Christmas in the Dog Days of Summer

Y'all, it's hot here in the south. I mean, really hot right now. And sticky.
Sticky on top of sticky.
So I have rejected the reality of the dog days of summer and have plopped my backside down in the air conditioning and have been making Christmas ornaments.
Yep.
Pretty, cheerful I-am-so-tired-of-hot-and-sticky-wanna-move-back-to-Alaska damn Christmas ornaments.
Actually, some of them are just wintery and can be hung/displayed for the whole season.
Here is a picture of all of them together.

They look so nice all together!
The top three with the Christmas goodies are made with rice paper and Chunky ATC's  and I decided I liked them as magnets.
The middle four are (again) Chunky ATC's and are nature oriented so you can leave these up all winter.
The bottom is a cute little Christmas garland made with Artist Trading Coins.
I have to share that tinsel in August just makes me happy.
Sorry Summer. Though I am still enjoying my vegetable garden, I sure would appreciate it if you would LIGHTEN THE HELL UP with the humidity.
Ahem. (smooths down wildly frizzy hair)
Thank you.
Here are some fast tips on a couple of the things I did to each group that might help you out if you decide to flip the bird at summer and make your own Christmas/winter ornaments.

Rice Paper Christmas Magnets:

 I love rice paper so much. If any of you has ever used napkins to collage with, peeling off the two extra layers of ply and gently brushing matte medium on the fragile surface of a single ply whilst trying to avoid air bubbles and wrinkles is sometimes quite trying.
Getting the bubbles out without tearing the surface too much is also a challenge.
Rice paper is much stronger than a napkin, but still has the translucence.

It's so much tougher, I have used sticky glaze and acrylic paints on them instead of matte medium and they don't dissolve like a napkin would.
When I made these magnets, I painted the ATC's white so that the colors would pop when I glued down the rice paper.

I painted a thin layer of matte medium on the ATC and laid the rice paper on top and then painted another layer of medium on top of the rice paper. You do not have to wait for the bottom coat of medium to dry before you put the top layer on.

And there is much less wrinkling and air bubbles. If you do get them, they are easy to fix if your matte medium hasn't set yet. After they dry, I use a sanding block (fine grit from the hardware store) to sand off the extra paper and give the ornaments a smooth edge.

I love these! After the medium dried, I added ribbon around the edges, lots of sparkly Stickles and glued a magnet on the back. They are easy and fun and glittery.

Winter Ornaments;

So peaceful and calm. And once again easy-peasy!
For these ATC's, I cut and glued papers on all the backs and a layer of background papers on the fronts.
I cut out the images I wanted to go on the front and set them aside for the moment.
I cut ribbons to the length I wanted the ornaments to hang and set them aside. (make sure that you cut enough length that the ribbob extends down to at least half the length of the ATC)
I laid a squiggly line of glue down the front of the ATC.....

Then stuck ribbon down on top of the glue squiggle. I then applied a thing layer of glue to the back side of my chosen image and stuck that down on top of the ribbon, making sure it was centered on the ATC.
I like doing ribbon this way versus attaching it from the back. It's simple and can actually keep your ornaments from hanging wonky if you've got a bit of weight hanging off the front of your piece.

I cut out some words that were meaningful to the image, inked the edges and glue them on. And, of course, added a lot of sparkle!

Artist Trading Coin Garland;
Basically the same techniques I used for collaging on the Chunky ATC's above, but with a couple of little tips:
I used this Tinsel for the edges around the coins and it has wire in it. I discovered that I could remove the wire and the tinsel stays intact. This makes it so much easier to glue around a circle! Save the wire you remove....it will most likely come in handy for another project.

The other thing I did was beaded the green and opal beads on to a head pin (the kind you get from the sewing notions section of the craft store) and using a thimble on my finger, stuck the pins right into the side/edge of the chipboard. If you are not comfortable doing this, you can make you garland two coins thick and glue the pin and beads between the layers.

And one more thing.......
When you glue the ribbon on to your coins, glue it on near the top of each one, that will keep the garland from flipping around too much.

I loved making Christmas ornaments in the dog days of summer, I hope you do to!
For a complete list and links to all the supplies used in these projects, click HERE

Supplies:
Chunky ATC Blanks
Artist Trading Coin
Patisserie Rice Paper (Stamperia Vintage Christmas)
Winter Botanic (Stamperia)
Christmas Vintage ( Stamperia)
Tinsel (gold and red)
Stickles in Diamond, Christmas Red and Lime
Ribbon in Pink and Red
Beads
Head pins

Thank you for stopping by!

