Free Easter Toy Printable

Its been a long time since I last posted. As some of you already know, I lost my youngest son on Dec 15th a few years back. His birthday is Feb 12th and some years I have a harder time dealing with it than others. This year was one of those years that I just needed to spend time with family with no distractions. My two little grand babies help a lot :)) Anyway I am sorry but I am back and I have a fun free Easter toy for you today!

Feel free to pin the thumb above but please do not pin the actual download. I would like everyone to stop by here to download it so they don't miss all my other fun free downloads

Free Printable 2015 and 2016 Victorian Desk Calendar

I thought it was time to make something fun for me!... and I know it is a little late for a calendar so I made one for next year too. Make one for yourself now and save the 2016 calendar to make for Christmas gifts. Trust me it is coming faster than you think :)) I printed mine on a legal size paper but you can cut it up and print it in three sections too. Follow the directions in my basic theater instructions to mount it on lightweight cardboard... like cereal box thickness. The link is in my quick links on the right hand side bar.

Feel free to pin the thumb above but please do not pin the actual download. I would like everyone to stop by here to download it so they don't miss all my other fun free downloads

Fun and GamesFree Antique Game Spinner

Where has this month gone! I have been trying to recover from having to take so many antibiotics... there just not great for MS. They make your immune system go on high gear and that makes MS flair up. For digital work you have to be able to make precise movements with your hands. I am getting better and starting to do some digital work again. However I have kept busy playing games with my grand babies and working on some jewelry pieces for hubby's store. I noticed while playing games that there are a lot of game boards out there but no spinners so I am posting this cute little antique spinner for you to play with. There are arrows available at most craft stores or you could just get your kitchen shears out and cut one from a soda can. If you do that though make sure you sand it well so you don't get any cut fingers :))

Feel free to pin the thumb above but please do not pin the actual download. I would like everyone to stop by here to download it so they don't miss all my other fun free downloads.

Punch & Judy Free Printable

I do have a free printable for you but first let me show you what I have been working on. As much as I wanted to get my nutcracker theater done this year, I needed to make sure this was done for Christmas. The two main puppets were from an early 1800's magazine and were so poorly printed it literately took me weeks to complete them.

Someone very special to me, who happens to be a big Punch & Judy fan, is going to get a kit for this for Christmas. I have had the theater printed larger than my printer will print but I am going to print the puppets large myself. Then I will put it in a special box I am working on with the chip board, brads, glue and so on so that she can make it herself. The graphic's for this are now available in my little etsy store.

As you know... I usually try to make my free image go along with whatever I am working on so I have a cute little Punch and Judy free printable for you. I thought it would make a great invitation to your show or Punch & Judy birthday party, or as I have used it to create a box lid for the little theater to go into.

If you check it out in its larger version, I think you will be able to tell how clear I can make these vintage images :)

Feel free to pin the thumb above but please do not pin the actual download. I would like everyone to stop by here to download it so they don't miss all my other fun free downloads.

 

I also would like to post a little history on Punch and Judy:

 

May 9, 1662 is the day that is credited as Punch's birthday as that was the first recorded day his show was preformed in Britain. The British show developed into "Punch and Judy" with its first published script in 1827.  However the show was preformed in the 1700 in Italy only the puppets had a different names, Pulcinella and his wife Joan. 

 He speaks in a distinctive squawking voice, assisted by a "Bottler", who encouraged to participate and collecting money. The Bottler also played accompanying music or sound effects usually on a drum. Today it is preformed often in private parties and is fun for all ages.

Happiness in the kitchen once again! Free Printable Little Cooks... Chefs

I know you all think my hubby is the greatest but he does have a few quarks that really bug. One of those is that he insists on having a bunch of junk sitting on the counter all the time! So I put it all on a wooden tray so that when company came I could quickly hide it away in the pantry. But I STILL HAD TO LOOK AT IT!  Recently I saw a post on pintrest where a lady had put all her tea necessities on a silver tray and knew that was my answer. I found one I loved at a local thrift store and on went all his junk.

