Snow and Ice

Let it Snow Gypsies!

I love snow – I’ve never lived in it mind you, but I love how it looks! I also love embossing powders, especially the specialty ones full of chunks and shiny bits. So in honor of the winter season I decided to experiment with embossing on clear acrylic for a snow and ice effect.

The trick with embossing on acrylic is that acrylic melts – surprise! So you need to work fast and stay sharp while you use the heat gun on the acrylic to set the embossing powder.

I used a very very liberal amount of my Ranger Distress Embossing Pad so there was something for the embossing powder to stick to. Chunky embossing powder is the best for texture – it’s chunky, with lots of sparkle and texture to it, just like snow.

When I started using the heat gun I kept it moving, making sure to move the gun away as soon as the acrylic started to buckle or warp.

After I edged all of the sheets, I adhered the chipboard letters – previously covered with paper – and snowflake buttons. Using my Crop-o-dile I punched a pair of holes at the left edge of each sheet for binding, and tied the book together with a couple of strips of frayed white ribbon. – the more frayed the better. Inserted in the binding is a bundle of winter twigs complete with sparkly frost.

Finishing touches

The tiny tree - thanks Tim Holtz - is dabbed with adhesive then rolled in very fine white glitter for a snow-dappled look.

So happy Snow Day fellow Gypsies. Be sure to stop back soon for more winter wonder!

~ Materials ~

6x6 acrylic sheets

Ranger Distressed Embossing Pad

Chunky Embossing Powder

Ideaology tree

Winter Trees

I love snowy trees. Unfortunately, I live in an area where we don’t get snow. Ever. So I thought I’d make my own. 

These little cuties can make awesome little placecards for the holiday table, and use some very simple materials.

The trees are made of simple stacks of snowflakes – I used a glue gun to adhere the “branches” together. The tree trunks are old spools wrapped with twine and tinsel. One trunk is actually a tiny bottle filled with more Diamond Dust.

The key to the snow effect is the glue – I used the Helmar 450 Quick Dry because it is stringy! And that’s what you need for the dripping ice. Use a liberal amount and “hang” glue from branch to branch to create the look of icicles in the trees and add a good toss of the Diamond Dust. The Diamond Dust will harden in the glue strands, shake off the excess.

Just a tiny bit of winter magic for the new year. Stop back again, there’s always something new going on at the caravan!

Boxing Day

Hello Gypsies and Happy Boxing Day!

No, not the UK Boxing Day that's celebrated on Dec 26 - I'm late but not that late - it's the "Getting Organized by Boxing Up my Stuff" Day.

Every January I get bitten by the organizing bug. My family cringes and hides their junk valuable treasures while I purge the closets, do an exorcism under the bed and evict the contents of the kitchen catch-all drawer. 

I decided to start organizing early this year and tackle the Creative Corner. My Creative Corner is a small bit of space in the family room, and currently features piles of junk interesting project ideas and ephemera stacked in every available space. I decided to tackle my growing pile of Sizzix dies, before they toppled over and buried me while blogging.

Tim Holtz recently launched storage boxes for his Alternations line and I bought 2 each of the 2 different sizes of Die Storage Boxes. I was super-excited about these boxes when he sneak-peeked them for CHA-Summer 2013. My local store finally got some in stock and I ran right down and bought some. I found some great and some not so great features for both.

Great!
The boxes are very sturdy, they have a good solid feel and are covered with a very thick beige linen. Since most of my craft supplies are exposed to the public, these boxes will look nice while storing!

Not so great!
The boxes came chuck full of plastic die holders. There went my New Year's resolution to reduce my carbon footprint. The die holders adhere to the bottom of the boxes to hold the dies. I found the die holders completely unnecessary for most of my storage needs. In the box for the BIGZ dies, the holders actually cause you to store fewer dies than if you just stack the dies in the box.

The box on the left has the die holder and fits 8 dies. The box on the right doesn't have the die holder and fits 11 dies while still allowing for space to get my fingers in to actually take one out. 

You'll note that I keep my dies in the plastic. I like being able to quickly identify my dies visually. I don't work with them enough to have the title memorized so I keep the dies with the label in their plastic. By trimming away the top closure and leaving the top open, I can quickly slide the dies in and out of the sleeves when needed. 

