The Butterfly Conservatory for Gypsy Soul Laser Cuts

On my trip to London last year I made certain to time my visit with the butterfly exhibit at the Natural History Museum. I made it just in time, squeezing in on the afternoon of the very last day. It was magic. Then again, how could walking among butterflies not be?!

This project, is a sort of homage to that memory. A pretty space filled with flowers and fluttery things.

This project may take time, but it uses  only a handful of supplies. The structure is a Small Conservatory. That's it. I haven't added any fancy embellishments (but don't let that stop you from adding some dramatic flair!)

Inside I've added miniature wooden pots packed with faux flowers and leaves. They aren't properly scaled and they don't even look like any particular sort of 'real' plants, but they give a nice floral feel and provide lots of texture.

Those paper butterflies inside are all from my English Fairy Garden collage sheet. I printed it out at 50% to scale the butterflies down to a more appropriate size.

I haven't glued any of the pots in place so that I can move those potted pretties around, and even change up the Small Conservatory completely if I want to!

Besides paint and glue, the last supply I used was a plain sheet of cardboard. I've used strips to create the 'wood' floor and baseboards inside the conservatory.

Outside, again, I used layered strips of plain card to create a subtle architectural element to the bottom of the structure. I also used the card on the roof of the building to hide the slot and tabs that hold the piece together.

And that's it! Just those few little bits to make something quite pretty. If you'd like to see how I put this project together, follow along with this walkthrough video. 

And here is your supply list:
Small Conservatory

Miniature plant pots
Faux flowers
English Fairy Garden collage sheet
Sheet of cardstock
White acrylic paint
Glue (white and hot glue)

Happy making!

Dangly Paper Star Thingies

I came across some cute little paper star boxes in my stash. I have no idea how they got there. My stash is like a tourbillion* of neat supplies and old things. I wonder if there's a name for that little bit of excitement you feel when you find something you forgot you had.

*I learned a doozy of a new word today

ANYWAY, I covered those bits in old paper and glitter.

I added sweet words and more glitter!

Then, for good measure I added some dangly sparkly bits.

I think they are very sweet.

Just the right thing for a tiny spot of cheer.

Who doesn't love wonder and glitter?!?!

Who doesn't love kisses?!?!

Especially 'night kisses'.

Caveat: I'll pass on morning kisses, thanks.

The whole set of four dangly bits is listed HERE

I hope you have someone nice to give you appropriate kisses.

Crimson Suspiria ATCs

I mentioned the movie Suspiria in a recent post. As I mentioned then, it's sort of stuck with me. Funny how some things have that effect. Here's another set of cards nudged along by that particular movie, specifically the use of the colour red.

I often find that I get stuck in a colour pallet. Grey, brown, blue. It is a deliberate effort for me to make a change to my comfortable hues. This is true for my wardrobe too! But, I do love that crimson next to the gold embossing powder. Maybe I need to try playing with ALL THE COLOURS!

Anyway, here is a better look at the results of my playing.

No. 1 listed HERE

No. 2 listed HERE

No. 3 listed HERE

No. 4 listed HERE

No. 5

No. 6 listed HERE

No. 7 listed HERE

Is there anything that has ever inexplicably stuck with you? Something that pops up in your mind long after most things would subside?

Spring Wreath, Pet Peeves and Dollar Stores

I may or may not have lost my mind yesterday. You know those "5 minute craft" videos? Yeah, they sent me over the edge. One claimed that microwaving a rock for 3 minutes would create crystals. One included slicing an egg with an egg slicer as a dollar store craft. Just... no.

Now, I'm usually pretty laid back (not really, but lets pretend) but those videos make me unreasonably irate. I throw my arms up, exasperated. They push all of my buttons. But yesterday... yesterday I had enough. I ranted and raved, and Mr. Pixie must have had enough of my dramatics because he insisted a trip to the dollar store was in order so that I could make an ACTUAL dollar store craft.

The result, this super cute spring wreath. Everything except the button and the hot glue was from a dollar store. Total cost of supplies was around $10 but with loads of left-over moss, flowers and butterflies, enough for several projects. 

I don't know if this will be a regular thing, but I wanted to do at least a couple of REALISTIC dollar store craft tutorials.

What do I mean by realistic? They will take more than 5 minutes, but definitely not all day. Items will actually be from a dollar store. That means a bit of fiddling to get things looking their best might be called for. (Have you seen the colour of dollar store moss?!) And cross my heart, I will absolutely keep budget and difficulty in mind.