I put his splenda in a little silver sugar (of course) his creamer in a little silver overlay creamer jar. Not that he drinks coffee... he has to add it to his hot chocolate to make it creamer...lol. I found a silver swan napkin holder. Our butter has always been in a vintage refrigerator dish. I used the sugar shaker for his garlic salt and his vitamins and hot chocolate packets went in the silver biscuit canister. Now there is happiness in our kitchen once more!

Feel free to pin the thumb above but please do not pin the actual download. I would like everyone to stop by here to download it so they don't miss all my other fun free downloads

Vintage French Chocolate Change Pocket Envelope Free Printable

I love this little change pocket. When a servant was sent to purchase something, the change was often put in a change pocket with the item to be given to the employer. I love this little French chocolate change pocket and I wanted to have it posted for Valentines day. It could be used to hold a little card or tea bag for a birthday gift too.

 

Sun and Sea Summer Fun Free Printable Two New Digital Sheets Available Too!

I did two new digital collage sheets for my little Etsy store and I had a couple of images left over. Some will be for the free bonus that I always send along with my sheets however along with a little preview of what is new, I thought I would post a summer fun freebie for my blog post this week :) they are just so cute with there little sail boat!

Feel free to pin the thumb above but please do not pin the actual download. I would like everyone to stop by here to download it so they don't miss all my other fun free downloads

Here is a little preview of the summer fun sheets I did by special request. They are available in my little etsy store now. You can use the key word "sea" in the search link at my shop to find them. If they do not show up they have been sold but will be relisted shortly!

 

Vintage match box dispenser made into a place to keep and display beach pebbles found on a special trip to the beach.

Enjoy! Inka

Paper Circus and more!

As much as I have told myself that I had enough vintage papers... I have paper fever! I just can't resist purchasing a find like this! Nine sheets in all but only seven are Circus theme. They are from an early 1900's woman's magazine that offered a center fold of paper toys each month. The Circus sheets are bound for Collage sheets in my little etsy store. However I do plan to offer the others as free downloads on my blog. Two are Christmas theme so they will have to wait but you can expect the others to be showing up soon :)

If you love Circus and would like to make some art examples for my listing page with these just email me using the link on my right hand sidebar. I will be taking the first two or three so you could get them free!

St Patrick's Coleen Free Printabe

She's a bit of a flirt, is this Colleen,

With her roguish eyes and bouquets of green,

The sight of this maid so blithe and so gay

Cheers all Irish hearts on St Patrick's Day.

Feel free to pin the thumb above but please do not pin the actual download. I would like everyone to stop by here to download it so they don't miss all my other fun free downloads

Eagle Fun Days... NOT! Free Carnaval Printable

Things have just been crazy around our house, with getting the after winter yard work done and moving my studio to make room for my sisters arrival there just has not been time to breath but we had our grandson Saturday so we took the day off and went to the Eagle Fun Days. OMGosh I will never go again!!! I had expected it to be similar to the Emmett Cherry Festival and as I said... NOT. First of all we arrived and could not get within a mile of the place. But having promised our grandson a parade and carnival poppa put him up on his shoulders and we made the long trek to the parade route.

With my feet already killing me we watched there dismal excuse for a parade. It was a total joke consisting of Firetruck, Ambulances and nice cars. There was a couple of clown cars from Zamsows and a helicopter car and lots of acrobatic troupes followed but a bunch of kids with super soakers wetting everyone down. But our grand baby is 3 so he didn't know any better and he had a blast. We consoled ourselves with "that is what counts"... lol

