Paper Flower Fairy House Shrines

You know what I love? Smashing every single thing I love all into one project. Houses, little things,  shrines, butterflies, fairies... check, check, check....

Start with some super cute Mini House Shadowboxes and off you go! There are four different sizes available, each adorably tiny.

To embellish I've used old music sheets inside, and scrapbook paper on the exterior. 

A snip of Gold Tiny Dot Dresden Borders trims each roof.

Inside a paper fairy made from this Matchbox Fairy Collage Sheet with Transparent Wings. Paper butterflies, a pinch of moss, and few sprinkles of "faux flowers" finish those pretty things off.

The most difficult part of this project is cutting out the fairies, but with a pair of sharp scissors and a bit of patience you'll do just fine. If you want to see the whole process of assembling these pretties I have a video walk-through available HERE .

Easy right? You got this! To recap, here are all the supplies you'll need to make these sweet little Paper Flower Fairy House Shrines:

A mini house shadowbox, choose from:

Mini House Shadowbox 1

Mini House Shadowbox 2

Mini House Shadowbox 3

Mini House Shadowbox 4

Old paper
Acrylic paint

Scrapbook paper of choice
Matchbox Fairy Collage Sheet
Transparent Wings

Wee Assorted Butterflies
Gold Tiny Dot Dresden Borders

Moss/Flocling

Small fake flowers or scatter

Glue
Adhesive foam squares
Other embellishments, baubles, washi tape, buttons etc.

Within My Heart

Hello!! Jennalee here today. This is one of those projects that had a mind of its own and couldn't be forced. Those are always my favorite after the fact. The ATC Shrine With Feet was the perfect home for this brave lady.

Begin by preparing your medal. Cut vintage photo into medal shape The one I used here I found in my stash and was already shaped this way. Heat Emboss photo using Vintage Beeswax. The Vintage Beeswax may make your photo a bit transparent. If so back photo with a scrap of gold paper from Tim Holtz's Metallic Kraft Paper Stash. Stitch around medal and add Dresden trim to the top edge. Adhere button.  

For the Shrine covering emboss aluminum tape in Botanical 3D Texture Fade from Sizzix. Color the aluminum tape using Alcohol Ink in Mushroom, Gun Metal, and Gold. Using a felt blending pad dab on colors until desired effect is achieved. Blend in Vintage Photo Distress Crayon.  

Apply aluminum tape to Shrine pieces. Making sure to adhere to the outside surfaces. The benefit of using the aluminum tape is it's self-adhesive and easy to trim using an Exacto knife. 

Cover inside surfaces of Shrine with a piece of scrapbook paper. 

Assemble Shrine with adhesive of choice. I love Distress Collage Medium for this step. 

Heat emboss a key and plate from the Keys and Plates set using Burnt Copper Leaves and drops of Patina Oxide. Cut key in half. 

Add detail to the front edge of Shrine. Lightly press Versamark embossing ink pad on edge. Heat emboss with Ancient Amber. 

Add brads to key plate and adhere to front bottom edge of Shrine. Plan placement of key and adhere to Shrine with foam squares. Apply sentiment from Tim Holtz's Clippings Stickers and adhere bird charm from Idea-ology. 

Finalize placement of all pieces and adhere your medal using foam dots. Stack foam dots 2 or 3 deep to get the depth desired. 

Although this project had a rough start I really enjoyed the process once I started trusting it. And I can say I am happy with how it turned out. I wish I knew this lady's story she looks like she has a brave heart. 

Thanks for stopping by and spending a few minutes with me today. I hope you have a great weekend!! I will be teaching a class on Saturday so I am excited to create, chat and eat some cake!! 

Happy Creating ~ Jennalee 

Dream of faraway places

Hi everyone,
Jess here today.  I don't know if you've noticed, but I really love the house shadowboxes Gina has in the shop.  They come in so many fun sizes.  For today's project I used the Mini House Shadowbox #4.

I started by lining the inside of the house with paper and gave it a quick whitewash.  I glued the house together and started working on the exterior.  Using the Brick Wall Small I added grit paste to both sides. 

Once the paste was dry I added color.  

Watered down black acrylic paint made the first layer

A thin layer of tan for the second.

Greens and a touch of gold finish the brick. 

I covered one of the tages from the Extra Large Tag Set with paper and distressed the edges using Distress Crayons.  This will be the base for the project.  I glued the house to the tag and finished embellishing it.  

