Washi Wheelbarrow

hey there! Lynne here with a little wee addition to my collection of storage items; I discovered that the adorable chippie wheelbarrow was the perfect size for the 5 small rolls of washi tape I keep handy to use in my journaling Bible and finished it to coordinate with the GSLC storage caddies on my worktable.

This is the blown-out view showing how the pieces fit together; be sure to put the hole all the way through if you cover both sides of the side pieces with paper; the axle for the wheels must go through these.

I didn't do anything too fussy to this piece, but the new Flourished Chain piece was a perfect embellishment. I used paper from a 6x6 Momenta pad to cover the main part of the wheelbarrow, then inked the edges with Distress Ink in Vintage Photo. I left the handle section bare so I could use the same finish on it as I used on the chain and the wheels

The chain, handle and wheels were all primed in brown, then heat embossed with Distress Embossing Powder in Vintage Photo, then sprinkled just a little Colorbox embossing powder in Peridot over the surface and heat embossed that as well then rubbed with Finnabair's fabulous Waxes in Lucky Emerald and Rich Copper (I just rubbed each one onto the surfaces randomly, here and there, to create a blended look.)

The small piece to the left in the photo above keeps the wheelbarrow standing; as an afterthought I added some of the embossing powder there as well, although in the photo it appears darker.

The photo below gives a closer look at the light flecks of green on the embossed surface; it's fun to combine and layer embossing powders to create new effects! I prefer layering them because if you combine the powders you can't pour them back into either of the original bottles, but if you don;t mind losing a bit of excess powder, it's definitely easier to get a uniform finish that way.

I am in love with the new flourished chain pieces, which come in 3 different sizes (I have used the Small) and it makes me happy that I was able to use this cute 3D wheelbarrow to create useful storage-now I have my eye on the Flower Cart....hmmm....what can I store in that one??!

GYPSY SOUL ITEMS USED

Wheelbarrow 1:12
Flourished Chain Small-coming soon!

OTHER ITEMS USED

Ranger Distress Ink and Distress embossing powder-Vintage Photo
Versamark Ink
Colorbox embossing powder-Peridot
Finnabair Art Alchemy Waxes-Lucky Emerald; Rich Copper

Gardening at Night by Betsy Skagen

 Spring has arrived and gardens are blooming. But beware those cute little garden gnomes...for at night they turn the garden into a place where evil resides.

Under the cloak of night  these gnomes cast wicked magic upon your garden. Innocuous plants turn into man-eating beasts while the gnomes themselves cart body parts from nearby cemeteries into their gardens. What they do with them, one can only imagine...and shudder.

I had such fun making the "Gardening at Night" scene (which by the way gives a subtle nod to R.E.M., my all-time favorite band). It all began when I assembled the 7 x 7 Corner Room Box and painted it with gesso. I gave it a base coat of green paint and then began adding different layers.

Slowly I added layers of several greens, as well as yellow, brown and black acrylic paint-- to create a lush plant background. I used a heat gun to dry between each layer so as not to muddy the colors.

Next, I assembled the Planter Box with Trellis and Little Birdhouse. I painted the trellis with a mixture of yellow and white acrylic paints and painted the birdhouse sky blue. 

I then inked the edges of the trellis and birdhouse with brown ink and a blending tool to give them an aged appearance.  

After placing florist's foam inside the planter, I inserted the carnivorous plants that I made from clay.  I also added black paint to plastic greenery, dried moss and miniature flowers and added those to the trellis.

Finally, I painted  a miniature bird with black paint and added it and the birdhouse to the trellis.

To make the wheelbarrow, I first assembled it all but the axle and wheels and painted it green. I then painted the axle green, the wheels brown and completed the assembly. 

Next, I cut apart a small plastic skeleton  and shortened the rib cage and limbs to create a more gnome-like shape. I then reassembled the skeleton using a strong adhesive.

Scraps of blue striped fabric made the perfect pants and I quickly turned a red circle of felt into a hat.

