Crazy Quilts and Woven Friends

I've always loved Crazy Quilts. I'm lucky enough to have one of my paternal grandmother's rescued from the dusty attic of our homestead. She worked in a pajama factory that also did custom upholstery, frugal like my mother she collected the scraps and made the amazing tapestry I now own. When my mother passed in November of last year a dear artist friend gave me a care package that contained one of her felted hearts, and other small paper ephemera, these are the inspirations for this project. Our lives may appear as crazy quilts to some, tattered and torn, weathered and worn best to be replaced with luxurious, expensive duvet cover, but as for me and my menagerie of friends we find comfort in oldfangled, rescued, family treasures.  

 1.  Take apart GSLC Large Tags,  GSLC Mini Tudor Rose Singles and Heart Shapes from GSLC Henna Doodles 1 Set.

2.  Paint GSLC Large Tags with black acrylic paint, allow to dry fully.

3.   Choose collected embellishments from your stash. I am using a felted heart and two paper ephemera.

4.  Choose some magazine pictures within your color palette. 

5.   Cut random shapes from magazine pictures using pinking shears or Fiskars Paper Edgers.

6.   Glue pieces onto painted tags, you are attempting to create a quilt-like pattern.

7.  Use a small paint brush  or a toothpick and white gesso to stitch your paper quilt pieces together.

8.   Use versa mark and red embossing powders or enamels to color the GSLC heart pieces. Cure with a heating tool.

9.  Use versa mark and green and blue  embossing powders or enamels to color the GSLC Mini Tudor Rose Singles. Cure with a heating tool. Some final thoughts.
11.                Choose sari ribbons to add texture behind the GSLC embossed pieces and to further the illusion of a quilted piece.
12.                Assemble securing with Weldbond and weighting down with plastic bag filled with kitty litter.

Some final thoughts: "In the Quilt of Life, friends are the stitches that hold us together" is a befitting quote for this project. Others could be: "A good friend, like an old quilt is both a treasure and a comfort.", "A friend is like a quilt designed by heart, pierced in time, sewn by hand and bound to keep you covered." and "When things are in pieces, quilt them together." There is a category of photography titled urban decay you can look up on Pinterest, I find it organically intoxicating. It is what I seek to exude in my living and in many of my art pieces.

 

 

  

Supplies:  Gypsy Soul Laser Cuts-Large Tags, Gypsy Soul Laser Cuts-Mini Tudor Rose Singles, Gypsy Soul Laser Cuts-Henna Doodles 1, Collected Embellishments, Scrapes of  Magazine Pictures, Black Acrylic Paint, Paint Brush, Fiskars Paper Edger Scissors, White Gesso, Small Paint Brush or Toothpick, Versa Mark, Embossing Powders or Enamels in Reds, Greens, and Blues, Heating Tool, Sari Ribbon, Weldbond

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!

Happy Birthday to you...

Hi and welcome to the Gypsy Soul Laser Cuts blog today.  I have a fun and easy project to share with all of you using some of our large tags and the Birthday Shape set.  Grab a cup of coffee and join me to see how I did these fun to make tags with simple inks and embossing powders.

To begin this project you will need a set of the large chipboard tags, the birthday shape set and a few of the flower stackers that you see above.  Before I start all my projects that I  do,  I like to lay out all my pieces so that I can see what colors that I need and get an idea of what other papers and goodies I can use.  This is the fun part and you can use lots of those things in your stash too.

I picked this cute plaid paper from MFT for the base of my tags and traced around each of the them and glued them to the front and backs.  After they were dry I sanded around each of them with a file to get rid of any uneven edges. Then I punched the hole at the top of each for ribbons later.

Then I got out some of my favorite inks and dabbed them on the top of each of the pieces and then embossed it with clear or white embossing powder to set the inks.

For the presents I wanted to create a more watercolor effect so I dabbed on the inks into each area of the presents and the bows to color them and shade them.  Then I embossed with clear powder.  

I love that this piece has a window that goes over it... It makes it look like stained glass.

I also inked around the edges of the tags to make them a bit more vintage and match the chipboard.

And lastly--after I inked all my pieces and let them dry I glued them onto the tags and added a Happy Birthday stamp, ribbons and glitter to each of them.  It was super fun to try something new with the inks and now I have pretty tags to add to my birthday bags when I need them.

Here is my supply list for these projects:

GSLC Chipboard Decorative Large Tags

GSLC Birthday Shape set

GSLC Flower Stackers

Stampendous stamp- Friendly phrases

Tsukineko Chalk inks

Stampendous Detail Clear and white embossing powder

Scotch Quick Dry Tacky glue

MFT plaid 6x6 paper pad

scissors, nail file

superfine glitter

Thank you so much for stopping by today and hope you have a very fun and creative day too!

Teresa