The Rabbit of Caerbannog

Happy Saturday everyone! Connie here with a tribute to one of my favorite movies – Monty Python and the Holy Grail.  In the film, the Cave of Caerbannog is guarded by a bunny with nasty, big, pointy teeth and a vicious streak a mile wide. When King Arthur and his knights are attacked by the killer rabbit, he shouts for them to 'run away'! 

This project started with a GSL Bagatelle Box 3 by 4 inch which assembles easily with a bit of tacky glue. The exterior paper I chose for this project is from the fairy tale related Once Upon a Time stack by DCWV.

I couldn't resist setting the bunny in front of a medieval castle image framed with a neutral gray paper from Tim Holtz.

Other elements used in this project are from the GSL Stackable Labels Shape Set, House Jewelry Pieces and Gothic Cross Miniatures.

I painted the base of one of the Stackable Labels black and glued a printed Run Away image to the top layer.

For a knight's abandoned shield, I turned one of the house jewelry pieces upside down and painted it white, then added a red gothic cross. Something so simple makes me giggle.

For this little shrine's feet, I painted wood ball finials with black acrylic paint. A tip for painting them is to pop each one on a Q-tip. They are easy to hold while painting and you can hold them in a small container while the paint is drying. The rabbit is a plastic Schleich toy with a bit of blood red paint added to his mouth for effect.

To finish the piece, I set him on a carpet of thick grass colored felt and glued down a few bones I cut from one of those dollar store plastic skeletons.

Where's a holy hand grenade when you need one?

Thanks for stopping by!

Gypsy Soul Products Used

Bagatelle Box 3 by 4 inch

Stackable Labels Shape Set

House Jewelry Pieces

Gothic Cross Miniatures

Other Products Used

Tacky glue

Acrylic paint

DCWV Once Upon a Time paper

Tim Holtz Idea-Ology paper

Castle image

Tacky glue

Acrylic paint

Felt scrap

Wood ball finials

Schleich rabbit

Plastic skeleton

 

Fasion Forward Flip Fold Album

Graphic 45 is my favorite paper, I love art deco, and I love Gypsy Soul Laser Cuts. When  I was invited to be part of the GSL design team and Graphic 45 issued "Fashion Forward", it was like the stars had aligned! This album is a GSL 6x9 Flip Fold Album.

I made a jacket for the album and used the GSL Deco Lattice as an emblishment.

This is the cover of the album, and highlights another thing that I love - the beautiful affirmations that "You are Loved" and "You are Enough".

I always include a "title page" in case the album is a gift. This G45 embellishment is not glued at the top so a picture or sentiment can slip down in the opening.

This album is actually a gift within a gift. These embellishments are adhered with a repositionable tape runner and can be detached to be used as a stand-alone gift or embellishment for a card or another album.  The base is a Graphic 45 policy envelope (it can also be a coin envelope or just a retangle of cardstock). Pieces of G45 paper are popped up. I used Gilders Paste on the GSL Postage Stamp which is also popped up, and a G45 sticker is on top of that. A gift card fits inside the envelope.

This beautiful lady is open on the side to slip in journaling.

The next flip looks like this:

A closer look at the far left shows journaling cards that are slipped into a trianglular pocket embellished with a GSL Art Deco Corner. The journaling cards can be sent as a card to someone special - the backs are as beautiful as the fronts.

The far right:

To the left and right of the center are 5"x5" cards made from other parts of the paper collection. They are slipped into mailing envelopes.

The next flip uncovers this panel:

And when it's flipped up, the entire album looks like this:

The middle panel is two envelopes for the large journaling cards, and the top and bottom panels are envelopes with blank ivory cards with gold edges.

Would you keep it or give it as a gift?

Supplies :  GSL 6x9 Flip Fold Album, GSL Deo Lattice Panel 1, GSL Art Deco Corners, GSL Postage Stamp Cuts, Graphic 45 Fashion Forward, Rich Gold Gilders Paste, Gold Deco Color Marker, Scor-Tape, Art Glitter Glue

home is where the heart is

Hi everyone, Ann here today,  sharing these valentine putz houses.
 I love decorating my house for the various holidays throughout the year; with Valentine's day just around the corner, I thought it would be a lot of fun to create a small vignette of sweet putz.

The GSLC chipboard house ornament kit makes these super simple to create, and you can let your imagination go with all of the details. Each kit contains the pieces for one house, including a bottom with access flap in case you want to put a battery operated tea light inside. The houses have holes in the roof for hanging; however, since I will be using mine in a home decor display, I have simply covered the holes. I use some of the additional house parts that are available, like the house ornament porch, the house ornament window trims, and the the house ornament chimney and dormers. There are even more pieces that can be incorporated that you may be interested in, available in the shop.

The first step is constructing the basic house. The house ornament kit arrives flat. The pieces should be carefully removed from the surround. Run a thin line of glue along the edges and then secure the tabs into the slots and allow to dry. I suggest adding small pieces of mica or acetate on the inside at the window locations before gluing the roof in place. (This is a step I did not include on my houses, but looking back wish that I had. Having the windows sealed would be helpful when adding the glitter to the outside surfaces.)

When the three house kits are assembled, the next step is deciding which additional features to add to each house. The chimney and dormers set includes two dormers and one chimney. These can all be used on one house or split up among the houses. You can see that I use the chimney on one house and two dormers on another, while my third house uses a full set, two dormers and the chimney, as well as the porch. The window trims are added later. Location and placement of the additional house features is entirely up to you, simply glue them in place with a craft glue and allow to dry.

