Mother's Day Crèche-A Peek-a-Boo-Project

I know Mother’s Day was a few days ago and since my momma passed away in 2018, I had no need to send any cards, but I think if her often and honor her in my artwork and disposition. She was an avid gardener and loved being outside hanging clothes on the clothesline to dry in the fresh spring air or looking through her flower gardens spotting any new blooms. She is the inspiration for this instillation. 

1.  Take apart Gypsy Soul Laser Cuts-Little Niche Scalloped and paint both pieces using dry brush technique with Acrylic Paints of Van Dyke Brown Hue, Indian yellow Hue and Quinacridone Nickel Azo Gold. 

2. Measure and glue an Original Collage Artwork piece to center of back portion of the niche.

3.  Secure and hold into place using metal clips.

4.  Add Glossy Accents and One Step Crackle Finish on top of collage.

5.  While this is drying paint the GSLC Vine Corners using the same drybrush technique with Acrylic Paints of Hues of Green. I did not take apart the corners but painted while still attached to background.

 

6.  Allow to dry fully then take apart GSLC Vine Corners they are ready to add to your niche.
7.  Next I used Rub ‘N Buff to distress the GSLC Gothic Cross Miniatures. I did not take apart the corners but painted while still attached to background.

 

 

8.  Allow to dry fully then take apart GSLC Gothic Cross Miniatures. They are ready to add to your niche.
9.  Assemble Front Portion of GSLC Scalloped Niche using Weldbond to secure the corners and cross of your choosing.

10.                Secure front of GSLC Scalloped Niche with Weldbond to the back portion that contains your collage piece.

11.                Add more Rub “n Buff to cross and around edges of niche.

12.                Add details using Liquid pearls (Teal) and Fine Tip Bottle Applicator with Black High Flow Acrylic Paint.

 

13.                Once fully Dry seal everything with a quick coat of Matte Gel Varnish.

14.                Add GSLC clip on piece for easy hanging if so desired.

Some Final Thoughts.

My momma liked to say that from the time she arrived at the hospital to the time I was born was just about a half hour. She would say I came into this world in a hurry and have not slowed down since. In truth I am not a man known for his patience, but I am learning as I progress through this life to slow down and appreciate the daily miracles that come our way. I miss seeing my Momma’s flower gardens, eating her amazing cooking, hearing her voice on the phone, her laughter that lit up a room…None of us know the days granted to us so please take the time to love and appreciate the ones who are near and dear to you.

  

 

 

Supplies:  Gypsy Soul Laser Cuts-Little Niche Scalloped, Gypsy Soul Laser Cuts-Vine Corners, Gypsy Soul Laser Cuts-Gothic Cross Miniature, Original Collage Artwork, Acrylic Paint-Vann Dyke brown Hue, Indian yellow Hue, Quinacridone Nickel Azo Gold,  Hues of Green, Weldbond, Paintbrush, Metal Clips, Rub ’n Buff-Gold Leaf, Autumn Gold and Spanish Copper, Deco Art One-Step Crackle Finish, Glossy Accents medium, Matte Varnish, Liquid Pearls-Teal, High Flow Black Acrylic Paint, Fine Tip Paint Bottle Applicator

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!

A Tribute to my Aunt

Hello friends!  Leigh Ann here for Gypsy Soul Laser Cuts today.  I will be showing off this beautiful tribute to my aunt today.  I used the Scissors Wall Decor as my base for this project.  My aunt is who really started my love of crafting as a young child... back when crafty wasn't cool.  She taught me how to sew and use a glue gun when I would visit her house.  I can fondly remember sitting at the table making wreaths together when I was only 7 or 8 years old.  I still think about her often when I'm creating and I'm looking forward to having this piece displayed near my desk.

To get started I covered the main piece of the scissors with Prima Paper Texture Paste and then sprinkled on a couple of embossing powers in brown and gold.  I let this air dry over night and then used my heat gun to melt the powders the next day. 

I fussy cut several floral pieces and a few butterflies from Prima's Apricot Honey A4 pad.  I took the Small Brick Wall from Gypsy Soul and cut it into a rough shape.  I then whitewashed it with gesso.  I coated it enough to accept paint, but not enough to lose the color of the chipboard.  I then began to assemble everything.  The first thing I glued down was a piece of cheesecloth slightly larger than my brick wall piece.  Then I attached the brick wall, the fussy cut flowers, resin flourishes, a long resin keyhole towards the tip of the scissors, and tons of paper flowers.  I also tucked some sisal into the composition.  I used soft matte gel to add art stones to the cracks and crevices.  

When the composition was dry, I added a light pink paint over the textured chipboard and resin pieces.  I also brushed everything with Prima wax in Old Gold.  I then splattered the entire piece with pink paint splatters as well as white gesso splatters. I also dry brushed white gesso onto the flowers and paper pieces to have them a lighter more coherent look.

I hope you have enjoyed this piece!  I used the following products from Gypsy Soul Laser Cuts on this piece:
Scissors Wall Decor
Brick Wall  Small

Dreaming About the Ocean and Beach

Dreaming of the Ocean

Have you ever been to Laguna Beach? We have a son and daughter-in-law who live there. Every summer there are two hundred artisans who participate in the Sawdust Festival. One of our favorites is Michelle Burt, who did this painting for us. I made this little card while daydreaming of the ocean.

The paper is Origami Opalecent and is pink and/or blue, depending upon the lighting.

