Miniature Floral Tea Cottage

I am soooo excited about this month's project for Alpha Stamps. The theme for October was Provence French Country and I've made a frilly little tea house inspired by some old Edwardian tea images on pinterest (isn't THIS wonderful?!). Yeah I know, Edwardian and Provence are completely different... but a crafty girl is totally allowed to build imaginary places in her head!

I've used the Cottage with Open Front for my tea house and set it on the Cottage Base.

Check out the super cute interior and all those bits! Just look at the little paper ivy clinging to the sides (made with Thinlits Fern and Ivy Leaves Die Set)

One of my very favourite new things from Alpha Stamps are the silicone molds used to make all the treats on this table. I used them with Creative Paperclay, but you could use polymer clay if that's what  you're most comfortable with.

To finish off the pastries and breads I used Diamond Glaze to achieve a subtle sheen and the look of sugared glaze. If you'd like to make your own, HERE is a full tutorial for making those treats.

Here's a good look at all of those little accesories.

Now, I usually affix everything into place in my houses but this one comes apart. The top comes off the cottage for easy access to the interior, and the cottage itself can be removed from the base to reveal a little cobblestone courtyard! 

The stone work here is acrylic gel medium used with a Stone Wall Chipboard Texture Sheet, then painted. Moss, some picket fencing, and flowers are added to make a pretty courtyard for the cottage to sit upon.

I've used loads of little paper roses and buds but those bursts of purple are a product called "Flower Soft" which is available in different colours. It's super easy to use and I've created a tutorial for using it HERE.

The cottage and all of the accessories is currently listed HERE in the etsy shop.

Want to make your own tea house? Here's the quick link to ALL THE GOODS available via Alpha Stamps

And below is the GREAT BIG FAT supply list! Have fun!

Cottage with Open Front
Cottage Base - 9x9x1
Pewter Dollhouse Dishes* 
Mini Resin Honey Jars
Tiny Glass Jar with Lid
Miniature White Table with Baskets (used the basket, not table)
Victorian Table Kit - Black 
Miniature Milk Bottles in Crate
Blue and White Service for Six Tea Set 
Tiny Cup of Tea with Lemon (ADORABLE!)
White and Gold Service for Four Tea Set
Miniature Silverware Set 
Red Apples - Set of 12 
Oval Basket with Handle
1/2 Inch Pale Pink Paper Roses
1/2 Inch Red Paper Roses
Mini Rose Buds - Bright Yellow
Mini Fern Garland
Asparagus Fern Garland (LOVE!)
Mini Rose Buds - Pink Cream Variegated
Sheet Moss
White Wall Shelf with Pegs
Thinlits Fern and Ivy Leaves Die Set
Mini Gardening Hand Tools
Wooden Knobs
Baroque Dresden Borders - Black
Wallflower 12x12 Paper Stash
Creative Paperclay*
Diamond Glaze 
Mini Silicone Bread Mold Set - Larger Loaves
Mini Silicone Bread Mold Set - Smaller Loaves
Mini Silicone Cake Mold Set 
Miniature Vase Set 
Fancy Lavender Berries Mix
Fancy Red Holly Berries Mix
Flower Soft - Autumn 
Flower Soft - Crocus or Lavender 
Flower Soft - Vintage Christmas 
Stem Wire - 7 Inches 
Stone Wall Chipboard Texture Sheet
Acrylic Gel Medium

Kinda sorta close to what I used:
Unfinished Wood Table
Black Chair Kit
Small White Picket Fence

Old Timey Tuesday

Old grungy pictures from my personal collection for use in your art and craft projects.

I love this family portrait. They look like such a nice little family. I actually have another family portrait of the same little brood when the girl is grown.

Happy making!

You may NOT sell, give or distribute the images, digitally or printed, alone or as part of a collection, collage sheet or group.

Violators will be turned into toads... I mean it... It won't be pretty.

Fairy Christmas Card Advent Calendar

Ok, I've let Halloween pass and now it's full steam ahead with the Christmas posts. I have a few projects coming up that I KNOW you're going to want to try so I'm posting nice and early to give you plenty of crafting time. Today, a totally freaking adorable advent calendar alternative.