 
With the additional features in place, It is time to paint the houses. [Note: I recommend attaching the window trims AFTER the initial paint coat] I select colors to represent the Valentine's holiday: pinks, blush, victorian velvet, and cameo as well as brushed pewter. I paint directly on the chipboard, two light coats, allowing time to dry in between each coat. When the base coats are completely dry, I add the painted window trims to the houses with glue. [Note: a pair of tweezers is very handy during this step.] It is much easier to paint the trims prior to attaching them to the house.

 

Using a paintbrush and distress collage medium, I paint the areas where I want the glitter to stick. It is easiest to do one roof plane/side of the house at a time. The degree that the house is glittered is entirely up to you. I use a super fine clear glitter (Distress clear rock candy) since the houses are small. You could use colored glitter if you prefer. A more chunky glitter would give an entirely different appearance. I prefer the look of a fine coat of glitter which allows the details to show. I want each of my houses to be a little different, so one house is only glittered on the roof and I added other embellishments to the exterior walls. One of the other houses is covered completely in glitter, while the third is only glittered on the walls, dormers and chimney.

I added extra details by incorporating some X & O sequins along the eaves, a large heart brad at the circular window, heart trim as a wainscoting, and even added shingles to the roof on one of the houses. For my roof shingles, I used painted die cuts from the village rooftops die; however, Gypsy Soul Laser Cuts makes a wide variety of shingle styles that would work very well.

My putz houses are arranged on an antique silver serving tray with glass glitter and dyed bottlebrush trees to create a sweet valentine vignette. I hope you are inspired to create your own putz houses, they really are so much fun to make and adorn, and can be done up in any style you can imagine.

Thank you so much for stopping by today,
I really appreciate it.
~Ann


  Gypsy Soul Laser Cuts used:
House Ornament Kit (x3)
House Ornament Porch
House Ornament Chimney and Dormers (x2)
House Ornament Window Trims (x2)

Birds in Winter -A Holiday Card

One of my fondest memories of my childhood was watching the birds come to the feeders outside of our kitchen window. We’d put out suet, sunflower seeds, peanuts, in addition to regular birdseed mixture. My favorite winter bird is the chickadee. This is the inspiration for this instillation.

 

 

1.  Before Cutting apart GSLC Ornamental Birdcages randomly paint entire front and back with Acrylic Paints of Dark Grey, Burnt Sienna and Metallic Copper.

 

2.  While still wet sprinkle with Chili Powder and Nutmeg spices, spray with water or rubbing alcohol if paint has already dried.

3.   Spray with cheap hair spray and keep layering until you have desired effect.

 

4.  Allow to dry fully and then gently coat with a layer of Matte Varnish to seal in all the spices and textures

5.  Select Cardstock, Pictorial Paper and Envelopes in Coordinating Colors-I Used Silver, Winter Blue and White, and Vintage Craft Paper.

6.  Measure and cut pieces to form your holiday cards. 
7.  Find a tag set that coordinates with your color scheme and cut out pieces of Bird Tissue Paper to place randomly on top of each using matte varnish.

8.   Cut out each customized tag and coat with a layer of Frayed Burlap Distress Stain.

9.  Color entire GSLC Snowflakes Shape Set with Hi Light Blue Acrylic Paint.

10.                While still wet sprinkle with Iridescent and Blue Glitter; spray with water or rubbing alcohol if paint has already dried.

11.                Seal with cheap hairspray.

12.                Carefully cut out each GSLC ornamental Birdcage and Snowflake.

 

13.                Make copies of a greeting of your choosing. I used these as a Christmas cards last year.

14.                Assemble your Greeting Cards

 

Some Final Thoughts.
The Snowbird's Song by F. C. Woodworth

The ground was all covered with snow one day,
And two little sisters were busy at play,
When a snowbird was sitting close by on a tree,
And merrily singing his chick-a-de-dee.

He had not been singing that tune very long
Ere Emily heard him, so loud was his song;
"O sister, look out of the window!" said she;
"Here's a dear little bird singing chick-a-de-dee.

"Poor fellow! he walks in the snow and the sleet,
And has neither stockings nor shoes on his feet:
I wonder what makes him so full of his glee;
He's all the time singing his chick-a-de-dee.

"If I were a barefooted snowbird, I know,
I would not stay out in the cold and the snow;
I pity him so! oh, how cold he must be!
And yet he keeps singing his chick-a-de-dee.

"O mother; do get him some stockings, and shoes,
And a nice little frock, and a hat if he choose:
I wish he'd come into the parlor, and see
How warm we would make him, poor chick-a-de-dee!"

The bird had flown down for some sweet crumbs of bread,
And heard every word little Emily said:
"What a figure I'd make in that dress" thought he,
And laughed as he warbled his chick-a-de-dee.

"I am grateful," said he, "for the wish you express,
But have no occasion for such a fine dress;
I rather remain with my little limbs free,
Than to hobble about, singing chick-a-de-dee.

"There is One, my dear child, though I can not tell who,
Has clothed me already, and warm enough, too.
Good morning! Oh, who are so happy as we?"
And away he flew, singing his chick-a-de-dee.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
Supplies: Gypsy Soul Laser Cuts-Ornamental Birdcages Shape Set, Gypsy Soul Laser Cuts-Snowflake Shape Set,   Acrylic Paint- Dark Grey, Burnt Sienna, Metallic Copper, Hi Light Blue, Paint Brush, Chili Powder, Nutmeg, Mister of Rubbing Alcohol and Water, Cheap Hairspray, Matte Varnish, Cardstock, Pictorial Paper, Envelopes in Coordinating Colors, Tag Set from Scrap Paper Pad, Bird Tissue Paper, Frayed Burlap Distress Stain, Iridescent and Blue Glitter, Holiday Greeting, Uhu Glue Stick, Deli Paper, Snowflake  Stamp

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!