I painted doll limbs with brown paint make them appear dirty and cut a rusty miniature snow shovel into the shape of a spade. After piling the wheelbarrow dried greens, I added the limbs, spade and mushrooms. 

It is the little details that really make the scene.

I aged miniature pots by smudging white paint with my fingers and painting moss with white paint before gluing it to the pots. 

On the base of the Room Box I created a curved pathway with black stones and surrounded it with green moss. I also added plants to the walls of the Room Box. 

Next, I created an entrance to the garden from tree branches from our yard. Sometimes I soak the branches to make them more pliable, but these were bendy enough that I was able to just use wire and hot glue to create the archway. 

I secured the archway in place by punching holes in the Room Box and securing the branches with wire on the back side.

To finish "Gardeing at Night" I glued everything in place and added additional details such as a gnome holding a skull, rope ladder, mushrooms and creepy trees.  

Thank you for stopping by the Gypsy Soul blog. I hope this tutorial inspires you to make your own Night Garden. Remember to keep an eye out for those wicked gnomes! -Betsy

Great Stuff

7 x 7 Corner Room Box

Wheelbarrow 1:12
Planter Box with Trellis
Little Birdhouse
Skeletons
Garden gnome
Rope ladder
Rusty shovel
Mushrooms
Moss
Stones
Plastic greenery
Artificial flowers
Miniature trees
Florist's foam
Doll parts
Miniature bird
Polymer clay
Wooden dowel
White cardstock
Gesso
Acrylic paint
Red felt
Fabric
Cotton ball
Tree branches and twigs
Wire
Brown ink
Beacon Fabri-Tac
Beacon 3-in-1
Hot glue gun

Getting ready for Spring in the garden

Hi everyone, Heather here today,  I hope you all had a fantastic Christmas, and that you have a very happy and prosperous New Year. Talking about New Year it will soon be time to start thinking about sorting out the garden. I don't know about you but my garden always looks miserable just before Spring, I start looking for the snowdrops to appear, then all the yellow flowers like crocuses, daffodils and primroses, then I know that Spring is around the corner and my garden will brighten up. I thought that I would make a card to remind me that I need to get started in the garden so that it will begin to look better ready for Spring and Summer. Below are just some of the items that I used from my Gslcuts stash, which is nowhere near the thousands of products that are on the store. Go and have a look yourself, you will be amazed at all the items you can find to enable you to make your own artwork. Sorry I had put gesso on the wheelbarrow and some of the Ivy before I remembered that I had to take a photo, so this is a before and after picture. The wheelbarrow I coloured with Creative expressions gilding polish as I did with the Ivy.

The stackable flowers and the picket fence I decided to cover in paper  so I glued the paper onto the shape then cut round it.( I used small scissors but a sharp craft knife is just as good)purely because they are easy to cut out and cover, and it makes the item a bit more interesting, the little tree  I had already painted with Gesso then  coloured that with creative expressions gilding polish

I found this lovely Bo Bunny paper on my stash of digital papers it is from the Bo Bunny Country garden collection, and is packets of seeds, which I thought was appropriate

Below is a picture of the tree, flowers and some rose leaves that were in my GSL box that I thought would look good as well. The rose leaves were also painted with Gesso and covered in Gilding polish

The flowers are just covered in different patterned paper, stacked together with glue in the middle then a brad put through all the layers which also helps to keep them together.

Now you need inspiration as to how to put the articles you have chosen together to form your project

Here is a picture of mine before deciding where to put everything.

My finished project will be on a later blog post, { January 30th. to be precise)so keep checking if you would like to see what I have done and in the mean time how about making your own and seeing how it differs from mine.

Go onto the store and have a look for more relevant items as well that can be added to your project, there are plenty there. I would like to wish everyone a very happy and prosperous New Year, hope everything goes well for you and your families.

GSL items used:

Ivy Corners

Wheelbarrow

Flower stackers

rose leaves

leafy trees

.