Imagine waking up each day to find a card from the fairies helping you count down to Christmas! I've put together a Fairy Card Advent Calendar, a 2 page download that includes 25 miniature cards with vintage holiday imagery, numbered postage stamps and three envelope templates to fit the various sized cards.

Now, when I showed this project to my kiddo he said "Yeah, but what about the treat?" The wheels in my mind starting turning and I thought of all the little things that would fit in those envelopes... letters, notes, coins, buttons, glitter, jokes, stickers, charms... then the light bulb above my head lit up. 

Every few days a charm could be included in the tiny card and your little pixie could make their own Christmas charm bracelet! The sets I've used here are the Santa Sleigh Silver Charm Set and the Silver Snowflake Charm Set from Alpha Stamps.

Cute as buttons and sugar free! Although if you do like the sweet stuff you could always give a lolly or chocolate kiss.

Don't do the advent calendar thing? No worries! You could always make these up and pass them out to the people in your life who need a little extra fairy magic around the holidays.

Now, as for decorating the outside of those envelopes, here's what I suggest:

1. Using the templates from the Fairy Cards Advent Calendar, trace the envelope shapes onto a piece of regular white paper.

2. Cut the shapes.

3. Fold the two short sides, then fold the bottom (the one with the flat edge) and glue into place. Be careful not to glue the envelope shut!

4. Sprinkle both sides with a bit of tea or coffee. I prefer tea as it doesn't leave a lingering scent. Allow to dry. NOTE: You can age your paper before creating the envelopes, but I found that doing it in this order results in a flatter, smoother finished piece. See wrinkles above.

5. Add little postage stamps and 'cancel' them using a rubber stamps. Any patterned stamp will do. Place a scrap bit of paper beneath so as not to ink your work surface.

6. Address the envelopes, personalizing them for the recipient.

7. Add the wee cards and any tiny surprises you'd like to include.

Lastly, and this is kind of important, these can NOT go through the regular postal system. Their size requires that they be handled only by Royal Faerie Post. If you want to send them to someone far away, I suggest mailing them within a larger card with a note of explanation.

Supply round up:

Fairy Card Advent Calendar

scissors
glue
tea/coffee for staining*
rubber stamps*
ink pad*
*optional

Do-dads for the charm bracelet:

Chain, clasp and jump rings / or pre-made bracelet
Santa Sleigh Silver Charm Set
Silver Snowflake Charm Set

You can get a printed version of the Fairy Card Advent Calendar and Charms HERE at AlphaStamps

Blog Hop with Gina's Designs and Creative Paperclay

I am really excited about this Blog Hop/Link Party. I'm a HUGE fan of Creative Paperclay, and I love Gina's to bits, so I'm chuffed to share an opportunity for you to win products from both of these amazing companies. Here's the rundown from the hosts...

The Creative Paperclay Design Team

has teamed up with Gina's Designs Lasercuts Design Team

for a Halloween Theme Blog hop

We are excited to show off our Halloween projects

and even more excited about the fact YOU can win a prize

Prize Package Includes

1 pound package of Paperclay

1 sample package of Sandits

and

$25 shopping spree to Gina's DesignsLasercuts

How to enter - each of these will get you one entry

1) Enjoy the hop

2) Stop by each blog on the hop and leave a comment

3) Pin each project on your Pinterest site

4) Share this post on your Facebook page

5) Like Creative Paperclay Facebook page

6) Like Gina Designs Facebook Page

Here is the List of BLOGS:

An InLinkz Link-up

And now on to my Gina's/Paperclay mashup project...

I've taken a Coffin Box from Gina's and embellished it with paper from Tim Holtz Wallflower 12x12 Paper Stash. I've also added flowers from Petaloo and a bit of dried moss. Finally I've added some Feathery Flourishes which have been painted black and have just a bit of glitter added.

