Tuesday, April 18, 2017

Pretty Little Everyday Ornaments

Hello everyone! Lora here taking my turn for GSLCuts and happy to be here on this beautiful spring day.
I like making ornaments that I can hang all year. These two were inspired by my newly awakened garden and some recent baking experiments involving little pink cakes.
They were delicious.
 This was a very straight forward project, so instead of a step-by-step tutorial, I'm going to pass along a couple of tips for cutting tidy angles for things like Dresden trim and how to make a wee doorway that opens with linen hinging tape, one of my favorite things.

I started out with the Simple House Ornament. Love these! They come two in a pack and if you have half the obsession I do with houses, you'll love them too.
 I covered them with the papers I chose and on the green and blue house I decided to add some Dresden Trim. Dresden trim, for those not familiar with it, is an embossed, die cut paper trim made from old molds in a village just outside of Dresden. Often foiled in gold or silver and cut into very complex designs. They are gorgeous and a staple for me when I want added detail.
A very easy way to cut an awkward angle that for example, matches the angle of your roof line on your wee house, is easy peasy.
Glue the piece of Dresden where you would like it to go, making sure there is some extending off either end of the piece. After it dries completely, simply turn it over and cut of the excess, using the angle of your house as a guide. Make sure what you are cutting with is very sharp. I use a scalpel, but a good sharp craft knife will do.
There is a little bit of waste, but not much and for me, worth it to get those edges nice and neat.
This happy little house has a door that opens and I'll give you some tips on how to make it. Again, easy peasy!
First of all, save all those little scraps that pop out of GSLCuts pieces. You never know when they are going to come in handy! This door is two scraps that popped out of a couple of the frames I have. They are the perfect size and shape for this purpose. I pre-cut the paper (you only need three pieces as the one side will be glued down)  and I taped the chip board together with linen hinging tape (you can get it on Amazon) making sure the bottoms of the scrap were even with each other and that the space between them was wide enough for the door to close properly when I added paper and embellishments.
I glued the papers down, making sure the inside edge near the linen tape was aligned with the edge of the chipboard perfectly. It's easier to trim paper from an outside edge than it is to try and trim over lap off of an area where you have to fuss. I also colored the tape a similar color to the paper with  copic marker.
After my papers dried I sanded and inked all the edges. Not something you need to do, just a preference I have. And then I worked on the inside of the door, before I glued it to the house. After I glued it down, I added the details to the outside of the door.
I thought this little stamped brass curlicue would make a pretty hinge, so I cut it in half and painted it black. The door knob is the head of a straight pin I cut off and glued down.

 This pretty girl doesn't have any secret tips other than I'd like to point out that her head sticking out from the edge of the house is intentional. I could have trimmed it off as I did her shoulder, but liked the way she looked with her crown and hair intact.
And one more thing that we sometimes forget......

Sign your work!

SUPPLIES:
 Simple House Ornament

Dresden Trim
Double Dot Vintage Scrapbook Papers
(both can be purchased from Alpha Stamps)
Copic marker
White paint pen
Sandy Gordon Collage Sheets (from Art, Tea, Life)
Thanks you for stopping by!

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