Here's the shopping list for this project:

• Rattan/wicker wreath

• Mini bird house

• Faux flowers

• Mushroom clip

• Paper butterflies

• Bag of moss

• Raffia

Supplies on hand:

Hot glue, white and brown acrylic paint, spray bottle and green acrylic paint, scissors

Don't fret if you can't find exactly the same items. Part of the fun (errr... challenge) of dollar store crafts is that you might need to improvise. Swap out those mushrooms for another focal item if you need to (a bird or bunny or flower?) Or, even better, figure out a way to make your own toadstools.

Ready to turn those dollar store bits into a pretty spring wreath? Here's the video tutorial

And hey, go subscribe to my youtube channel HERE

That's it my friends! Happy crafting and remember to tag me if you're inspired to make your own. It is really, really appreciated and totally encourages me to make more tutorials. Plus, I love seeing what you guys make. Cheers!

Stardust, Moonshine and Smooches

I got an incredible amount of work done while I was sick. Perhaps it was some sort of delirium. In any case, these three beauties popped off the worktable. All midnight and glitter *swoon*

Like most things I make they're hobbled from all sorts of bits and pieces with a nice splash of glitter for good measure.

See the little wordplate? I've been playing with metal stamping and admittedly I'm not very adept at it (yet!). They say practice makes perfect... which suits me fine because whacking stuff with a hammer is good for getting the blahs out. The Stardust Shrine is listed HERE.

My inner wizard/witch lives for pointed hats and stars and moonshine.

And ohh that look. This is the exact look I would give to ridiculous requests when I was working as a graphic designer. I'm pretty sure if I were in charge of fulfilling wishes made on stars I would make this face once in while too. The Moonshine Shrine is listed HERE

There is something extraordinarily sweet about kisses in old photos. Perhaps because the sitters in old pics often look so dour. I understand they look that way because they had to remain still so long... but I'd much rather remain still while kissing like these two.

The Tender Shrine is listed here.

And here is one of my favourite songs, "Tender" by Blur



"Come on come on come on, Get through it"
Hang in there. You got this, baby! xoxo

Wee Floral Fairie Scene in a Tiny Tin with Fairie Dust from Graphic 45

If you follow me on Instagram, you'll know that I've been whining about being sick. Despite feeling like death on a stick, I've been really productive. Working has been a distraction from feeling terrible. (Don't worry, I'm feeling positively perky today.)

One of the things that popped off my work table was a collection of little fairy tins. 

There's not much to these cuties. They're made with "Fairie Dust", inexpensive clear topped tins, a whole lot of fussy cutting. 

I started by fiddling around with just one wee tin... then quickly went through the entire half dozen I had on hand.

I got so carried away I even made a tutorial so that you can join me in my madness. My voice is pathetic because I'm sick, and the lighting is horrendous because I really didn't plan on making a tutorial for these, but the How-To vid can be found over HERE.

You can absolutely make these with any tin or box. The tutorial gives a technique for covering an object with curved edges.

These are made with the "Fairie Dust" collection save for the wee yellow butterflies from "Flutter" and these Wee Wings Transparency

Want to make your own? Good! Here are all the bits you'll need:

Graphic 45 Fairie Dust
Graphic 45 Flutter
Wee Wings Transparency
Small metal tin
Good quality white glue (I use Aleene's tacky glue)

Hot glue
White acrylic paint
Adhesive foam squares

A pinch of glitter

And here's that tutorial link again... HERE.

And remember, if you're feeling inspired and make your own, please tag me! I really appreciate the shout out, and I absolutely love to see the things you make. xoxo

Happy St. Patrick's Day! Memories of Ireland

You know, I woke up this morning and the very first thing that popped into my head was that it was St. Patrick's Day and that I never really shared many photos from my visit to Ireland. So, here are a whole bunch of my favourite Irish memories for you.

Be warned there are many, many, many pics ahead.

Cheeky deer in my aunties garden.

Beautiful gravestones are a-plenty in Ireland. How beautiful is this?

This pretty bunch of flowers was sitting high in a quirky church window. I'm not a church-goer, but quirky churches are quite nice places to be if you ask me.

Like sleeping elephants.

My auntie and I seem to have a few bits in common.

Few things are nicer and more terrifying than crisp white Irish linens. You can bet that I removed every bit of make-up before bed, no matter how many gins were in my belly! Also, check out that wallpaper! *swoon*

The little faeire pond at my aunties house.

I discovered a new favourite thing while in Ireland. The magic of the sun streaming through the clouds and lighting up mountain sides and peaks.

Painted by my talented uncle in the wee town of Kilgarvan.

I'd secretly like someone to carve a moss heart for me. 

(Altough it's probably not at all nice and you probably shouldn't do that at all)

Yep. There are definitely faeries here.

Did I mention the heart thing?

See that glorious bowl of cream and fruit and flowers in the back? I bought that. It went in my belly. No regrets.

Scones and jam and butter and cream forever and ever!!!

Happy St. Patrick's Day my lovely friends xoxo