"home away from home"-gypsy wagon for Gypsy Soul Lasercuts

Hello friends! I've been looking forward to playing with this wonderful little wagon since the first day I got it and finally got brave enough  this week!



I looked at a lot of photos of gypsy wagons online for ideas and this is the one that inspired me most with its warm vintage pastels and rich details.

Did you know that popsicle sticks can be dry-embossed? Who knew?? I noticed that many of the vintage wagons had beautifully carved and painted patterns in the woodwork and created the effect  of carvings with a small border embossing folder and some acrylic paint.

Most of the wagon was painted with acrylic paints and then rubbed with gold paint to soften the colours and create an antiqued effect. The lattice strips and shutters were cut with Memory Box dies and painted top coordinate with the backgrounds. The flourishes and stair rails are Gypsy Soul pieces and the furry friends are fussy cut from Graphic 45 papers.

 I had some really nice embossed felt in my stash which I painted and used for the roof; the fringe was also painted as were the wheels....by the way you can purchase packages of these awesome wheels from the Gypsy Soul store to use on anything you like!

This was such a fun project to create and it even caught my hubby's interest; he doesn't usually have a lot to say when I'm creating but he had some really good suggestions while I was working on this project.

Thanks a bunch for stopping by and I hope you get the chance to tackle a fun project like this-the sky's the limit  with decorating options!

Gypsy Soul Items Used
Gypsy Wagon
Fairy Door-Kelly (stair rails)
Victorian Corners 1

Other Items Used

Graphic 45 Raining Cats and Dogs papers

Memory Box dies
-small Madison window shutter
      -Tessatina Border

birthday cards for Gypsy Soul Lasercuts

Happy Birthday!
What-not your birthday? Not mine either but I'm sure it must be somebody's birthday! After creating my recent birthday reminder project I realized there was a major shortage of cards in my stash that were ready to be mailed or delivered when I needed one. I figured it was a good time to put a couple together and a great chance to use some great chipboard pieces!

For the masculine card I distressed and layered squares and rectangles of paper after inking the edges.
The "happy birthday" piece was run through an embossing folder then painted with brown acrylic paint. I rubbed gold paint lightly over the surface to highlight the embossed gear pattern.

The gears and tools were painted with the same brown paint before I heat-embossed them with Distress embossing powder to create a rusty effect.

 

The feminine card includes some fussy-cutting as well as inking and distressing; I loved the pattern in the green paper and wanted to make it stand out. The chipboard pieces were run through an embossing folder then painted pink. I rubbed them with an iridescent white ink to emphasize the raised pattern.I then rubbed a bit of pink ink along the very edges.

I love the way the round frame echoes the shape of the metal sentiment and the way the butterfly adds dimension! Now all I have to do is remember to check my birthday reminder tags far enough ahead to actually send someone one of these birthday cards in time!! Hmmm...maybe I should stick the tag on something I use often-like my tea kettle?? Or my laptop??

Gypsy Soul Items Used
Birthday Shape Set
Gears Shape Set
Miniatures Shape Set-Guy Thing
Delicate Frames and Ornaments Shape Set

Other Items Used

Donna Salazar Antiquities 12x12 papers
Kaisercraft Rustic Harmony 12x12 papers
Ranger Distress embossing powder-Vintage Photo
Prima roses

Cherish Every Moment-More than Words May Challenge

hi! I created this page for this month's challenge at the More Than Words blog; I love clocks and use them on a lot of my projects so when I saw that clocks were part if May's criteria I knew I wanted to play along!

This photo was taken almost 21 years ago when our family was on vacation on Haida Gwaii (the Queen Charlotte Islands in British Columbia) My son was 3 and my daughter was the tiny little bundle in the Snugli. Looking at them now I can't believe how quickly the time has flown!

The other criteria was to use the word "moment" which is why I felt like a special memory from the past would be perfect to scrap-I cherish the memories of moments like this.

I cut clocks from some patterned paper and stenciled some onto my page with texture paste. I diecut some clock hands that are in with the flower clusters and added some real metal ones to the upper right of the page.

you will find the More Than Words Challenge HERE:

Thanks so much for stopping by!

Tag Box Birthday Reminder for Gypsy Soul Lasercuts

hello there! One of the traits I'm known for is my absolutely terrible memory...I don't know how many times a day I say,  "now what did I come in HERE for??" If I go to the store for two things I'm bound to leave without at least one of them. And remembering to send birthday cards??? Well I'm sure you can guess I don't always manage that! I thought this little box with the tags was so cute and wanted to do something useful with it so I came up with the idea of creating a birthday reminder so that I'd (hopefully) never miss sending a card again!