I painted the interior black and covered it in fine blue glitter. A bit of moss at the base provides a lawn for my Paperclay toadstools and a Tombstone Stand Up. For the text on the tombstone I've simply used a rubberstamp of script writing. You'll also notice some creepy trees in there. I've used one Chipboard Tree from Gina's and chopped it in half for this little scene.

The sentiment on the underside of the coffin lid "It was midnight and the moon shine through the attic window" is from an old vintage children's book. The filagree bits that frame the words were made by pressing Paperclay into this Silicone Mold. Wiping excess paint off of the Paperclay while it is still wet give a great distressed look.

And finally that little moony face. I sculpted him using a Creative Paperclay product called Delight. It is extremely soft, sort of like working with marshmallows, and even more lightweight than the original Paperclay.

Want to make your own version? Here's a list of the materials I used:

Coffin Box
Feathery Flourishes
Tombstone Stand Up
Chipboard Tree
Creative Paperclay®
Paperclay Delight
Wallflower 12x12 Paper Stash
Silicone Mold
Petaloo flowers
Moss
Glitter

Old Timey Tuesday

Old grungy pictures from my personal collection for use in your art and craft projects.

You may NOT sell, give or distribute the images, digitally or printed, alone or as part of a collection, collage sheet or group.

Violators will be turned into toads... I mean it... It won't be pretty.

Tiny Flower Tute and Alpha Stamps news

Alpha Stamps is carrying a product called "Flower Soft" which is available in different colours (cross my fingers more will be listed shortly). I was asked to do a tutorial for creating the flowers with this fluffy stuff and I feel sort of guilty about it because it is INCREDIBLY easy to use.

Gather some florist wire and a pour out a small pile of Flower Soft. A little goes a looonng way.

Side note: Whenever I use little wired flowers, I trim them and am left with a short length of wire. These trimmings are perfect for creating these flowers because you really only need 1.5" or so of wire. So save those scraps!

Put a healthy glob of glue on the end of the wire. My glue of choice is Aleene's Tacky Glue because it is super thick and usually stays where it's told.

 

Roll the gluey end of the wire in the product.

Set aside and allow to dry. That's it! You'll have sweet little floral stems ready for microgardening or bunch them together to make the wee-est bouquets. Just look at those tiny flowers in that sweet wee vase from this Miniature Vase Set (I'm holding the smallest one below).

Aaannnnd, for my bit of Alpha Stamps news: they'll now be selling my Corner Box and Frame Front Box. I'm really excited about this because Canadian shipping prices are outrageous (*shakes fist at Canada Post*) so you actually save a few pennies.

For a refresher...

Here's the Wandry Room which is made from the Corner Box. (+additional supplies)

This Wortcunner's Shed was made from the Frame Front Box. (+additional supplies.)

Finally, you'll also be able to purchase my Miniature Fairy Godmother Magazines Collage Sheet and Miniature Tooth Fairy Letter Collage Sheet from Alpha Stamps also.

That's it for today, but be sure to come back for another visit because I've got loads of good stuff coming up over the next couple of weeks. Smooches lovelies!

Little Flower Cart with Petaloo and Authentique

I'm so excited to be taking part in Petaloo's blog hop with Authentique. To celebrate both products I've created a little flower cart. (Don't forget to head over to the Petaloo blog for a chance to win some fab prizes.)

I think it's pretty dang cute!

The body of the cart is covered in "Tender" from the Nestled collection. The awning created with "Hearty". I've then added embellishments from 'details' the cardstock sticker sheet from the same collection.

Inside my little cart, all sorts of Petaloo blooms which pair perfectly with Authentiques "Nestled" collection. Just look at how well those Chantilly Mixed Blooms in cream, and Sugared Mini's in mocha coordinate with the colours of the sticker. 

Petaloo:
Chantilly Mixed Blooms in cream
Sugared Mini's in mocha

Authentique:
Nestled: Hearty
Nestled: Tender
Nested: Cardstock Stickers

Other:
Thin Fleur Dresden Borders - Turquoise
1.5" Straight Wheels
7mm Flower Washers
1/8" doweling