A Different Type of April Shower-A Peek-a-Boo-Project

 I've always said a good sense of humor can get you  through many dreary days. Others have said it better. If you could choose one characteristic that would get you through life, choose a sense of humor."Jennifer Jones "Life is so much easier with a sense of humor." "A sense of humor is a major defense against minor troubles."Mignon McLaughlin It is with my warped and twisted sense of humor I bring you a cheeky new take on the phrase "April Showers..." I first found Victorian images of woman with umbrellas then tattooed men. I quilted them together in honor of April, National Humor Month.

1. Gather Supplies.

2. Search Pinterest for Desired Images-I Used Vintage Victorian Women with Umbrellas and Tattooed Men.

3. Quilt Together into a Grid.

4. Make Copies on Both Cardstock and Transparencies.

5. Layer Transparencies on Top of Cardstock Images.

6.  Attach with Double Sided Tape.

7. Paint Base of GSLC Frames with Black Acrylic Paint using a Paintbrush.

8. Use Embossing Ink and Red geranium Embossing Power on the Top Portions of the GSLC Frames. Cure  With a Heat Tool.

9. To Add Interest and Texture Use Dry Brush Technique to Add Lumiere Crimson and Metallic Russet Acrylic Paint to the Top Portion of the GSLC Frames.

10. Use Scrap Pieces of Cardboard to Add Backs to all of GSLC Frames.

11. Carefully Choose Portion of Quilted Double Exposure Images to be Included in Each Frame. Cut Out.

12. Layer Frames and Glue Together Using  Heavy Gel Matte Medium.

13. Allow to Fully Dry Under Heavy Books.

14. Once Fully Dry add Bits of Used Tea Bags on Portion of the Images to Give a More Vintage Sepia Look with a Paintbrush and Matte Gel Medium. Once Again Allow to Dry Fully.

Some Final Thoughts.

I hope you have enjoyed my take on "April Showers!!" I think many of us could benefit from a cold shower from time to time when the stresses of everyday Living get too much for us. If you are allowed the luxury a bubble bath is even better with lit candles and meditative music and sipping a guilty pleasure beverage of your choice.

"I have a knack for finding humor in all sorts of things, no matter how grim. My sense of humor is wry and a bit on the warped side. (Well. more than a bit depending on whom you ask.)"Gerri R. Gray

"Laugh as much as possible, always laugh, it's the sweetest thing one can do for oneself and one's fellow human beings" Maya Angelou  "A sense of humor...is needed armor. Joy in one's heart and some laughter on one's lips is a sign that person down deep has a pretty good grasp on life" Hugh Sidey  "People with a sense of humor tend to be less egocentric and more realistic in their view of the world and more humble in moments of success and less defeated in times of travail." Bob Newhart "You've got to have a sense of humor to keep your sanity." Lance Bass "Common sense and a sense of humor are the same thing, moving at different speeds. A sense of humor is just common sense, dancing."Clive James

 Supplies:  Gypsy Soul Laser Cuts-Layered Frame Aria, Gypsy Soul Laser Cuts-Layered Frame Felicity, Gypsy Soul Laser Cuts-Layered Frame Tulip, Gypsy Soul Laser Cuts-Frame Lavinia, Collection of Found Images (Victorian Woman with Umbrellas, Tattooed Men),Printed Images of Card Stock and Transparencies,  Double Sided Tape, Embossing Ink Roller, Red Geranium Embossing Powder, Heat Tool, Black Acrylic Paint, Lumiere Crimson and Metallic Russet Acrylic Paint, Paintbrush, Heavy Gel Matte Medium,  Scraps of Cardboard, Heavy Book, Scissors, Black Sharpie, Used Tea Bags, Matte Medium,

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!

Art Journal Page - Off With Their Heads

Hello everyone!  Today I have an art journal spread to share and for my inspiration, I will be using the journal prompt cards that I made in this post.

To make this art journal page, I am going to use the prompt cards I mentioned above. There are many ways to use prompt cards and this is only one way. I will have a second post soon, showing another way to use the cards if you want less control over the process!  So for this exercise, I shuffled my cards and then drew six prompt cards as follows:

This time, I chose to pull all the prompt cards at once and to use them in whatever order I wanted, and not in the order in which they were drawn. 

So firstly, I did some journalling on the background for the HANDWRITING prompt.  The journalling is personal, so it is blurred in the photos. 

For my second prompt I chose ADD CRAYON and used neocolours on top of the journalling by scribbling all over the page which also takes care of the MAKE SOME MARKS prompt, then activated them with water to spread the colour over the background. 

