachio and Walnut Stain Distress Crayon. Prepare Numeric embellishment using the same colors and adhere to clip. 

It felt so good to get back in the studio and play with some of my favorite mediums. I really took my time to just enjoy the process and the flow of the project. Plus who knew you could rust so many pieces in multiple ways? 

Thanks for stopping by today. I hope you get to sneak in some creative time this weekend along with hopefully a bit of Spring weather. 

Happy Creating ~ Jennalee 

Evolve

Hi Everyone,

Jess here today with a masculine project for you. 

 I have been on a kick lately doing more masculine and grungy projects.  This one evolved into one too.   

I used an Extra Large tag and scored the bottom to create the shelf.  I used a piece of mixed media tape to hold the bend since I knew I would be adding some weight to it. 

I used a piece of paper from Tim Holtz that had a blueprint type feel to it and added some stamped elements.

I wanted there to be more wings on it, so I found most of my wings stamps and added them all over.  I liked the man wearing goggles too, just in case my guy is worried about something getting in his eye.  

I used the Butterfly of Gears and cut it in half.  This side I embossed using a metallic gold.  I added different colors by dripping on alcohol inks. 

I added some metal gears and brads.  I used the chipboard gear from the Miniature Guy Things Set too.  

The other side was embossed and backed with paper to make it look like a monarch wing.  

I added a jar of gears for him to stand on and the rest came down to details.  

There are more wings with blueprint details over them.  Tiny blueprints are rolled up.  There are some failed experiments down there too.  

The letters add the finishing touch.  

Enjoy!

Jess

Time to Discover Adventure

Hello fellow gypsy crafters!  It's Susan here, and I want to open the Gypsy Soul Laser Cuts door to adventure with you.  Don your best steampunk-ish outfit and get ready to travel the future-past.  Our door is found behind the red "gates" of the Square Shrine Gate Fold.

The first thing was to choose the papers that help tell the story.  The door paper here started the theme, and all others fell into place.  I outlined each GSLC piece and cut out with a paper trimmer.

The hinges are made from self-adhesive linen hinging tape (Lineco brand, on Amazon).  I cut lengths for the front and back, and carefully positioned my shrine pieces to 1/4" (6.35mm) apart.  This was fiddly and the parts moved easily, so be careful when laying the tape down.

The linen tape is super thin.  Separate it from the backing and carefully position.  Here I have already done one side and am matching up the tape.

Press a bone folder or other pokey thing into the hinge to help front and back tape stick to each other. Do this on both sides and feel free to move the gates open and closed to get a solid stick.

I painted my hinges with black gesso.  I'm a huge fan of the super-flat paint effect and use the gesso as paint often.

Here I've inked the edges of my papers and am using Mod Podge to adhere to each shrine piece.  A brayer, that bone folder, or other flat object is useful to rub across the paper to spread the glue and flatten any high spots.

Since not all my papers were perfectly cut I had to sand them down and re-ink.  I always realize that inking before adhering is not the best use of time, but there was that one project years ago where I couldn't re-ink without messing it up.  So I always take that precautionary step.

Time to cut out the laser cut components!  I usually just press down on the connectors with a blade to release them.

Here are the components I think I'll use: discover, adventure, one of the "butterfly of gears", parts of "fantasy frame and flourishes".  The flourishes one is great - I don't tend to use frames but this one cut up nicely and gave me a lot of smaller flourishes.

Time to paint all black with gesso.  I'm not sure what the end colors will be at this point, but I'd rather paint over a black base on this project than a white gesso base.

Here the gears have been painted with metallic paints and the butterfly has it's copper base coat.  I cut the "discover" word to fit the two panels.  I removed the chevrons from "adventure" a couple of projects ago but never used it; it's perfect here!  It got a metallic coat of paint also.

In my never-ending quest for texture, I played around with gels to soften the laser cut edges and make them more of an organic part of the project.  I started to dry with a heat gun, but I'm not really sure if that's appropriate with gels, so I decided to be patient and let it air dry.

Patience didn't last.  As the DIS dried I saw it wasn't going to be organic enough.  I decided on an all-over texture with a rough brush and a transparent gel that isn't self leveling (as the one above).

Here it is dried -- you can see some of the brush texture.  It was too glossy for me so I coated with matte varnish and went to bed.

In the morning I had to touch up missed varnish spots and added Glossy Accents to the magnifying glass above the I.  Since the reverse side of the clock face and butterfly might be visible, I painted them black.

Here is the full project.

I love how the two-panel "discover" worked out.

And the reverse!

I hope today's post inspires your next Gypsy adventure!

Cheers,
Susan


Gypsy Soul Laser Cuts Used
Square Shrine Gate Fold #BD1A
Discover #C33N
Chevron Words Small (Adventure) #C7I
Steampunk Shape Set (Gears, Clock & Hands) #D33A
Butterfly of Gears #D20F
Fantasy Frame & Flourishes #D52D

Other Supplies Used
Bo Bunny Timepiece
Liquitex black gesso
Mod Podge
Ranger espresso ink
Golden Regular Gel (matte)
Golden Self Leveling Clear Gel
Liquitex matte varnish
Tim Holtz knob
Ranger Glossy Accents
Ranger Stickles in Diamond, Antique Bronze
Zig 2-Way Glue pen for discover, adventure
White glue for gears
Dresden trim
Metallic brads