Great!
The plastic die holder that comes in the long box used to hold the Decorative Strips is actually necessary and very helpful. I don't have enough of the strips to fill a box, so the holder keeps them upright and nice and tidy. The same long box also holds the smaller On the Edge Dies. Again I don't have enough to fill the box, and it comes with the same space-taking plastic die holder which I immediately "recycled" threw in the trash. *My carbon footprint just went up a size. 

I chose to also store my little Movers and Shapers Dies in the Decorative Strip/On the Edge Die Storage Box. The box on the left has my Decorative Strips as well as the cutting pads and extended platform - nice and convenient in one box. The box on the right has my On the Edge and Movers and Shakers as well as my mini Texture Fades - more on that in a sec!

Not so great!
The Movers and Shapers Dies are meant to be stored in the BIGZ Dies boxes, using metal trays - sold separately - that fit into the plastic die holders. **Carbon footprint increases 2 sizes on this one, one for the additional metal trays needed, and one for the plastic holders.

Instead I chose to store my Movers and Shapers in the longer box - the width of the box is perfect for the Movers and Shapers packaging. Again you'll see that I keep these in their packaging with labels for fast visual reference.

Not so great!
Storing the Texture Fade folders means buying heavy plastic storage envelopes that are sized to fit in the BIGZ Die Box. ***There goes that carbon footprint again, I'm going to give up counting how many sizes at this point.

Instead I decided to stack them upright in the front of the BIGZ Die Box. That left my mini-fades, which I stored in the long box, using the plastic holder that is actually supposed to fit in with the Decorative Strips, filling that left-over space in the front of the box. The box is longer than the strips, so something has to go in there right? Have a plastic holder!

Anyway I used that holder to hold my mini-fades and it works perfectly. The only challenge will be remembering that they are there, when the big folders are in the other boxes. It would be great to have all my folders in one box……I might have to buy those envelopes.

Great!
My dies now take up a substantially smaller space than before and the boxes look awesome. I went from a huge pile under my desk, to a trim footprint of 7" wide x 15 1/2" deep.

Not so great!
No insert is provided for the lovely metal bookplate on the front of the box. There's no template to make one either, leading me to guess, cut, swear and recut until I got one that fit. A small detail, but if cheap binder divider sets can come with little cardstock inserts, why can't these?

And call me anal picky, but I really love when sizes match up. It would have been awesome if the length of the long box, equaled the length of 2 BIGZ boxes. For people with limited storage space, having the box sizes coordinate for easy mixed size stacking would have been an awesome design feature.

Overall I do like the boxes and will be buying at least one more (ok and maybe a metal tray and an envelope or two don't shoot me). But I can't help wondering if there were some better design decisions that could have been made with them.

Come back soon as I clean the heck out of the Creative Corner, battle the dust bunnies, and finally settle down to crafting.

Heavy Metal Easter - Tutorial

I got a ping from my colleague May Flaum asking if I would contribute to this week's Simon Says Stamp and Show Challenge. I thought for about 2 seconds before yelling "YES". So this week I am appearing on the blog's Metal-ology Challenge.

And that's not all! Submit your own answer to the Metal Challenge and you could win a $50 voucher to Simon Says Stamp. So let's get metalized!

Paper is turned to metal, and metal is turned to paper is this fabulous Easter piece. Just the size for a card for that special Easter someone, or to sit on the shelf for Easter brunch. The panels are each 2.5"x3" embossed metal that has been painted, sanded and inked to look like Victorian wallpaper.

I first embossed metal sheets by using my Big Kick and an embossing folder from Tim Holtz’s Alterations. Next I covered them with a light coat of white acrylic and set aside to dry.Once the paint was dry I did a little scuffing and sanding to expose a little of the metal. 

Then I used Walnut Stain and Tumbled Glass Distress Inks to tint the panels. I worked lightly, doing the Walnut first and letting it set for several minutes. Then I pressed the Tumbled Glass ink pad directly onto the panels to add the blue tint, and smeared a bit with my finger tips for a more worn look.

Glass Glitter is chunky and comes in beautiful vintage colors. Just the thing to fill a special bottle of Easter joy.

This little chocolate bunny is made from a bit of "Hope" from Authentique Papers. The bunn is edged in Walnut Stain Distress Ink and coated in Crystal Fine Glitter. Some vintage tinsel for his bow and he's good enough to eat!