The Gypsy Soul Laser piece is the Small Medallion Swirl 

 3.5" x 3.5":

I used this Matte Medium: 

for the first layer of the mediallion:

 When the Matte Medium was dry, I applied it again on the middle of the medallion and spread prills on it, 

 let it dry, applied more Matt Mediam and prills again to fill in the empty spaces:

I used a Silver Leafing pen on the outside swirls:

This is the finished piece (the flower is from Prima).

It's Halloween 24/7 at my house

Yep. You know how you get a little itchy when you haven't done something Halloween related in a while?
No? Really?
Well, okay. But just to mix things up a bit, it's Halloween in May at my house.
Here's a fun thing I made using Gypsy Soul Laser Cuts super-sturdy-do-anything-on-'em Chunky ATC Blanks. I love these things. They are just about indestructible and put up with a lot of mixed media, sanding, painting over and general artsy masochism.
This is a straightforward project, so I wasn't so hard on the poor things this time, but I like the visual effect.

  They are fairly simple but I like the stark contrast of the black trees (I used the 3D Chip Board Tree-3inch and just a little black silhouette of a Halloween critter (which I just drew in with a good black marker) with some borders I cut from the Graphic 45 Rare Oddities Ephemera Cards.
Easy, but effective.
Here's where it began...

I then covered the fronts of the ATC's with my chosen papers.

I cut the borders from the G45 papers and cut the trees in half. I painted them black (some are white in the photo, but later I changed them to all black).

Please note that the borders are larger than the ATC's and that is okay.

Setting aside the trees to dry, I flipped the ATC's over, lined them up and glued a ribbon down the center of the ATC's, leaving enough ribbon at the top to loop over as a hanger.
Do a dry run of the frames on the ATC's with the frames and ribbon to make sure you've left enough space for you to glue the frames on to the ATC's and not have them overlap.
I chose to have very little space between each piece, but you might like more of the ribbon to show between each one. Your choice!

After the ribbon dried, I glued the frames and the trees on the front, making sure the frames were centered as best I could make them on the ATC's. 

After the trees dried I drew in some simple Halloween shapes with a pencil and went over them with a very black marker.
I chose a bat, a cat and a spider, but you can let your creepy critter flag wave here and choose whatever you like.

Not to waste, I finished off the backs with the center pieces I cut out of the G45 ephemera cards.

Simple but effective.
Going for the simple design that has visual impact.
Hope you like it!
Thanks for dropping by.

SUPPLIES:
Chunky ATC Blanks
3D Chip Board Tree-3inch 
Graphic 45 Rare Oddities Ephemera Cards
Ribbon
Black paint
Black marker

Retro Teen Girl's Bedroom Nook

How's that for a post title? Happy Saturday, everyone! This little project brought back some fond memories and I had way too much fun with it. Record players, black light posters, bean bag chair....let me walk you through how it came together.

The scene was set inside a GSL 7 by 7 Corner Room Box. Here are the pieces laid out ready to assemble with tacky glue. It's the perfect size to set a miniature scene.

Once the glue dried, I papered the floor with a white hardwood floor paper from BoBunny's Garden Party collection and the walls with Paper Studio's Girl Flowers.

A GSL Bookcase 1 to 12 displays a lot of treasures. Pink and gingham were all the rage for girls rooms during this era. Authentique Latest & Greatest has the perfect gingham to paper the back wall of the bookcase once it was assembled. 

Rubber bands were used to hold the bookcase in place while the glue dried. 

It was painted off white to reflect the French provincial style so popular during this timeframe.

The other piece of furniture in the room is a record player console made from a GSL Library Table. My dad actually made me one of these when I was a kid to hold my stereo. Today it holds my crafting books.  Here are the pieces laid out.

I painted the sections before assembly. This makes it easier to get paint into the small nooks. It was papered the same as the bookcase.

The room needs a record player! So easily made from a GSL Suitcase 1.6 Inch and cardstock circles.

It was finished with some beads for the knobs and a snip of wire for the arm. I also made a little jewelry box from a GSL Mini Cigar Box available over at Alpha Stamps.

Here's the record player in place beneath a few posters from the time period. This little nook has black light, Have a Nice Day, Hang in There and Peter Max posters. The console also has a ouija board, Mickey Mouse ears, Creepy Crawler molds, a Mad magazine, a jar of mercury (What, didn't everyone play with mercury from broken thermometers as a kid?) and some albums which are just printed images glued onto thin cardboard.

Some favorite games assembled from printed minis. 

The shag rug is a section of pastel rainbow trim I found in the fabric section at Hobby Lobby. I'm always on the lookout for bits I can use in miniatures. I sewed up a quick beanbag chair and plopped a stuffed animal in it. The miniature chemistry book next to the chair was covered in a bit of brown paper then doodled on. There's a periodic chart to study from, too. 

Besides a few collectibles, the bookshelf has a Pet Rock (pebble with googly eyes), Magic 8 Ball (black bead), Rubik's Cube and Green Ghost game (mini printables), black & white TV made from a small tin, and a Silly Putty egg (poly clay). The glass jar contains some water beads. I wanted to make a lava lamp but finally settled on this. I also really wanted a Troll Doll for this room and ordered a miniature one from China but my order got cancelled. I'll keep an eye out for one!

Thanks for stopping by!

GSL Products Used

7 by 7 Corner Room Box

Bookcase 1 to 12

Library Table

Suitcase 1.6 Inch

Mini Cigar Box Set

Other Supplies Used

Tacky glue

Acrylic paint

Printed images

Paper Studio's Girl Flowers

BoBunny Garden Party collection

Authentique Latest & Greatest

Cardstock

Miniatures & Collectibles