The main sentiment of the Graphic 45 paper I used is "Let Them Eat Cake"...now,  I know the historical origin of the phrase-Marie Antoinette during the French Revolution-but the first thing I thought of is birthday cake (It just so happens I also love baking and cake decorating) so I thought it was the perfect paper for my project. The pocket on the one side is for extra paper strips for adding birthdays.

I attached the strips with repositionable adhesive so that I could move them around should I want to add  more names in the future,  as I wanted to keep them chronological. (I blurred the names of my birthday people to protect their privacy)

The lovely papers just begged to be fussy cut,  and I popped a lot of the cutouts up with foam adhesive. Adding bits of lace and cheesecloth and some diecut/punched foliage( as well as some lace and ribbon tied at the top)  was all I needed to finish my project. The ledge at the front of the box is  the perfect spot for this month's tag.

Thanks so much for stopping by and I wish you a wonderful week-may you remember what you went into a room for every time!

Gypsy Soul Items Used
Tags in a Box Display

Other Items Used

Graphic 45 Gilded Lily papers
Martha Stewart punch
Memory Box die

Trinket stand for Gypsy Soul Lasercuts

I originally intended to use this little stand for craft supplies but when I saw how cute my little Red Rose tea figures looked on it I started to think maybe I'd leave them right there....who remembers these cute little animals that used to come in boxes of Red Rose tea? There were also some nursery rhyme figures-like Little Bo Peep and Little Red Riding Hood but the animals were always my favourite.

I painted and inked the edges then covered the pieces with patterned paper before assembling it.I sanded the edges then rubbed a little dusty rose ink along them. The Graphic 45 brad I used as a knob had a verdisgris finish so I created a similar finish with acrylic paints on the flourishes that were added to the two sides..

I fussy cut a butterfly from the paper and popped it up on the drawer. The style I went for on this project was simple but this wonderfully versatile piece could be finished in so many different ways and with a wide variety of mediums. Thanks so much for stopping by and I wish you a wonderful week!

Gypsy Soul Items Used

small trinket shelf stand
leafy corners

Other Items used

Momenta Botanical 6x6
textured cardstock pad

Colorbox Ink

Graphic 45 staples (brad)

Pawprints on my Heart-layout for Gypsy Soul Lasercuts

Hello there! Spring has definitely sprung and I'm missing my baby girl who would always drag me outside for "photo shoots" when she was living at home; now that she's across the country I so appreciate the photos I have of her and I love this one from a few years back which was taken with our pug mix Toby.

I just love this title piece and could use it on so many projects; my family and friends and I are all animal lovers. After priming it with white gesso I heat embossed it in white then rubbed pink ink on the edges; I used the same process on my little diecut dogs. I'm thinking Gina may need to add some chipboard dogs to her inventory along with the adorable set of cats she has (that I have used quite often!)

I love how applying different techniques and colours to the chipboard pieces can give the same piece so many different looks; the only limit is your imagination (and your supply stash of course-but changing up the look of your chipboard pieces is a very good excuse for collecting more supplies!!)

Wishing you a week of creativity-and may the pawprints on YOUR heart bring only happiness!

Gypsy Soul Items Used
Pawprints on my Heart

Other Items Used
Versamark ink
Colorbox ink
Donna Salazar Embossing Powder
Prima Firefly papers
Recollections Bohemian mists
Memory Box dies
Fiskars border punch
Crafter's Workshop and Prima stencils

hello friends! I had so much fun with this little project; I've been looking forward to doing something with this awesome shrine and wanted to use some lively papers with lots of fussy cutting and embellishments-and WHEELS! Yes definitely wheels...which Gypsy Soul has in a great variety of sizes.

I papered the individual pieces before putting the shrine together then added the layers and embellishments. I fussy cut some words and images from the Graphic 45 paper.

The wheels were simply painted with black acrylic paint. I really didn't think they needed anything more as they are such an awesome addition to any project; the screw tops I added were a perfect finishing touch as they coordinated with all the other silver bits I'd added.

                             thanks for stopping by...and have a wonderful and creative week!

Gypsy Soul Items Used

Square Shrine Shadowbox

Wheels 2 inch Straight

Other Items Used

Graphic 45 Typography paper pad

misc metal embellishments

crayon