Shamrock Chapel

There is a beautiful little church I visited while in Ireland, St. Finbarr's Oratory at Gougane Barra. A wee chapel situated on a bit of a jetty on a lake.

Looking at the Mausoleum Kit in my stash I was inspired by my memories of this place to create a miniature chapel of my own.

For the exterior stone texture I've used drywall compound and the Cobblestone stencil.

Tip: coat your stencil with boating wax to seal it and make it reusable!

I quite like the roof of this piece and the wee turrets that flank the two sides. For the saintly statues I simply painted some miniature figures used for railway models grey and popped them inside. That fancy it at the front peak is the top bit of a chipboard key from the Keys & Plates Shape Set

The windows are a stained glass image that I downloaded then printed onto a transparency sheet. Rather than cutting out individual windows, there is a piece that covers the whole windowed area. It's much easier and less fiddly if no one is going to be peeking inside.

And that spikey Gothic trim to the roof? I deconstructed (aka chopped up) a Gothic Border to add some vertical interest.

You can follow the process I went through making this piece with THIS video walk-though.  And here is the supply list of all the bits you'll need to create your own version.

Mausoleum Kit

Chipboard Shingles - Pointed

Chipboard Shingles - Half Scale Sampler

Cobblestone
Gothic Border 6 Inch
Keys & Plates Shape Set
Cabana Row Mini

Other supplies needed for this project:

Stained glass pattern printed on transparency

Acrylic paint

Drywall compound

Glue
Cross charm
Railway figures

Darkly Delightful Bathing Machine for Grim Days at the Beach

The April showers might bring May flowers but right now they are making my landscape rather grim. Don't get me wrong, I am a fan of grim things and rainy days. Rather than fight against the current weather conditions, I'm going to embrace them and make something darkly delightful.

This little "Bathing Machine" is based on the 18th and 19th century change rooms wheeled into the sea by by-gone beachgoers. But what if the Adams' ancestors went to the beach? Or the Munsters? OR MARY SHELLEY OR EGAR ALLAN POE OR... well, you get the point. I'm sure they'd all visit the seaside on rainy days. I'd like to think they had a creepy little space for changing into their wading attire and doing a little fortune telling to see if the water was fine.

Gypsy Soul does have a proper Gypsy Wagon available if you're feeling more ambitious, but I like this little fella. It's a fun kit and there are LOADS of customization possibilities. Travelling snake oil salesman, a tiny portable library, a sideshow trailer... oooh, so many ideas!

Two tips I will mentions.

1. I am terrible at applying hinges so I glued my door in place and ajar. If you do the same, just be aware of the door placement so that you can still add the stairs.

2. I used the Chipboard Shingles - Half Scale Sampler for the shingles. One package is enough to do the entire roof. You might want to position the bottom row of shingles lower than I have. (Don't tell anyone but I think it would have looked a bit better with more of an overhang.)

If you'd like to see the process to create this particular piece, the walk through is available HERE.

And here are all of the supplies I used to create this version of this project: 

Bathing Machine

Chipboard Shingles - Half Scale Sampler

Round Table & 2 Chairs

Leafy Corners
Faux Metal Number Plates 1 to 25

Miniature terrain grass
Moss and faux flowers
Bead caps
Thin Looped Dresden Border
Black Zig Zag Dresden Borders 

Paper straw

1/8" doweling

Graphic45 - Rare Oddities
Acrylic paint

Glass marble

Magic House Box Shrine

Small things are often jam packed with magic. Take buttons for example. I am 100% certain that buttons contain infinite amounts of magic. How many of us have memories of grandma's button tin? There simply MUST be magic in those little wonders.

This month I've used Gypsy Soul's Mini House Room Box to create a space to celebrate these small bits of magic. A place to tuck away thimbles and stones and buttons, all those precious tiny things that hold big memories.

There's LOADS of room for personalisation with this project. 

My Faux Typewriter Keys spell out MAGIC but you could order keys to spell out a name create a personalized memory shrine or choose to spell out a word that is particularly sentimental to you and really make this project your own.

I've put some tiny feet on my shrine but you could easily add hanging hardware to the back, or a length of ribbon or twine for hanging.

And check out the roof detail! If you make mini houses the Chipboard Shingles are a lot of fun to play with.

The assembly for this piece is super simple, but just in case you'd like to see how I put it together, HERE is a video walk through to guide you.

Products used in this piece:
Chipboard Shingles - Half Scale Sampler
Mini House Room Box 4 Cubbies
Faux Typewriter Keys Gold
Victorian Corners 1

Winged Heart**