Then there was the carnival. It was over a mile away from the downtown area where the food court and their few vendors were... so another long walk. It was located on a vacant dirt lot that was covered with goat heads. Seriously, the soles of my shoes were covered solid with them. It also only had about 8 - 10 rides and a "midway" of a few games. Each ride cost about $2.75 and it took them over 5 minutes to load the ride then they ran the ride for only 1 minute : / Quinton was only big enough for 4 of them and I even had to ride one or he could not get on... so I squeezed my rather large "blank,it,e blank" onto the obviously too small seat so he could ride. Quinton however was delighted, he had no concept that grandma paid over $5.00 a ride so he could ride each one twice...lol

Tell this kid it was a disaster! Still.. if you are in the area, my advise is to skip "Eagle Fun Days" it is too spread out with no parking. Just save your money for the "Emmett Cherry Festival" the following week. I would have but I am leaving for California so I don't think I will be here. I will miss it though. All the kids in our family usually but the wrist bands so the cost is cut down quite a bit. It has a cute little parade that goes right by a lovely tree covered park were all the food booths, vendor booths and carnival is located and it has lots of parking. The entire thing has twice as many food booths, carnival rides and vendors and the cost is just about the same.

 

 

This came from a very small Victorian die cut. There printing techniques were not the greatest either. It doesn't really meet my usual standard of quality although I did touch it up as much as I could. But it fit the theme and if you don't try to print it too large it should work for a lot of things.

Feel free to pin the thumb above but please do not pin the actual download. I would like everyone to stop by here to download it so they don't miss all my other fun free downloads

Little Clown Free Printable

What a cutie she is!

Feel free to pin the thumb above but please do not pin the actual download. I would like everyone to stop by here to download it so they don't miss all my other fun free downloads

Childs Play for Mixed Media Monday & Free Vintage Printable Graphic Baby's Bath

I use to love participating in several fun challenges. Then I got busy in several online clubs and running my business that I kinda fell away. Now that I am no longer running a business and have a little more time, I decided to let myself just have fun. One of the challenge sites I really enjoyed was Mixed Media Monday. Although I have not participated in a long time I kept them on my Google reader thinking next week, next week. Well next week is here :))

This card was really simple but I love the way it came out. I cut down an actual vintage card and layered it onto cardstock. Then embossed a swirly floral image around the edges, glitzed it up with some stickels a touch of ribbon and a couple of charms.

Before I cut it up, I scanned the vintage original of course :))

Feel free to pin the thumb above but please do not pin the actual download. I would like everyone to stop by here to download it so they don't miss all my other fun free downloads

Enjoy!

Free Printable Steampunk Ladies Vintage Cab Card

I wish I could show you what I have been working on but is being submitted to a magazine so I can only show you this little teaser. I will blog it later when I find out if it gets published or not. ... and yes it is a steampunk ...uhhhh..... thingie

However I can offer you this fun little image I used on it! I just love these two and they fit the theme perfectly!

Feel free to pin the thumb above but please do not pin the actual download. I would like everyone to stop by here to download it so they don't miss all my other fun free downloads

Download Steampunk Ladies Here 

Alice In Wonderland Theater

First of all I have to apologies for not posting this week but I was just so obsessed with the making of Wonderland.

I have wanted to make this one for some time and I am celebrating its completion 

 The graphic's for the facade front and all the puppets are entirely from John Tenniel illustrations, who illustrated the Lewis Carrol books. There is one exception... I did use scans of the book spines too. The columns are taken from an illustration in "Threw The Looking Glass". I overlaid the column over the book spines from the image where Alice and the frog stand before the door that says "Queen Alice". The rest of the theater graphic's are from various images from both books. In the making of the puppets, I tried to stay true to the artist but did make some necessary line changes by combining two or more original images so that I could articulate them. The graphic's for this is available in my etsy store. This is a little larger than you would think. I saved the images to my camera disk (but you could use a flash drive) and took it to my local printer and had the theater facade printed on a large format printer 11 X 14. I did not enlarge the puppets, they are just printed on standard paper the size they come. I left them large in case you wanted to use them as paper dolls. If your going to make a smaller theater you will need to size them down 50 %

I used an old jewelry box found at my local thrift shop for the base. After cutting slots in the top for the puppets to dangle through, I covered it with scrapbooking papers and added some model railroad turf on the top.

