The House has Eyes.....

Ever notice that some houses seem to have an extra something? How often times one can walk into a house and feel the age it has, the personality it has developed over years of inhabitants, events, lives passing through it? Who loved it and who never noticed it was present?
I love imagining what stories a house holds, what shaped it over the years.
I made this House Room Box with 4 Cubbies with that thought in mind.

Back view....

I started with the House Room Box with 4 Cubbies.

 I cut the intereior paper for the back, remembering to cut out the slots!

I painted the the rest of the interior black and glued the pieces in, starting with the inside, center 'shelves' and then the exterior walls.

 After everything dried, I papered the outside of the box and began to glue the shingles on.
I used the Chipboard Shingles-Pointed and worked my way from the bottom to the top.
It took 12 pieces to cover one side - 6 bits with four points and six with five points. I cut them using a sharp pair of scissors. Centering the fist piece with four points and using that as a measurement for trimming the long (five points) after the glue dries.

One side completed and ready to trim.

To trim the shingles, I flipped the house upside down and using a sharp pair of scissors I cut along the edge of the short row of shingles (the four point). It gives you a bit of eaves.
I have tried using a sharp craft knife, but scissors seemed to work best for me.

I painted the roof black and added some Dresden Trim detail.....

I added more Dresden trim on the back and these great silhouettes from the Black Creepy Critters Set (coming soon)

I also painted a wooden candles stick holder black and glued it on the bottom of the house and added more trims for extra details, melted some white birthday candles and glued them on brass findings and stuck them in the house.
after that, it was me just adding lots of little things I have made or collected.
I used Graphic 45 scrapbook papers from the 'Olde Curiosity Shoppe' collection, including the great pair of eyes with the spectacles.

Little stamped brass flowers were added to the places were I didn't want raw trim edges showing. A book I made with a polymer clay cover was placed in the lower right cubby along with some fun bits and pieces including a polymer clay pumpkin. Fun!

SUPPLIES:
House Room Box with 4 Cubbies
Chipboard Shingles-Pointed
Black Creepy Critters Set (coming soon)

Additional supplies
Candlestick Holder (you can get HERE)
Dresden Trim (HERE)
Graphic 45 Olde Curiosity Shoppe Scrapbook Paper
Various brass findings and wee objects
Birthday Candles
Black acrylic paint
polymer clay

Thank you for stopping by!

Skellie ATC Shrine Boxes

Huzzah! More Halloween!
Lora here creating more fun Halloween-y stuff for the awesomeness that is Gypsy Soul Laser Cuts. Here are my two slightly creepy but fun Halloween Skeleton ATC Shrine Boxes.

Super fun, easy to make and great to display!

To create some depth, I stacked images from G45's Rare Oddities Collection. You can see an example of this in the image below.....

I started out by gluing the Shrine together, painting the sides (inside and out) black and cutting out the images I wanted to use, all from the 8x8 pad.

The background paper and the paper I used on the back side of the shrine is my favorite Bo Bunny Vintage Double Dot paper in Citrus (inside) and Green (outside back). Glue those in first.
I cut four pieces of chipboard 1/2 inches wide, painted them black and glued them to the sides of the shrine to support the 'frame' that will be the middle layer...you can see the frame in the above photo.
A pic of the supports...

I glue the frame onto the supports.

After that dried, I then glued in the skeleton, which has four widths of chipboard glued to its back to bring it up off of the background paper.
It would seem simpler to glue the skeleton in and then the frame, but I found that it's best to do the frame first and then center the interior piece to the frame, rather than the other way around.

I glued the outside border paper to the edge of the shrine, added some Dresden trim (which you can get HERE) and a few extra details like some brass findings, a few discreet sparklies and little white dots.

Don't forget to decorate the bag and sign your work!

SUPPLIES
 ATC Shrine Boxes

Additional Supplies;
Black Dresden Trim
G45 Rare Oddities Scrapbook Paper
Bo Bunny Vintage Double Dot Papers
Flat bck Crystals
Brass Findings
White Acrylic paint

Thank you for stopping by!

Halloween ATC Ticket Journal

Hello everyone, my turn to show a fun project for the awesome Gypsy Soul Laser Cuts!
At this time of year I am all about Halloween.
Well, most of the year I am all about Halloween, but this time of year is full throttle and I transform into a Halloween locomotive, whistle blowing cheerfully and whooshing along.
Today, I've got a little Alice inspired ATC Ticket Journal to show you.
I really like this fun little thing. It's like an accordion book and I do love making books.

Here we go....
I started out with the ATC Ticket Journal.

I cut ten 2x3 inch pieces of scrapbook paper in colors I like and made a little template on graph paper from the curve on the corners of the Ticket Journal, traced them on to my scrapbook paper, cut them out and set them aside.

 I reinforced the fold lines of the Journal with linen hinging tape (you don't have to do this if you choose not to) and painted the whole thing front and back, black.

I glued my papers on the Journal, being mindful about making sure they are centered.

Working on the 'back' of the piece first, I cut a strip of ribbon about 18 inches, drew a bead of glue across the center of the end panel (on the left.... that folds naturally so that it is on top when the journal is completely folded).

I centered the ribbon, so that an equal length is on both sides and glued it down, let it dry a bit and then glued down my chosen image on top of it.

I continued gluing down my images on each panel of the back side......

I kept the design simple and clean, let it dry and started working on the front panels,
repeating the process of gluing the images on to each panel, but I added more detail, like strips of pattern and Dresden trim before attaching the actual images on top.
You can see some of the layering in these detail shots.....

And of course, after everything was dry, I went back and added dots for a bit more detail!