A Sugar Skull House for Halloween

I know it's only June, but I am all about Halloween lately, and most everybody knows how much I love doing houses, so here is a Sugar Skull in a house.
With bats.
And some scary tree bits.
Here it is lit up with glowing eyes.

 And unlit, but still looks pretty cool in the daylight.

  I started out with the Mini House Room Box 4x4 Open. I took away the attic floor to make room for the Sugar Skull 1.

I laid the skull on top of the large center piece and marked where I wanted to drill holes for my glowing eyes.

I drilled the holes to the size of the tea light flames, NOT the whole tea light. I'm going to glue the body of the tea light in place on the back of the house, but we'll do that in a later step. For now, I dry fit the tea light to make sure the flame fits through the holes I drilled.

I cut papers for the main body of the house, back, front and sides (outside only). I glued the sides and the roof on, painted the inside of the house walls, ceiling and floor and then glued all the papers on.

 Next, I painted almost everything else black. Sugar Skull, Creepy Tree (I used bits and  pieces of the 8-inch Creepy Tree and the 5-inch Creepy Tree) Chipboard Bats Set (you can get them HERE) and the ridge ornament, which is the Chipboard Fleur Border. (Get it HERE)

I shingled the roof and painted most of it brown, adding a few rows of black to accent the pattern. I glued the ridge ornament on as well. You can see some of the roof and ridge in the picture below. I apologize for not getting a WIP shot. I was all into the groove and forgot.

when all the glue and paint dried, I added the trees and the bats on the back. I used black double stick foam tape to stick the trees on and mounted the bats on wires and then glued them on to the tree and added some black roses to pretty up the joined bits. I got the roses from Alpha Stamps, the same place I got the bats and the ridge ornament and the Dresden trim, which I glued on to the base of the ridge ornament and the gable edge of the house front.

Last but not least, I added some corks to the sugar skull and glued into place and turned on the lights!

That's a good start on Halloween!

SUPPLIES:
Mini House Room Box 4x4 Open
Sugar Skull 1
Creepy Tree (8inch)
Creepy Tree 5inch
Chipboard Shingles-Pointed

From Alpha Stamps:
Chipboard Bat Set
Black Zig Zag Dresden Borders
Chipboard Fleur Border

Additional:
BoBunny Double Dot Vintage Chiffon
Graphic 45 Olde Curiosity Shoppe Genuine Article
Two tea lights
Black Paint
Thank you for stopping by!

Bees and Butterflies, Books and Boxes

I think in the insect world nothing is more drawn, photographed and generally admired than bees and butterflies.
If you're a human, that is.
I suppose if you were a dung beetle another dung beetle would look like a supermodel.
I could have made a book on dung beetles, but I don't think they would care. They're pretty busy as there is a lot of shite in the world right now.
Also, they are not photogenic.
Moving on...
Lora here for the wonderful Alpha Stamps! Today I am all about Bees and Butterflies and accordion books and boxes.
I'll start with my favorite: Bees.
I love them and it is a dream of mine to become a beekeeper.
Seriously.
But for now, here is a Book of Bees.

A view of the other side:

I started this by painting the Wide Letter Box Accordion Book black, back and front.
I covered the front side and flap with paper from the Butterfly Garden 6x6 Pad. On the inside flap and inside the cover I put a couple of pieces of lined tape where I knew I was going to screw in the little 'handles', giving the book more strength. Then I used an old G45 French Country paper to cover them, but any pretty black paper will do.
Front:

Inside showing the linen tape and before I glued the inside papers on. NOTE: Before I painted the inside of the book cover, I also added some linen tape on the folds as reinforcement, then painted it. You don't have to do this. My book will be handled a lot and strengthening the folds gives it a longer life.

Everything is covered and you can see in the photo below the little Mini Hitch Fastener Knobs I used as openers. I punched holes into the book cover where I wanted the knobs to be and screwed them in place.

Next I began working on the Accordion Book Folder.
I glued a pretty stripey ribbon down the center of the book and started composing how I wanted the pages to look. It looks a bit of a mess, but it's how my brain rolls.

In the end, this is the finished first tow pages I started above.

