Bobby Pin Paper Crowns

I know. I KNOW! I know I said my next post would be the how to for the fairy godmother goodies. The holiday monster has had a vice like grip on me and there have been casualties. I pinky swear and cross my heart, those how tos are on the way

BUT NOW... paper crowns.

If you've followed along with my craft madness for any length of time you will know that I have a thing for crowns... paper crowns... paper crowns with glint and glitter.

So I was chuffed that Alpha Stamps chose Winter Crowns as their December kit theme!

So much gorgeousness. And all that gold dresden! *SWOON*

I didn't make my crowns in the round. I just used the kit template as it was. I figured this would be practical for two reasons: 1) shipping. MUCH easier to ship a flat crown than a round crown. 2) I have friends who claim to have massively large and unusually small heads. I figured leaving the edges free, those friends who have hair could simply keep them in place with bobby pins.

Two pins slipped over those loose ends and through the hair and those crowns stay in place pretty well!

And no need to worry about fitting.

If you have no hair I might suggest a little tape? Some glue? 

(Kidding! Do not glue things to your head.)

I had planned on wearing these for Christmas dinner but the tissue crowns from our Christmas crackers won out. SO... I'm totally rocking one of these on New Years eve instead. I'm totally fancy like that!

Want to make your own? Here's the supply list (you might want to take a gander at this list even if you aren't making crowns because the gold dresden pieces are glorious!)

Winter Crowns December Kit
Golden Night Wired Leaves
Stitched Leaf Ribbon - Gold
Mixed Size Ivory Flat-Back Pearls
2 Inch Gold Star Ornament**
Gold Star Garland
Fancy Scalloped Gold Dresden Borders
Gold Dresden Halos
Large Zig Zag Gold Dresden Edging
4 Inch Round Gold Doilies
Fancy Gold Dresden Rosettes
Portraiture Collage Sheet
Pear-Shaped Pearl Stick Pins - Gold
Floral Lace on Taupe Scrapbook Paper
Courtship Lane East Plaza Scrapbook Paper
Under the Stars Scrapbook Paper
Mini French Labels Collage Sheet
Winter Snow Glitter Mix

Night Angel Mixed Media Triptych

This month for GSLCuts.com I've created a set of three mixed media angels. A dreamy mystical triptych.

With New Year looming I thought it was a perfect time to think of dreaming and making wishes. That's what this set is all about. Looking up and forward and making bedtime wishes listened to by Night Angels.

Each of the three elements is made using a Cross Top Triptych piece. One of the thing I really appreciate about these elements is that the front piece is made up of straight edges, making it easy to embellish with scrapbook paper.

Each of the three seperate pieces is a slightly different size, but all fit nicely on Gypsy Soul ATC Stands. This makes displaying your pieces soooo simple. AND those little stands come in a set of three  so they're perfectly matched. (AND they're pretty dang reasonable too!)

While putting these pieces together is so simple, I have a little walkthrough of the process of making them. Hop over HERE for the video.

Below are all the bits I used to create my pieces, but you should absolutely feel free to add your own special touch to create your own dreamy night angels.

Cross Top Triptych
ATC Stands
decorative scrapbook papers
acrylic paint

glitter
Brass Starburst Charm
Fancy Brass Star Charm
Star Tinsel
Tiny Mixed Size Flat-Back Pearls
Angel Wings Collage Sheet
Little People Collage Sheet

Fairy Godmother's Wardrobe - Part One

(Heads up: this will be a post in two parts. Showing off today, and a follow up how-to for some of the wee bits inside.)

I've been sitting on this project for a couple of weeks. I received an Unfinished Wooden Wardrobe and had a few ideas. I thought of a magical portal, storage for a saucy burlesque star, something pink and filly and Marie Antoinette. Why not all rolled up into one?! A fairy godmother wardrobe!

As you may know, I am a big fan of fairy godmothers. They must, absolutely MUST, lead the most interesting lives. I am sure they are usually helpful, a little scatterbrained, enjoy a good drink and have amazing adventure stories from their younger days.