SUPPLIES:
ATC Ticket Journal 

Graphic 45 Halloween In Wonderland
Bo Bunny Double Dot Vintage Paper in Orange Citrus, Shadow and Bright Green.
Dresden Black Zig Zag Trim (you can get it HERE)
Sharpie White Poster Paint Marker
Black Acrylic paint
Ribbon
Linen Hinging Tape

Thank you for stopping by!

A little flower power.

I felt the need to make something cheerful and bright for my post for Gypsy Soul Laser Cuts for today. I suppose everyone knows how much I love playing with house shapes, so it's no surprise that I picked the House Room Box Four Cubbies!
My inspiration came from handling the pretty and delicate Posey Panel. I decided that I wanted to fill the house with pretty, cheerful flowers.
And here it is.

I love the bright magenta, purple, orange and teal on the vivid green house!
Here is where I began....

I assembled and glued my little House Room Box together.

I gave the inside of the House and the Posey Panel a good coat of white paint.

I cut and glued this pretty green paper on the roof and the outside of the house, covering the sides, back and bottom.

Using a hand drill, I put a hole in the center of the ridge vent on the roof of the house and set it aside.

After the paint dried on the Posey Panel, I cut each flower out and glued them on cloth covered florist wire. You can use any wire you have on hand...I used this because I had it and it's green.
I patched up the backs where needed with white paint.......

And went to town with color. After the first coat dried, I added detail with little dots of white (I used a Sharpie Poster Pen in white) and then with a bit of glue, added a couple of pretty beads to the flower stems. If you add leaves, be sure and glue them fairly high up (I glued mine to the back of the beads).

I bent the wires 90 degrees from the flower and cut them to a little less than an inch so that my flowers would fit into the house and sit just inside, but not on the edge.
In oder for them to be easily glued in place, I cut some leaf shapes from the green paper and glued them to the bent part of the 'flower stem'.

I then glued the whole thing into the cubbie.

I chose three of the larger flowers and glued them into the hole I drilled in my roof. After they dried completely, using wire cutters, I cut off the stems that were showing in the little attic.
I added some moss around the flowers at the top and in the attic. I nestled two sweet little birds in....one on top with the flowers and the other in the attic (These were beads I found in a string at the craft store). I added some leaves and a flower to the attic space to tie it in to the rest of the house.

As a final touch to the front of the house, I painted and glued on this cute little Petal Corners to the gable.

I added a flower and a Petal corner to the back of the house and some little dots for detail.
Make sure you paint the backs of your flowers as they show when you turn your house around!
Thank for stopping by!
SUPPLIES:
House Room Box Four Cubbies
Posey Panel
Petal Corners

Additional Supplies:
Acrylic paint
White Dresden Trim
Bo Bunny Butterfly Kisses Scrapbook Paper
White Sharpie Poster Paint Marker
Bird Beads
Moss
Florist wire

Family Tree

Hella all, Lora here for Gypsy Soul laser Cuts! This ladies origins are a mystery, but she had to come from somewhere....
Mostly just from my odd head and because I've been working with birds a lot lately and also the beautiful imagery that come with the tree of life stories that are in so many cultures.

I like the idea that the 'crown' of the tree is sprouting out of her crown.

And her roots are strong and deep.

I began with four things.....
A cabinet door I got at the resale store for fifty cents, Arch Top Triptych-8 inch and two sets of the 3D Chipboard Tree-6 inch.
I primed the cabinet door and cut up the trees and played with various configurations until I found one that looked good to me.

I set the pieces aside ( I used this picture as a reference for putting the tree back together later) and using matte medium, I glued in strips of old dictionary pages in long lengths that look like newspaper columns, but you can use any pattern or random style of your choosing.

After the paper dried, I used the center piece from the Arch Top Triptych as a template and lightly drew around the edge of the frame. I used this pencil mark as a guide for where to place my tree branches.
I glued them down and added a coat of matte medium and let it dry thoroughly.

Now comes the painting! I love playing with paint. The instant gratification that comes with adding color sings in my heart.
I used acrylic paints (colors will be in the supplies list) and some glaze to keep the colors translucent. I wanted to be able to see the words through the color, creating a layer of depth and texture.

Lots of airy blue sky and green, rooty depths. I made sure I painted the crown of the tree white because...

I want the (fairly) translucent single ply of the image from a napkin to show clearly and a white background makes the images stand out.
I peeled the napkin apart, making sure that the image is on a single ply of paper (most good quality napkins are three ply, make sure you have peeled all three ply apart and are using the single top image ply). I tore of the leaf bits I wanted to use, and yes, tearing is best, a cut line leaves an obvious edge and a torn edge blends right in. I applied a light coat of matte medium to the surface of the board and branches and the brushed more on the image pieces as I laid them in place on the top of the tree. I used my brush to sort of 'tuck' the napkin pieces around the tree branches, leaving a little air space as possible and bringing forward the texture of the branches.

Whilst letting this dry, I gessoed the arch top triptych pieces and glued in my chosen paper. Then gave it a nice coat of gold paint.

I used an image from an old cabinet card from 1900 (I scanned the image...I never use the originals) and colorized her dress with Copic markers and acrylics paints. I used an image of a secretary bird head and crowned it, adding tree branches to give the illusion that the tree is coming from her head, brain, imagination? You can decide!

And of course, I had to add my dots....

Thank you for dropping by!

SUPPLIES:
Arch Top Triptych-8 inch
3D Chipboard Tree-6 inch

Additional:
Copic Markers
Acrylic paints in;
Sap green, Chromium Oxide Green, Raw Umber, Burnt Sienna
White, Ultramarine Blue.
Tim Holtz Distress paint in Broken China and Salty Ocean.
Graphic 45 Scrapbook paper from Botanical Bella
Dictionary pages
Liquitex Matte Medium
Liquitex Glazing Medium