A Secret

Hello crafty friends!  I'm over on the Gypsy Soul Laser Cuts blog today with this wee house of secrets.  I'm fascinated by the secrets people keep, from big whoppers to little things that can cause big misunderstandings.  I'm all for honesty and communication, even when it's hard.

Allow me to reveal all...

This "secret" key had been hanging around my stash for at least 5 or 6 years (if not more).  I had the chance recently to work with Stamperia's 'Time is an Illusion' paper, and set aside a small image of a woman's face.  I figured it could be a big element of a small project... then I found the key.  Bingo.

I started with the GSLC Tiny Little Shadowbox Houses #1.  This comes as a set of two houses.

I gave it a coat of white gesso first.  I thought at first I'd do a light base color, hence the white gesso.  I quickly decided to go dark, and repainted the seams with black.  (I took the photo after the shingles were added, so ignore them for a minute.)

Aaand a minute's up!  It's shingle time.  I used Tiny Shingles - Standard, alternating the seams.  (At this point, I thought I would hang something from the roof, but ended up skipping it and covering the hole.)

Once one side was fully shingled, I added shingles to the other side but left the last one off to give the scissors room to trim.  Before cutting, it's best to allow the glue to dry completely overnight.  Trim the shingles on both sides, then add the final layer.  I held that final piece in place until the glue set up, in order to ensure there wasn't a gap at the top.  Once dried, I trimmed that one, too.

The keyhole got a coat of Lumiere brown metallic paint, then I lightly swooshed my finger across the high details with a little copper metallic paint.  It took a few swooshes to get the coverage I wanted.

By this time in my project, the papers are adhered with modge podge, except the inside bottom.  The night before, I used E-6000 to attach the painted black base to the shadowbox, with the intention of adding the final paper once the E-6000 dried.  The next day I realized the weight of the key would have made this top-heavy with such a small base, so I added a metal washer and wider wood.  Once that cured overnight, I painted with black gesso then acrylic.

I'll share a secret with you:  I use the washer trick a lot.  I really makes a difference for the stability of shadow boxes, altered Altoids tins, and the like.  Plus, layering wood bits in this way helps give projects their own uniqueness.

Now, back to the face image... I love that she's right behind the key.  Does she have secrets, or is she the secret?

Thanks for your visit today!

Cheers
Susan

Gypsy Soul Laser Cuts Used
Tiny Little Shadowbox Houses 1 - #C20A
Tiny Shingles Standard BB57A
Keys Engraved D12Q - coming soon

Other Supplies Used
Stamperia Time Is An Illusion
black gesso
black acrylic paint
wood bits
E-6000
TH "secret" metal key
Tiny eye screw
White glue
Black twine
Metallic paints
Pilot gold marker
Tiny gold balls

Working Skeletons

Hello crafty gypsy friends!  I'm over on the Gypsy Soul Laser Cuts blog today sharing a little skellie triptych made with the Arch Top House Silhouettes.

The first thing I did was match the personality of my three skeletons with paper bits, outlined them with pencil and cut out.

I lined up the silhouettes with about 1/4-inch between them and added Linen Hinge Tape on each side.

A scoring tool or some such thing will help adhere the linen tape strips to each other.

I added black gesso on the edges and on the linen tape, then used matte medium to adhere the paper to each side.

A gold marker on the edges for a little pizazz.

The Funeral Director

The Pharmacist

The Auctioneer

Thanks for your visit today!

Cheers,
Susan

Gypsy Soul Laser Cuts Used
Arch Top House Silhouettes

Other Supplies Used
Tim Holtz Halloween Paper 8x8
Black gesso
Dresden trim
Antikamnia Calendar skeletons
Gray and black watercolor pencils
Matte medium

Wit & Sarcasm Fun!

Hello crafty friends!  I'm on the Gypsy Soul Laser Cuts blog today sharing giggles, guffaws, and chuckles.

Generally, I'm the person who comes up with a snappy retort about 20 minutes after it was needed.  *sigh*  I admire people fortunate enough to have a quick wit.  For the rest of us, there are Susan's Wit & Sarcasm Flash Cards!  Ha ha.  I just made that up.  See? I *am* funny (or so I keep telling my husband...).

The base materials are Simple House Ornaments, Artist Trading Coins, and the 2.5 Inch Trading Coasters.  The construction process is pretty simple but I admit to agonizing over caption and image pairing.  I spent hours scouring the internet for free high resolution 50s housewife images and also bought a few pre-made downloads (those are much, much easier...).

I fussy-cut as many shapes as I could handle at one time.  This is really just carefully cutting with sharp scissors, good lighting, and reading glasses/magnifiers.  Seriously!  I perch drugstore 1.75 reading glasses on the end of my nose while I'm cutting and it is most helpful!

From a long list of collected sarcastic and witty comments, I choose according to the figure's "personality", printed on card stock and cut into strips.