I gussied up the exterior of the wardrobe with pink paint and glitter and Courtship Lane East Plaza Scrapbook Paper. Then I set to filling it with magic and a few secrets.

There are books about magic and kissing frogs and toads, a tea pot and postcard memories. Godmotherly magazines. Pumpkins appear throughout (I've given them a wash of orange to add more colour.) 

There's bottles of pixie dust and magic, posters and seed packets.

Cherished photos stuck to the mirror and post-it notes to remember to reserve a spot at the ball!

All of the paper items, the book covers, magazines, postcards, photos, labels, posters are from my new collage sheet "Fairy Godmothers Cupboard"

The sheet also includes a set of love letters and envelopes and a template to create panties, stockings and a corset... because of course, OF COURSE, fairy godmothers would have romantic memories and adventures!

My next blog post will show you how to put all those piece to good use and create those little bits. 

Seriously, everyone needs to have tiny panties!

So, get your thinking caps on! Think all the thoughts! Gather up a history of adventure and love to create your own fairy godmother cupboard.

Here are all the bits I used if you see some ideas you fancy from my wardrobe...

Unfinished Wooden Wardrobe

Courtship Lane East Plaza Scrapbook Paper**
1 Inch Hat Stand
Mini Green Pumpkins - Set of 4
Small Antique 3D Gold Crowns
3D Star Spacer Beads* (not exact, but close)
Set of Miniature Books
Even Tinier Books - Set of 12
Pink Resin Perfume Bottle
Polka Dot Resin Teapot
Mini Mason Jars - Set of 3
Clear Stemware - Set of 6
Miniature Wine Bottles (not exact, but close)
Fairy Godmother Wand
Fairy Godmothers Cupboard Collage Sheet

A Glorious Moon and Morning

I am not a morning person. At all. I need at least 3 mugs of coffee before I am civil. Ask me to pick between sunsets and rises and I will pick sets every time. But this morning the sky was pink and reflecting off the pristine snow and streaming through  the white birch branches and I took notice.

A friend commented that Mother Nature "did phone up and say she was happy you took notice. FINALLY!" and I'm sure this is true. I feel like I've been missing so many of the beautiful things around me. 2017 has kicked my ass so badly that I've been bandaged head to toe and blinded to the things that make me happiest. I'll be glad when this year is gone. GOOD BLOODY RIDDANCE TO YOU 2017! *shakes fist angrily*

BUT let's stay focused on nice things like happy moons and little houses.

A new moon shrine. This fellow measures 7" wide 10" tall and 1.25" deep. It's a tiny bit different than some of the other shrines I've made.

The clay used for the moon is different than the one I normally use. Those stars are something a little different too. Different isn't better or worse... it's just different.

Generally speaking, the only time different is bad is when someone uses it to describe your work. "Oh, that's different." This is the song of the choir that doesn't have praise for your art but doesn't want to offend you.

Those mushrooms are different too. I normally stick to paperclay, it's my preferred material, but these are polymer. Again... no better or worse, just different.

This piece is available in the etsy shop HERE

P.S. If you happen to be nearby, my doors will be open tomorrow, Saturday December 16th from 10am till 4pm. And I'll be around Sunday from 1pm until 3pm for stragglers. Stop in and say "Hello weirdo, you're work is... different."

Fairy Butterfly Shrine

There are a whole whack of tiny shrines sitting on my work table waiting for something to jump inside of them. This particular shrine is much bigger than those tiny ones.

Inside is lined with vintage dictionary pages and a paper fairy sits inside.

The roof is covered with birch bark from a felled tree from our property. And that lovely round wooden piece at the peak is a piece from a vintage french lottery game.

Overall shrine measures approximately 7.5" wide, 9.5" tall, 2" deep.

The Fairy Butterfly Shrine is available HERE

Twinkly sky and mushroom garden shrine

Are you ready for Christmas? I am not. Not even close. But I've been keeping at the making.