I used lots of different things to link the panels - paper clips, jump rings, paper hinges and twine. Why use the same thing on every hinge? Mixing it up adds lots of interest.

These metal letters are actually painted chipboard! I love this look of copper patina, and worked out this very simple technique to transform any chipboard or heavy paper into “copper”.

First I dabbed chipboard letters with my copper Acrylic Paint Dabber, being sure to leave chipboard exposed. It’s really important to leave some areas clear of the paint because….

After the paint dried I spritzed the letters with Turquoise Blue Glimmer Mist. All of the unpainted areas now turned blue-green, like the copper patina. The blue-green color also layers over the copper, dulling it just a touch to antique it.

Are you inspired now??? You better be! Now get your art on, and when you've got something fabulously metallic to share, submit it on the Simon Says Stamp and Show Challenge. The Simon Says Stamp Superstore is giving away a $50 voucher to one luck random participant. So what are you waiting for?!

Oh and before you go, don't forget your supplies! 

Tim Holtz Damask & Regal Flourishes Texture Fades Embossing Folders - SizzixTumbled Glass and Walnut Stain Distress Inks - Ranger
Copper Acrylic Paint Dabber - Ranger
Turquoise Blue Glimmer Mist - Tattered Angels
Hope Collection - Authentique Paper
Glass Glitter - Melissa Frances
Crystal Fine Glitter - Martha Stewart Crafts
Mini Paper Clips, Jump Rings, Foliage, Game Spinners - Idea-ology by Tim Holtz

  

Heavy Metal Easter

I got a ping from my colleague May Flaum asking if I would contribute to this week's Simon Says Stamp and Show Challenge. I thought for about 2 seconds before yelling "YES". So this week I am appearing on the blog's Metal-ology Challenge.

And that's not all! Submit your own answer to the Metal Challenge and you could win a $50 voucher to Simon Says Stamp. So let's get metalized!

Paper is turned to metal, and metal is turned to paper is this fabulous Easter piece. Just the size for a card for that special Easter someone, or to sit on the shelf for Easter brunch. 

The panels are each 2.5"x3" embossed metal that has been painted, sanded and inked to look like Victorian wallpaper.

Glass Glitter is chunky and comes in beautiful vintage colors. Just the thing to fill a special bottle of Easter joy.

This little chocolate bunny is made from a bit of "Hope" from Authentique Papers. The bunn is edged in Walnut Stain Distress Ink and coated in Crystal Fine Glitter. Some vintage tinsel for his bow and he's good enough to eat!

I used lots of different things to link the panels - paper clips, jump rings, paper hinges and twine. Why use the same thing on every hinge? Mixing it up adds lots of interest.

The "copper" letters are not what they appear to be. Curious??

Come back on Wed for the how-tos and what-nots to make your own metal letters and panels.

Are you inspired now??? You better be! Now get your art on, and when you've got something fabulously metallic to share, submit it on the Simon Says Stamp and Show Challenge. The Simon Says Stamp Superstore is giving away a $50 voucher to one luck random participant. So what are you waiting for?!

Oh and before you go, don't forget your supplies! 

Tim Holtz Damask & Regal Flourishes Texture Fades Embossing Folders - SizzixTumbled Glass and Walnut Stain Distress Inks - Ranger
Copper Acrylic Paint Dabber - Ranger
Turquoise Blue Glimmer Mist - Tattered Angels
Hope Collection - Authentique Paper
Glass Glitter - Melissa Frances
Crystal Fine Glitter - Martha Stewart Crafts
Mini Paper Clips, Jump Rings, Foliage, Game Spinners - Idea-ology by Tim Holtz

  

Pinspired Haunted Treehouse

Halloween is my absolute favorite holiday. Ghosties, goblins, bat and cats, boney feet and witches hats. Who can resist?? Not me!

Authentique has started a "Pinspired Monday" series, where each designer finds inspiration on Pinterest, and uses it to create a project. So off I went to Pinterest and this is what I found - a haunted house!

Which led me to create...

a haunted treehouse!

The treehouse itself is built with a Configuration cabinet, lined with papers from our Enchanted line. Once the sections are covered in paper and the edges covered with paper tape the real fun begins - creating each scene!

The Apothecary's Shoppe is my favorite. I loved mixing potions and poisons for these tiny bottles.