At this point I also chose my FOCAL POINT which is this image of Marie Antoinette.


For the COLLAGE prompt I am using some of these gel prints I made using GSL chipboards in this post and some scraps leftover from making the prompt cards.



To make the focal point more of a feature, I thought I would give my regal queen a frame.



This is a two part chipboard frame also from GSL, so I chose two colours to paint it.



I used Pearl Magenta and Pearl Turquoise (I also painted a backup frame in Sunset Gold just in case).

At this point, there is only one of the six prompts left - TEXTURE - so first of all, I used a palette knife to scrape this turquoise heavy body paint across various parts of the page.

Then I added some gold paint splatters that were left over from something else I was working on at the same time. I covered up my focal point so she wouldn't get splattered.  It adds a little more texture and interest to the background.

For more texture, I took some texture paste and mixed it with Magenta heavy body paint.

I used this leftover negative diecut piece of watercolour paper as a stencil and applied my texture paste mixture through it.


Here's a closer look at the magenta paste on the page...



So now we are here and all the prompts are used but is it finished? 

Well it could be, but then I decided to add more collage pieces which were leftovers from this project.

And then for some extra HANDWRITING I added something I could imagine her saying!

xx

So that's the finished page using only six prompts but of course you can use as many as you need, more or less, and stop when you are happy with your page.  Let me know what you think in the comments!

Till next time,

Elle
Empire of the Cat

Project Recipe:

Layer Frame Felicity C58O
In the gel prints: PE126ES Seaweed Circle *coming soon*, PE129ES Oceanic *coming soon*, Leafy Swirl C7G
my art journal, black pencil, neocolours II, heavy body paint, texture paste, gold acrylic ink, collage materials, photo, cardboard scraps used as a stencil, magenta and turquoise metallic paints, glue, gel medium, black pen, and of course, the prompt cards!

Adrian's Nursery

Happy Saturday, everyone! Connie here with a miniature scene depicting the corner of a child's nursery that all started with a pull toy. I have been wanting to turn a GSL Small Wheeled Platform into a child's toy for a while but none of my little plastic animal figures were really speaking to me. While rummaging through my stash I came across a bag of zombies I found at a dollar store. There was a zombie dog inside and I just knew it had to happen. 

The platform easily assembles with a little tacky glue and comes with wheels and axles.

It's covered with a paper from Ms. Sparkle & Co's woodgrain neutral. I primed the plastic dog with a coat of watered down white glue and then gave it a coating of acrylic paint and some googly eyes. The final touch was adding a pull string with a bead handle.

Now that his monstrosity was finished it needed a setting and I chose the corner of a child's nursery. While debating what demon child would actually own this I decided it should be Rosemary's Baby, of course!

The nursery was made from a GSL 4x4 Corner Room Box with Window. It has two walls and a raised floor. 

 

Before gluing it together, I adhered Graphic 45's Calico Kids from their ABC Primer collection to the interior walls. After the glue dried, I used an X-Acto knife to cut the paper from the window opening.

An arithmetic paper from the same collection made a wallpaper border at the top of the walls. 

The GSL Set of 2 Arched Windows fit perfectly in this piece. They were painted off white and glued both the inside and outside walls.

This nursery needed a jack-in-the-box. I made a twisted one from a GSL Cube Box 1 inch, a Kewpie doll head and a spring. 

A bit of red roving for hair and some acrylic paint finished the look. The box was covered with an elephant border from Graphic 45's Le Cirque collection.

I assembled a GSL Simple 1:24 Table for the setting. The 8 leg sections are glued together in pairs and assembled as so before begin painted red and black.

While rummaging around in my treasures, I found a Littlest Pet Shop puppy x-ray that was from a veterinarian set. The little broken leg felt like it belonged as featured artwork in this nursery. I asked my husband for his input on what else might go into a demented child's nursery and he suggested a Bag O'Glass. As soon as I stopped laughing, I put some acrylic vase filler in a tiny bag and printed off a label. 

Final touches include a scary robot dude glued into a pink convertible and a skull bead glued onto a plastic spider. Thanks for stopping by!

GSL Products Used (all available at Alpha Stamps)

Small Wheeled Platform

4x4 Corner Room Box with Window

Set of 2 Arched Windows

Simple 1:24 Table

Cube Box 1 Inch

Other Supplies Used

Tacky glue

Acrylic paint

Graphic 45's An ABC Primer

Graphic 45's French Country

Graphic 45's Le Cirque

Ms. Sparkle & Co's woodgrain neutral

Printed images

Tiny treasures