Base is a wooden box and pedestal. Glittery night sky over vintage music papers. Wee house was pit fired in the back garden at Pixie Hill. Tiny toadstools are handmade from paperclay.

This wee thing measures approximately 3.5" wide, 6" tall, 2.5" deep.

The Tiny Night House Shrine is available HERE

Jollymaker's Toy Store Window

It's December and I am not prepared for the holidays. Not one little bit! Despite not being holiday ready, I managed to churn this bad boy out.

Jollymaker's, a wintery toy shop window.

The base for this piece is a 10 inch bay window (available from Gypsy Soul Laser Cuts) which has been turned upsidedown. Although it's intended as an add-on to other pieces, I thought it was a great stand alone option for creating a piece both smaller in display size and a smaller creative commitment.

And this piece did come together relatively quickly! The brickwork is simply THIS scrapbook paper. Absolutely no fussy about on this one.

The fancy iron work that borders the top of the piece is Half Scale Widows Walk Fencing.

Inside I've made shelving and packed it with all sorts of sweet little toys. (That rocking horse is amazing btw! Like an old fashioned iron toy.)

The Jester Jack-in-the-Box Toy there is pretty sweet too!

The windows are transparency sheets cut and looks rather lovely and frosty... as a winter window should!

No toy store window would be compete without a Toy Plane and Sailboat Set, Teddy Bear or Train Set. There's all that and more in that little space. It's amazing how much you can fit in a small area with a little organization.

Approximate overall size of this piece is 10.7" tall, 6" wide, 2.5" deep.

Jollymaker's is available HERE.

Want to make your own toy shop? Here are some of the bits I used:

10 inch bay window
Classic Christmas Chimney Bricks Scrapbook Paper
Half Scale Widows Walk Fencing
1 Inch Iridescent Snowflake Ornaments
Fluffy Winter Snow
Frosted Mini Green Sisal Trees
3mm Brass Flat-Back Studs*
Tiny Wrapped Gift Box Ornaments - 1/2 Inch
Wrapped Gift Box Ornaments - 3/4 Inch**
Miniature Clay Dough Peppermints
White Iridescent Snowflake Garland
Mini Holly Leaf Garland
Jester Jack-in-the-Box Toy
Miniature Red Wagon*
Painted Rocking Horse
Miniature Toy Plane and Sailboat Set
Mini Clown Jack-in-the-Box
Tiny Resin Teddy Bear
Tiny Train Set
Xylophone Pull Toy

Peg Doll Angels and Fairies with Tutorial

It's that time of year again when I itch to make some adorable little peg dolls. Honestly, how sweet are they with their cute striped legs?!?!

Normally I stick to fairies but this year I've mixed things up a bit by adding angels into the crew.

I'm not normally an angel person... but I can't resist a sparkly pipe cleaner halo.

Looking for wings? Might I suggest the following collage sheets?

Fairy Wing Collage Sheet

Butterfly Wings

Angel Wing Collage Sheet

I really like using tufts of wool roving for the hair. In a pinch you could use some cotton batting, heck you could use a cotton ball! You might even unravel some yarn or use some moss for their locks.

Just don't get hung up on making these perfect. I think they're so much more fun and charming with their imperfections. It gives them personality.

One word of caution: I use black gel or ink pen to add detailing. There have been times when certain inks react with certain paints. Save yourself some potential heartache, make a sample doll and ensure your ink/paint like one another and don't bleed, run, blur.

AND although I am aware of how brilliant you are, if you need help putting these adorable girls together I've created a video tutorial you might find useful. It's HERE over on my youtube channel. Go, watch, help me earn a fraction of a penny.

On to the list of requirements!

Wooden clothes pegs
Acrylic craft paints

Black gel pel or fine tip liner pen

Wool roving (or other hair substitute)

Wingy things such as:

   Fairy Wing Collage Sheet

   Butterfly Wings

   Angel Wing Collage Sheet

Acorn caps
Silver Pipe Cleaner

Tulle trim
Embellishments

Hot glue