Thursday, December 27, 2018

Medieval Cathedral Frame with Gypsy Soul Laser Cuts

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to everyone!  I hope you all are enjoying the holidays and getting ready for the coming year.  I sure am.  As a matter of fact, this will be my last post with Gypsy Soul, unless they will have me back on occasion as a guest designer <hint>.  

I am one of those people who thinks there is always room for improvement, especially for myself.  I am always striving to learn new things, new crafts, new techniques, and more importantly, I continue to try to improve on things I feel I may already know but perhaps I have not perfected.  So, I will still be about on social media, hopefully with some new techniques and new ideas to share.  

front 
back
So, let's get to today's project.  I will be using this beautiful Cathedral Frame and an image from the Medieval Triptychs collage sheet from AlphaStamps. 


I simply laid the top frame with the opening over the images on the sheet until I found the one that I liked and that fit inside the frame the best.  


Use a makeup sponge to apply a coat of the Limestone Stone Effect Paste to the front and back sides only of the frame pieces.   Set aside to dry.


Paint front and back of frame pieces with Glorious Gold acrylic paint and let dry.


Delaminate a piece of mica large enough to fit over the collage image, and another piece large enough to fit behind the opening of the top frame piece.  Glue mica  pieces with Glossy Accents or a clear drying adhesive.


Trim excess mica from open top are of frame, and around collage image.  Glue pieces to front of frame (right).  Be sure to carefully burnish the collage image down to the back piece to ensure there are no air bubbles or wrinkles.  


The back frame piece (left) is ready to be glued to the front (right) piece, as shown.


Glue the frame pieces together.  
To conceal the seams along the edges where the two pieces have been glued together, I used a small spatula and my finger to add a layer of the Limestone Stone Effect Paste.  Let it dry.


Paint the edges with the Glorious Gold acrylic paint and let dry.

Glue metal embellishments to the frame, as shown.


Paint the embellishments with Glorious Gold acrylic paint and let dry.


Pick up the Fire Ruby wax with a brush and lightly hit the high spots over the frame and embellishments.  


Continue doing the same on the back of the frame, as well.


Glue rhinestones to the center of each embellishment.



Supplies used:

GSL Cathedral Frame
Medieval Triptychs Collage Sheet (www.alphastamps.com)
Limestone Stone Effect Paste (Prima/Finnabair)
Fire Ruby Antique Brilliance Wax (Prima/Finnabair)
Mica pieces (USArtQuest)
Makeup sponge
Small spatula
Ranger Glossy Accents
Metal embellishments
Amber gold rhinestones

I hope you enjoyed this quick and easy project today, and be sure to come back to see all the inspirational projects from the design team.  

I've enjoyed my time with Gypsy Soul Laser Cuts, and I hope you have enjoyed my projects during my time here.  Thanks so much for your support, and have a wonderful New Year!

Barbara

Thursday, December 13, 2018

Gypsy Soul Laser Cuts' Christmas Mini Folding House Shrine

Happy holidays to everyone!  I hope you are enjoying the winter weather, wherever you are!  Today, I am going to be using a couple of Gypsy Soul Laser Cuts' newest sets, the Little Folding House Shrine and the Tiny Christmas Shapes sets.  These are so cute and are sized just right to work together perfectly!

Outside with doors closed

Outside with doors open


Inside with doors opened
Make hinges by cutting two pieces of Tyvek to 2-1/2" x 3/4".  Paint both sides of the Tyvek with gold acrylic paint.  Paint both sides of the house with the gold acrylic paint.  One side (showing) only needs to be painted around the edges.  Set aside to dry.


Glue Tyvek "hinge" pieces to the three house pieces, as shown.  Leave enough space between pieces to allow the doors to open and close.  


Outside
Inside

This is a great time to use some of those paper scraps you've been saving.  These two pieces are from a Basic Grey Mistletoe & Pears paper pad.  



Run paper through Xyron 3" sticker maker.


Xyron 3" sticker maker

Cut paper just slightly smaller to fit each section, leaving a scant hint of gold edge.  Adhere to each panel. 


Inside

Outside

Apply triangle paper pieces to the roof top, as shown, on each side, using the opposing prints. 