Next, I coordinated the figure with the background papers and used Mod Podge/adhesive medium to adhere to the first side of the chipboard.  I gave that a few minutes to set up, then flush cut around the edges.  You can use another coordinating paper for the reverse/magnet side, and adhere the same way or paint the reverse side a fun color.

Next, adhere the figure and trim off the edges as needed. Don't worry about the rough edges at this point -- sanding is one of the last steps.  The coins can be cut with scissors.

Add the captions --tweezers and Zig glue pen are great for this-- and sand all the edges once that glue is dry.  Ink the edges and add magnet squares as needed.  Fun!

I have a stand at a weekly market and it has been a lot of fun watching people look through them, recognize themselves and friends, and whisper to each other about the captions.

Thanks for your visit today!

Gypsy Soul Laser Cuts Used
Simple House Ornament #C17O Set/2
Artist Trading Coins #D81M Set/3
2.5 Inch Trading Coasters #C23L Set/3

Other Supplies Used
Collage sheets from Alpha Stamps
Mod Podge
Assorted My Mind's Eye 6x6 paper pads
Sand paper
Brown ink for edges
Zig blue glue pen
Magnetic sheets cut to 1 1/2" squares (from Amazon)

There's A Cure

Hello crafty friends!  I'm on the Gypsy Soul Laser Cuts blog today sharing a tongue-in-cheek altered tin.

As a frame for the tin, I used the Altoids Fairy Tale Inserts.  This is a set of three, each with a two-part decorative label holder.  Here are the other two in the set:

For a textured surface, I tapped an embossing ink pad on the frame then sprinted embossing powder all over it (over a separate piece of paper so I could pour the excess back into the jar).

The heat gun worked it's magic and the embossing powder melted into a wonderful black and white textured surface.

I dabbed black paint onto the label frame surface, then used a brown brush pen to even out the color on the label's edges.

Attach the insert with a line of glue around the tin.

I used both parts of the label, and helped the glue set up with clothes pins.  Since the embossed surface is textured, I glued the label to the tin using strong E-6000.

I hope I haven't shocked you too much... I do like to raise eyebrows every once in a while!

Gypsy Soul Laser Cuts Used
Altoids Fairy Tale Inserts #YB23A

Other Supplies Used
Tim Holtz paper, washi tape, metal knob
Seth Apter Baked Texture - Rocky Road
Seth Apter Vintage Beeswax

I've Joined the Alpha Stamps Team!

I'm pleased as punch to announce that I'm now an Alpha Stamps design team member!  Alpha Stamps carries a huge line of supplies for your mixed media projects.  The collage sheet choices are astounding, plus there are all kinds of 3 dimensional bits and bobs to embellish your crafty life.

Check out the March Kit on the right sidebar --->   Each month AS has a new kit, and the design team  members show their take on it.  Sign up for the newsletter and you'll see our take on each month's theme, as well as get news on flash sales and the monthly giveaway.

Cheers!

Graphic 45 Tag Sampler

Hello crafty friends!  I'm on the Gypsy Soul Laser Cuts blog today.  I have to be honest, I started this Tags In A Box project without real focus.  I wanted to use scraps of Graphic 45 papers, things I prepared with fussy cutting or layering, yet never used. Once I started it, I quickly became underwhelmed by my efforts.  It was a good idea, but...  'meh' on execution.  It was way after midnight and I went to bed with 3 tag fronts laid out, thinking I was too far in to quit, but I needed to sleep on it.

In the morning over coffee, I wondered what I'd do with this project after it was completed.  Should I even continue?

Then I remembered Margo.  We met at a local monthly art & craft event.  My table that month held shadow boxes, embellished greeting cards, altered tins, and such.  We bonded over a love of Graphic 45 papers.  I see her every once in a while and each time we lament that we've never actually gotten together for crafty time.

Margo, this one's for you.  You breathed life into this project and gave it purpose.  Thank you.  I hope to see you at November's 3rd Friday!

****

Here is the base. You'll see I was rubbish at taking photos of the steps, but this should help a little.

The small piece in front allows you to display a tag without it sliding forward.  Pretty clever design, if you ask me.  The kit includes the base as well as 6 tags.  The tags are all roughly 4" x 8" and the box has a generous amount of room, so embellishments weren't a concern.

There's even an Extra Tag Set available if you want to fill it up!

I painted the inside black and covered the outside with Renaissance paper and black acrylic paint.

The tags were covered with background paper using Mod Podge.  The edges were sanded and then inked with brown marker and a foam pad.

Each tag was assembled with scraps of G45 and embellishments.  I used a small cut of gears from the Steampunk Frame to enhance the Steampunk Spells tag.  (Visible in the top photo.)  I used a mix of browns and black embossing powders on the gears.

Thanks for your visit today.

Cheers,
Susan


Gypsy Soul Laser Cuts Used
Tags In a Box Display #BD10A
Steampunk Frame #D20C