A Cheerful ATC Tote

I love this little tote! It reminds me of something I would see in a market stall. If it was for sale, I'd snatch it right up.
Thanks Alpha Stamps for letting me play with it..it was fun!

I started out with the ATC Tote Box. I cut all the papers for the inside and the outside...

 I glued the papers on each section, then sanded and inked edges. Then assembled and glued the box together, using rubber bands to keep it a tight fit whilst the glue dried.
A bit more sanding and inking where the glued edges met.

I added a double row of Black Zig Zag Dresden Borders (I LOVE Dresden trim!) and some pretty Tiny Paper Roses in red....

And lots of little dots for extra detail because if not glitter, then dots! Dots are kind of a thing with me. I love 'em.

I added a cute little saying I got from the Spring Market 6x6 Paper Pad which is also where the papers came from for covering the tote.

And made some springy, fun ATC's to put into the tote, because an empty ATC Tote Box just won't do!

The back view of the ATC's....

Such a fun project! For a link to all the supplies I used from the Awesome Alpha Stamps, click HERE
Thank you for stopping by!

SUPPLIES:
Bouquets Collage Sheet
Seed Catalog ATCs Collage Sheet
Butterflies Collage Sheet
ATC Tote Box
Tiny Paper Roses-White
Tiny Paper Roses-Red
Black Zig Zag Dresden Borders
Spring Market 6x6 Paper Pad
Double Dot Vintage Sweet Pear Scrapbook Paper
Chunky ATC's

Additional:
Stickles Seafoam 
Prima assorted paper flowers
Distress Ink Pad-Vintage Photo
Brilliance Galaxy Gold Ink Pad

A Summer Cottage

Hello everyone, Lora here taking my turn for the amazing Gypsy Soul Laser Cuts!
Ever dream of getting away for the summer? Escape the bustle of the city or the heavy heat and humidity that we get here in the south? I do. I love where I live but there are two months of the year when the pollen is terrible (for someone who has summer allergies) and the heat is so thick, you can scoop it with a spoon.
Those two months I dream of a sweet little cottage somewhere far north, near the sea.
A place where I can open the windows, smell the salt and feel the ocean breeze, hang laundry on the line, bake pies and be near enough to walk to the beach.
And maybe eat a lobster roll or two.
This dream is what inspired my little 'Summer Cottage'.

I began with the Arch Top Cabinet with Doors.
I opted not to use the doors this time as I wanted it to be open and airy. (For a look at what a piece looks like with the doors attached, click HERE)

I assembled the piece and papered the outside with Double Dot Vintage Soft Pear Scrapbook Paper, sanded the edged and inked them with Brilliance Galaxy Gold Ink.
Knowing I would need a large amount of sky, I papered the inside back with a blue paper, and painted the top, bottom and sides (inside) white.

I painted this quick little watercolor and cut it up, with the center piece measured to fin the width of the inside of the cabinet.
NOTE: There will be a tutorial on how to paint a little watercolor cottage later in the spring for those of you who are interested.

I also painted a bunch of blobby bits that will become shrubbery (Okay, it's irresistible......"Don'y say 'Shrubbery'!") and a path that I also cut out. I glued foam core to the backs of the pieces that thought I wanted to use and began playing with a layout stacking them up to create layers and depth.

When I was happy with the way things looked, I began gluing the pieces in, working my way from the background (the biggest piece, which is the house) to the foreground, a bright green shrub.

 There are four layers stacked in this piece to create depth, but you can certainly add more or less depending on how much detail you want. I added a few flowers and dots for a finishing touch.
My little Summer Cottage...I like guests.....maybe I'll see you here someday!

SUPPLIES
Arch Top Cabinet with Doors

Additional supplies:
Bo Bunny Double Dot Vintage Soft Pear Scrapbook Paper
Prima Flowers
Brilliance Galaxy Gold Ink
Hot Press Watercolor Paper
Schmincke Watercolors

Thank you for dropping in!

Alice's Buffet

If I were Alice, I'd probably have rather interesting tastes in furniture. Definitely things with character and charm.
Quirky and unique.
Maybe some hand painted things that are one-of-a-kind. Like this fun little number the Large Wooden Buffet.

It's from the one and only Alpha Stamps and here is how it started life....

Just a humble little wooden buffet, a blank canvas waiting for someone to come along and paint mushrooms and stuff all over it.
I gave it a coat of gesso and then white paint.

I painted the trim and spindles a pale shade of green, including the drawer fronts and the rolled trim that is on either side of the drawers to keep a consistent line of color.

I took the same green (Chromium Oxide Green, but you can use whatever color makes you happy) straight from the bottle to do the itty bits of detail on the spindles and the center rolled trim on either side of the outside drawers.
I used the sap green paint to lay the dark green ground for the center painting.

Using an old brush I cut straight across, I gradually added a bit of white to lighten up the green as it goes higher, until it blends and nearly disappears into the creamy white background.