Inside
Outside
Outside when closed in front
Add a strip of the gold Dresden border along the edge where the two papers meet, as shown.

Inside

Outside
Outside when closed in front
Cut two of the tiny scalloped shingles in half and paint with white acrylic paint or white gesso.  Let them dry, then glue to the top portion of the roof, as shown.

Outside when closed in front
Outside view on back
Fill in both sides of the roof top with the snow writer snow, as shown. 

Outside when closed on front
Paint each of the pieces with acrylic paint, as shown. 


Glue a small piece of mica to the back of the window frame.  Use the Snow Writer to add snow to the window frame and the green tree. (NOTE:  I added a wash of Burnt Umber acrylic paint to the window shutters to age them.)


I found a little white button in my stash, so I stamped "25" on it with black permanent ink, then ran a piece of red floss thorugh the button and tied it off. 


Glue it to the top portion of the roof on the outside of the house, as well as the painted chipboard pieces, as shown.

Inside
I cut a printed word "NOEL" from one of the papers in the pad and glued that to the roof portion of the outside of the house.  Glue remaining chipboard pieces, as shown.  (NOTE: I glued a tiny strip of chipboard beneath the shutters, close to the window, so that I could angle them up and outward from the house.  This is optional, of course).

Outside
I have included a few more close-ups of the painted chipboard pieces for you.





Supplies Used:

GSLTiny Shingles Sampler
GSL Little Folding House Shrine (contact store)
GSL Tiny Christmas Shapes (contact store)
GSL Gingerbread House Mini Tall (window &  shutters)
2 strips Tyvek (2-1/2" x 3/4")
DecoArt Glorious Gold Metallic paint
DecoArt Americana Lamp Black acrylic paint
DecoArt Media Fluid Acrylics
  Diarylide Yellow
  Hansa Yellow Light
  Primary Magenta
  Translucent White
  Cadmium Red Hue
  Burnt Umber
  Sap Green
DecoArt Snow Writer
Basic Grey Mistletoe & Pears paper pad 
Xyron 3" sticker maker
Gold German Dresden border
Liquitex white gesso
Mica Pieces
Alphabet/Numbers stamp set
Black archival ink pad
White button
Red floss


Thanks for stopping by, and have a very Merry Christmas!!!

Barbara

Tuesday, December 4, 2018

Dragonfly Embroidery Hoop Redux with ColourArte

Hi everyone!  Today, I want to share a mixed media project that I made a couple of years ago, but I was not really happy with how it turned out.  I just could not figure out what I needed to do to improve it.  Fast forward two years, and here is my "new and improved" redo.  Okay, I am very easily entertained, but when you see the "before" and "after", you will have to admit that it is now much more colorful.  I have also added much more texture and interest to the piece.

Here is my video tutorial where I show you what I did differently.   Mainly, I used the ColourArte Vivid Ultra Metallics, which did not even exist at the time of my first video.


CLICK HERE TO SUBSCRIBE TO MY CHANNEL

If you are interested, I have also included my first video process here.  In it, I show you how I stiffened the fabric with Paverpol, and attached it into the embroidery hoop.  You may, also, learn a few techniques and uses for some of the other ColourArte products.  



ColourArte Supplies Used:
Vivid Ultra Metallics
  Black Cherry
  Burnt Umber
  Moss Green
  Daffodil
  Bolivian Blue
  Douglas Fir
Radiant Rains Colour Concentrate (Dabbers)
  Mediterranean
  Nutmeg
  Plumeria
  Yellow Rose

Other Supplies Used:
Liquitex White Gesso
Prima Metallique Wax
  Vintage Gold
  Bronze Age
Clear Glue Pen (Paper Studio)
Gold Mini Glass Beads
Metallic Jade Glass Beads (Judi-Kins)
Beadazzles (Suze Weinberg)
  Macarena
  Jazz

Whether you prefer my redo or not, I hope you enjoyed watching the processes used, and perhaps I was able to inspire you to make a canvas using only a simple embroidery hoop and a piece of fabric.  You can pick and choose the techniques and/or products you prefer, and most importantly, you can have a blast while you do it.

Thanks so much for stopping by, and I hope you will consider subscribing to my channel so that YouTube will let me continue to bring more videos to you.

Have a wonderful and crafty day!!!

Barbara