All of the potion bottles have labels made with stickers from the Enchanted collection.  

I used a combination of different things to fill each one. 

~ Allow 24 hours for the bottles that use Glossy Accent in them to set properly. ~

~ Sand and distress the stickers before adhering them to the bottles for extra creepiness ~ 

~ Rub ink on the corks to make those look older too ~

~ Potion Recipes ~

"Poison"

"Slate" alcohol ink

Glossy Accent

cat litter

~ pour a small amount of Glossy Accent in the bottle and add cat litter. 

~ twist and turn the bottle to mix and coat the inside of the glass

~ add a few drops of alcohol ink

~ twist and turn the bottle to mix

~ set bottle on its side to set, occasionally turning the bottle to remix and smear the sides

"Witch's Brew" 

"Red Pepper" alcohol ink

Glossy Accent

~ pour a small amount of Glossy Accent in the bottle

~ add a few drops of alcohol ink

~ twist and turn the bottle to mix

~ set bottle on its side to set, occasionally turning the bottle to remix and smear the sides

"Eye of Spider"

Black Sparkly Fluff

~ tip a small amount of Sparkly Fluff into the bottle 

"Beware" vapor

"Meadow" alcohol ink

cotton ball

~ add a few drops of alcohol ink

~ twist and turn the bottle to coat the sides of the bottle

~ put a small amount of glue on the inside lip of the bottle

~ attach a small amount of cotton from the cotton ball

~ hold in place and lightly pull to make wisps

~ Products Used ~

Paper - Enchanted - Authentique

Configuration Cabinet - Tim Holtz

Wooden Tree - Kaisercraft

Black acrylic paint

Black embossing powder

Assorted tiny bottles with corks

Bird Cage - Idea-ology

Crows

Skeleton

CHA-cha-CHA

welcome gypsies and happy CHA week! 

for those of you that are new to the caravan, CHA stands for Craft & Hobby Association and this week in IL is the summer show. all this week companies will be sneak peeking their new products, bloggers will be frantically typing their reviews, and many of us will be strutting our stuff - showing off our projects for our design teams.

as a very proud member of authentique's design team, i got to send a big box of projects to the show. and this week i'll be featuring them here on the blog!

*** CHA-cha-CHA CONTEST ALERT ***

visit the caravan and leave a comment to get entered in a fabulous drawing! 

the more you visit and comment, the more chances you have to win!

the prize package includes 6x6 authentique paper bundles and some nifty extras to inspire your own creations! 

the winner will be announced on july 22!

so are you ready gypsies? then away we go!

the book of faeries

a fairy sighs in a secret garden, tucked away

 with trinkets and keepsakes and stolen treasures.

kept company by forest friends

knowing someone somewhere says "yes, i believe in faeries!"

~  materials  ~

"lively" paper collection - authentique

paper mache book box

tiny treasures from tim holtz, maya road, and marion smith for prima

summer fun

hello gypsies!

i've been busily building fabulous projects for authentique's booth at CHA this month. i have some really amazing projects to share with you - but not until july 16!

in the meantime i wanted to repost some of my favorite summer projects.

first up, the "beach bum" - one of my all-time favorite creations.

beachie souvenirs

every car needs an engine!

don't forget the luggage

when authentique launched their "glory" collection i was thrilled! i loved the deep red, and the patriotic theme. and it was so flexible, you didn't have to do just patriotic projects. i created "by the sea" to celebrate an old-fashioned seaside.

but then i couldn't resist using "glory" for something a little more patriotic of course. last week authentique had a cross promo with want2scrap, so i combined their bling and authentique's "glory" to create some very special flowers.

thanks for stopping by today. have a fun and safe july 4th, and make sure to check in next week as i start sneak peeking my CHA projects, and kick-off a CHA contest!

winter wonder

hello gypsies! the holidays are over but winter is not so i wanted to celebrate the season with a very special cabinet. 

whites and blues

snow and ice

glitter and sparkle

 i hope you are as inspired by winter as i am.

my next adventure is starting - the gypsy is going to CHA to see authentique at its very first show!

be sure to keep checking the authentique blog for CHAdventures!

product reports, critiques and random elements!

materials - "journey" collection papers

tissue tape - tim holtz

random elements and miscellaneous winterness