 I painted in little stems...

and tiny little red flowers that look a little like poppies. I made sure I gave the same treatment to the frame so it would blend in.

 Using Quinacridone Nickel Azo Gold and a bit of water, I 'aged' up the piece, brushing the paint on and then wiping most of it off with a damp paper towel. Don't wait too long to wipe the paint off, you want to do it while it's still damp.
It gives the piece a mellow, softer appearance.
I found this awesome image on the Alice Plays Croque Collage Sheet (actually, the big boss found it for me, she's good that way) and reduced it down so it would fit into the frame, which originally had a mirror in it, but I wanted a cool picture.
It still needed alittle something, so I painted some more flowers and added a few mushrooms.....

I painted four wooden beads green and added them for feet and a bit of gold paint for some extra detail on the drawers and around the top of the buffet arch.
And here it is. Alice's Buffet. Now I just need to fill it with treasure from the rabbit hole.
EXTRA......
See below the supplies list for a (very) brief and easy tutorial on painting tiny mushrooms and flowers.
Supplies:
Large Wooden Buffet
Alice Plays Croque Collage Sheet

Additional Supplies:
Acrylic paint
Wooden beads for feet

One way to paint little mushrooms and flowers.
Super easy! And I am sorry for the photographs... everything I snapped was an inch or shorter, so it was a bit of a challenge and my picture taking skills are minimal.
Mock me if you must. Just do it elsewhere.
Mushrooms:
Start with two weird shaped triangles, one on top of the other...

Add a spongy, bigger triangle in red on top of the other two. Cover most of the triangle that will now be the center triangle. Add a little shading to the center triangle and the base triangle opposite the side you imagine the light is coming from.

Use the other end of your brush to add some dots (if you want a poisonous mushrooms..they are pretty) and a little extra shading of a darker brown just on the edges of the lighter shadows.
Not hard, right? You can even add a bit of white to the 'light' side of the mushroom. Get creative and play with colors if you want to. It's fun.
Add some grass. Play a bit!
Note: I used a very tiny brush to add the finer details, a 3/0 white round.
For more coverage of the bigger bits I used a 6 filbert.

Flowers:
Make a petal by making a triangle-ish shape with the small end pointed toward the center.
Make three of them.

Starting from the ground, draw a stem up to the flower, making the fat part (with more paint on the brush) at the bottom.
You can always do the stem first if you want to.

I added a bit of orange and yellow paint toward the center of the flower as well.
Add a bit of black to make a center. And make a few leaves by doing the triangle technique you made the flowers with, but start from the stem and go out.
Don't overload your brush or you will make globs. Do a few practice runs with a scrap piece of paper.

Add some grass and a little lighter greens if you're feeling artsy. (see bottom picture)

 Easy peasy!
Thank you for stopping by!

An ATC Trio of Royal Birds

I can tell spring has really arrived. Suddenly my garden is full of birds...all shapes and sizes, from petite purple finches to bright blue jays, they've all flocked to the feeders and have been feeding up for the arduous task of caring for nestlings.
Certain birds seem to have dominance or priority over others. I've seen this in all the species we've got at the feeders.
Maybe they paid the extra money for the executive lounge.
Or maybe they're royalty and all the other birds let them have first go.
Either way, there's enough for all.
A whimsical trio of ATC's inspiring by the birds I see at my feeders.
Except the owl.
He's there because he's so handsome.
And he makes me smile because he's very pope-ish.

I began with the ATC Stand. this comes in a package of three which is super handy because mt favorite Chunky ATC Blanks come in a set of three. What a coincidence! Naw, that Gina is pretty smart. ;-)

After gluing them together, (easy-peasy) I gave all three a good coat of white paint.

Then I started working on the ATC blanks.

I cut the papers for both sides of each ATC and glued them on.

I sanded the edges and inked them up. Then I started working on the bird images. Using colored pencils and a couple of Copic markers, I juiced up the color on the birds a bit.
And started adding glitter to the crowns.

It's a bit hard to tell, but a lot of Stickles Glitter Glue was used...

I wanted the birds raised a bit off of the ATC, so I glued some scrap chipboard to the backs of each bird.
I also wanted a bit of exaggerated shadow under the birds, so using the birds as templates, I did a light outline around the inside of each bird cut-out on the ATC where I wanted them placed and then using pencils and a blender stick, I made a 'shadow' around what will be the outside edges of the birds.

I added my favorite dots to each ATC for some delicate detail.

And maybe a little extra glitter.

The stands are a great way to show off the ATCs and I like the fact that you can rotate a collection out depending on mood or season/ holiday. Or you can get a bunch and put your whole collection out.

SUPPLIES:
ATC Stand
Chunky ATC Blanks

Additional Supplies:
Birds and Crowns Collage Sheet (from Gallery Cats)
Stickles Glitter Glue in a variety of colors
White acrylic paint
Gold Ink Pad

Thank you for stopping by!