Moss and flowers cover the roof.  

Flowers climb up the side of the house.  

My little girl was colored with Distress Oxide ink and given a bouquet of vintage flowers. 

The quote token finishes the piece. 

I hope you enjoy her as much as I do.  

Jess

Frida Shrine "Book"

Hi everyone, Ann here today, sharing this Frida Kahlo Shrine "book" that I created
 to showcase some stamped images that I love.

It all begins with a Gypsy Soul Laser Cuts altoids tin book cover. This piece arrives in three, flat pieces. You can recycle a tin to use inside or find one in your local craft supply store. Being a wintergreen Altoids lover, I will be using one of the plentiful empty tins from my stash.

I know I will be using a stamped image on the cover of the "book" so I add a light coat of white paint to one side of a cover and allow it to dry. One thing I love about the Gypsy Soul Laser Cuts is that they are very dense chipboard, and they accept all kinds of medium very well, especially paint. I will be using paint to color the stamped image, so I make sure to clear emboss it after stamping. The stamp I am using is "Creation" by Sandra Evertson from RubberMoon. There are four portals in this series and they are all fabulous. I chose this one because I will be cutting a hole in the center to allow the interior to be seen when the shrine is in the closed position and I can easily cut out the shape of the opening that this portal has.

Although the chipboard is dense, it can still be cut using an Exacto knife. The best way to get a clean cut is to make your initial line and then go over it as many times as necessary until you have cut through. Be sure to use a sharp/new blade. It may also work with a steel rule die; but since I was working within this portal I felt that hand cutting would be best. The next step is painting the pieces. I use a combination of acrylic paints, the main turquoise color is Deco Art Americana acrylic paint in Laguna. All of the pieces are painted on both sides. The other colors used are from an artist set of acrylic paints. I mixed different colors to create the hues that I was looking for and painted the stamped image. 

While I have the paints out, I also paint the tin that will be glued inside. For this I use the same Deco Art Laguna acrylic, and paint the inside with a coat of black. while that is drying, I die cut the greenery pieces using the Tim Holtz Tropical dies by Sizzix.

The focal point of the shrine is "Alma" another Sandra Evertson stamp by RubberMoon. When I began the piece, I was not sure if she would be situated behind the greens or in front. For this reason, I initially cut a piece of watercolor paper to fit within the tin. I stamped and clear embossed the image, then using distress ink, colored around her. I ultimately decide to locate her in front of the greens. This requires fussy cutting the image once it is completely colored.

Since I am not using the lid on the tin, the spine width is a bit too wide. I measure the width that I want the spine to be, and cut it to that size. This allows the top to rest on the tin when it is in the closed position. To create the hinge for the shrine "book", I use washi tape. I cover the tape with a coat of paint so that it is not noticeable when the shrine is in the open position. I add a few die cut palm leaves to add interest on the inside of the spine, as well as additional camouflage for the hinge.

Now it is time to assemble the remaining pieces. I locate the tin so that it is centered within the opening on the front panel, for a clear view within, when the "book" is shut. I mark where the tin corners need to be and use a strong adhesive to attach the tin to the back plate. I allow this to dry overnight before adding any embellishments.

 Then I add die cut fronds around the outside edges of the tin, as well as some tropical flowers. All of these pieces were cut using the Tim Holtz Tropical thinlet dies.            

               

                                       

For the spine, I cut a piece of green card stock a bit smaller than the thickness of the assembled "book" and using the Tim Holtz Leafy embossing folder, created a textured strip. I apply glue only to the flat center piece of the "spine"and attach the strip. This will allow the hinged areas to work freely while the decorative strip remains in place. 

I cut a label from natural paper and use small alphabet stamps to stamp "FRIDA". I ink the edges of the label with Distress Ink in peeled paint and crushed olive. This is attached to the top of the front panel with foam adhesive and two small, layered flowers are adhered at either side. 

 I love the depth I was able to achieve using the Altoids Tin Book Cover, and especially like that it can be opened and admired from a different perspective as well.  

I hope you love this Frida Shrine.

Thanks so much for taking the time to stop by the blog,  

I hope that you are inspired to create something.

Be sure to share your Gypsy Soul creations with us on the Gypsy Soul Laser Cuts Craft Group Page on Facebook. We would love to see what you are up to!

~Ann

Gypsy Soul Laser Cuts used:

Altoids Tin Book Cover

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**