I made wire wands to manipulate the puppets with (you can see them laying in front of the theater in the last of the theater photos) However since I wanted to display it like a diorama when it was not show time, I also made little stands for each puppet. The little tea table is available to print below!I have indented to do a tutorial on how I do the theaters and there puppets but life just keeps getting in the way and I still don’t have it done.
Here is a quick synopsis of how I do it... I use spray glue to attach the graphics to a light weight matte board...like the gift boxes you would find at the dollar store. Then I cut them out and sand the edges with a emery board. I then use a marker or paint pen to color the edges of the cardboard ( I use a skin tone for the dolls but for the theater I would use a matching color ) ... angle the marker or pen from the back side so you do not accidentally mark the front of the image and color the edges. On the theater facade, I covered the backside with scrapbooking paper so that the edges that extended past the “theater box” would still look nice from the backside of the theater. I did the little table much the same only I spray glued it to a light weight tin. I just bought a large tin at the thrift shop and used the lid from it. Then I cut it out with kitchen shears and sanded the edges smooth with a metal fingernail file. This way it will support the weight of the tea set.

I had two copies of the facade printed on photo paper then laminated them to chip board. The I cut out elements from the second copy and glued them on top of the first layer. Like the frog and fish. This popped them out of the background and gave it a little dimension.

The little flower faces were made last year at an art retreat I went to with Artistic Souls. I knew I would use them someday :)) The tree was purchased at hobby lobby's floral department. Then I untwisted the bottom and re-twisted it to look like tree roots.

Now for the goodies! Below is the Tea Table I used ... be sure to click on the image for the larger printable version.

Enjoy!

PARTAY ...or er Party... Perfume Labe Bottle Light

Valentines Blog Party

...and have I got a romantic giveaway!

...and the winner is....Altered Route

 

 This is one of my perfume bottle night lights. There is even a switch on the cord that turns It off and on.

 

To make one yourself. First you will need to print your label. I have many to choose from in my little etsy store. I feel they look much more authentic printed on brochure paper and edged with a gold paint pen.

 

This is a take off the popular wine bottle mood lights. I thought it was much more appropriate for a bedroom or bath. First you need to drill a hole in the back side of the bottle for your lights to go though. I used a dremel with a diamond bit. It takes some time and especially with this bottle as the glass at the base was almost ½ inch think : /
Once you have the hole though you can grind in a circular motion to make it as big as you like. Because of the time involved in making a hole large enough for a night light I opted for a 20 strand mini light set. I was able to get these even off season in the floral department of my local craft store.

Once you have your hole drilled clean the bottle well and drizzle alcohol inks in the color of choice. I kinda moved it around with my fingers until I got a marbled pattern. Once that is dry seal it with Matt finish clear acrylic spray. Let dry.

Once you have your label printed glue it to the bottle.  You can use either a xyron, mounting adhesive or craft spray glue because when the light comes on you don’t want glue streaks to show. Then just poke your lights through the hole.

 

For the topper, I used some stiff craft wire and secure it to a chandelier crystal leaving about 1 ½ inches of wire. Twist this into a corkscrew shape. Glue a washer to the top of the bottle cork and screw the crystal in place. Cover the rest of the cork with silver metal tape. You can stop there but I wound some more of the craft wire around a pencil to form a spring. Then I flattened out the rings like a petal, bent the ends of the petals down and wrapped around the base of the crystal.

 

OWOH ... who won!!!!!

The winner is

.··-.¸.-··. (`'·.¸(`'·.¸Her Art Nest¸.·'´)¸.·'´) .··-.¸.-··.

Now I did use the random number generator but the winning number is different from the post number because of some double posts. So rather than confuse people I am just posting the winners name :)