The last thing I did was to glue ribbon to the back page that would be glued down to the book cover. I let that dry and glued the accordion book in and used clamps to keep in place while it dried.

And since I was on a roll, I made a butterfly book with the same type of accordion inside, but with an open sided box, we call a Tall Letter Box Book as the folded book inside folds out vertically instead of horizontally.

The interior techniques for this book remain the same as the Bee Book, but here is a quickie tutorial on putting together the exterior:

I pre-cut my paper before I taped the covers together:

I used lined hinging tape and left about 1/8 inch of space between the pieces. Make sure they are lined up straight or your book will be wonky!

I glued my papers on, trimming carefully any excess off the sides.

I inked up the edges and then made the inside. A fun couple of projects that I hope you will try!

For a link to all the supplies for both projects, click HERE FOR BEES and HERE FOR BUTTERFLIES.

SUPPLIES LISTS:
Bees Accordion Book:

Wide Accordion Book Folder
Wide Letter Box Accordion Bk
Antique Mini Envelope Set
Butterfly Garden 6x6 Scrapbook Paper Pad
Birds and Bees Collage Sheet
Antique ATC Pockets
Sunflowers Collage Sheet
Bees Collage Sheet
Bee Banners Collage Sheet
Mini Hitch Fasteners or Knobs
1 Inch Bronze Bee Charm
Graphic 45 French Country 'Sunflower' scrapbook  paper (for the cut-out sunflowers)
Black Seam Binding 

Additional supplies:
Black Acrylic Paint
Gold Acrylic Paint
Ribbons
Gold Stamp Pad

Butterflies Box Book:

Tiny Scalloped Fleur Dresden Borders-White
Tall Letter Box Accordion Book
Tall Letter Box Book
Butterflies Dresden Scraps
Antique Mini Envelope Set
Stickles: Diamond, Waterfall, Lime Green, Gilded Gold, Tropical Pink
Linen Book Binding Tape
Double Dot Vintage Pear Scrapbook Paper
Double Dot Vintage Passion Fruit Scrapbook Paper
1 Inch Verdigris Butterfly Pendant

Gold Stamp Pad
Green leaf Washi Tape 

Thank you for stopping by!

It's going to be a Dark and Stormy Night.....

Lora here for the awesome Alpha Stamps!
Here is a piece with some interesting elements..... a stormy sea with a ship teetering on the brink of disaster.
A woman looking away from the ship, gazing into the 'room' with a sea serpent coiled around her ankles.
What is the story? Is she a transformed mermaid seeking vengeance on the sea captain that imprisons her?
Is she about to send the serpent to rescue the crew of the ship?
Whatever is happening, it's going to be a rough, wet night.

The sullen glow of an angry sunset, lightning flickering in the distance.

I started out with the Arch Shrine Shadowbox....

I cut the papers I needed for the front of the facade, the sides and back. And gave the inside a coat of gesso and white paint to keep it light and bright enough to see the images inside.

I also applied gesso and a coat of whit paint to the Double Layer Window-Plain, cut paper to fit around the edge, measuring the area of the inside of the box, and added 'legs' so it would stand away from the back of the box and also give me something to glue down to secure the window.

I set this aside to dry and put together and painted the Small Chipboard Victorian Wall Shelf and ivory color, adding gold details.
I painted the window frame ivory and set it aside once again to dry.
I drilled a hole in the top of the shadowbox big enough to fit a tea light flame. (I turned the tea light upside down with flame pointing down through the hole. Very easy to turn on and change the battery!)

I glue my window in after checking to make sure I had everything attached to the back of the shadowbox.

I glued the facade on and once all that is dry, began attaching all the details like the shelf I painted earlier, various bits of collage images and pearls.

So fun!
Thank you for stopping by!

For a link to all the supplies used click HERE.
Collage Sheets:
Sea Green Mermaids, Sea Serpents, Ocean Waves, Stormy Seas, Edwardian Women,
Seaside Collage Sheet
Candlestick Holder
LED Tea Light
Wide brass Filigree Header
1 Inch Tall White Vase
Small Chipboard Victorian Wall Shelf
Double Layer Window- Plain
Arched Shrine Shadowbox
All papers from Seaside and Me collection
Stickles in Lime Green
All the seashells and other squiddy bits are from either the paper collection listed above or the Sea green Mermaids Collage sheet

Other: Acrylic paint (ivory, gold) mixed sized pearls