House Front Letter Box

In the midst of the worlds current craziness I find I'm having issues concentrating. While it seems that now might be the perfect time to tackle a big and complex project, I just can't seem to muster the gumption needed. A little distraction on the other hand... totally doable.

So I've taken a House Front Box Kit and made a wee box for the mail that is still managing to get through. I love getting mail, if you have little ones maybe they'd like to get some mail too.

I don't have a video tute for this project, but I do have some step-by-steps you can follow.

1. Clean the edges of the pieces you'll be using and orientate the pieces of House Front Box Kit so that you know how they'll fit together.

2. Cover one side of the slotted base and cut out the holes using a sharp blade. This will be the top side of the base.

3. Cover the bottom side of the side. No need to cut out the holes on this side.

4. Glue the box together.

Note: Consider tracing the house shape of the front of the box onto your decorative paper before gluing pieces in place.

5. Cover the inside and outside of the box with decorative paper.

Note: I covered the little holes on the sides of the box. If you want to add a handle, string or ribbon, you'll want to poke those holes open.

6. Prepare your decorate elements.

• Paint the door included in the House Front Box Kit, a little "Letters" Plate, and a turret from the Turrets Set of 4 with red acrylic paint.

• Paint window frames from the House Front Box Kit and a Mini Crest Sign black. 

7. Add a non-discript picture to the window frame. You might also want to sandwhich a layer of clear plastic between the frame and the image to give the shiny appearance of glass.

8. For the mailbox I simply sliced one of the little turrets in half. Cover the exterior with paper to hide the curved opening then cut with a sharp blade.

9. For the top piece, apply the prepared Mini Crest Sign, add a bit of paper to the back of the "Letters" Plate to make the lettering pop, and then add a Faux Metal Number Plate

10. Pop your window, door and mailbox in place.

11. Fill with letters and notes for those that you're quarantined or locked-down with!

Here's all the bits you'll need:

House Front Box Kit
Turrets Set of 4
Mini Crest Sign
"Letters" Plate **available from AlphaStamps
Faux Metal Number Plates 1 to 25

Scrapbook paper

Black and red acrylic paint

Glue

Plastic for windows (optional)

Pretty Moon Maiden ATCs

Some pretty ATCs to share today.

These are made with Chunky ATC Blanks as a base. I know they're just a cut rectangle of chipboard, and you could absolutely cut your own bases... but man, oh man I'm a fan of these. It's one of the items I repeatedly request from Gypsy Soul Laser Cuts.

The images and words I've used are from my Moon Maiden Collage Sheet. In my original set of ATC's I set these ladies against a night sky backdrop. I think they're quite nice as daytime maidens too.

As a final touch, I've applied some stained lace, dried lavender and rose petals and a few drops of bees wax.

Have you been keeping your fingers busy and mind occupied? Hope you're well. Please be safe. 

Free Photo Friday

Once a week I share an old timey photo from my personal collection. Feel free to use them in your mess making, art and crafting.

The images are not polished and left in their grungy, smudged and speckled glory. Just how I like 'em! Without further ado... 

Do NOT sell, give, or distribute the images as your own, digitally or printed, alone or as part of a collection, collage sheet or group. BUT DO absolutely make stuff with them and sell the stuff you make. If you share your project, a link is appreciated.

Violators will be turned into toads, given warts, all the bad stuff... I mean it... It won't be pretty. 

Bind Sigil Besom

A new pretty thing-a-ma-bob for the front door! A bit of magical protection against that big bad virus that is wreaking havoc on the world.

I've added charms and beads, flowers and some knot work to my besom too. My focus was on creating something gentle, calm and hopeful. Although those things might sound a bit namby-pamby, they're powerful forces of good! I don't know about you, but I could do with a bit of positive focus right now... making pretty things helps.

The symbol I carved is a bind sigil created by Tommie Kelly, combining sigils from his divination/magic system The Forty Servants. Specifically the sigils for The Healer, The Protector and The Sun were used here. 

(Totally recommend checking out Adventures in Woo Woo if you're interested in modern magical discussion/thinking/ideas.)

I first carved the sigil and then stained it with red ocher. This is said to have been done historically as a replacement for blood in the charging of magical items and ritual. I'm not sure how accurate that is, but I like the idea of taking this new symbol, from a new magical system, and mixing it up with old ideas.

Truly, I hope you're doing all you can to feel safe right now. I hope you're doing all the practical things like social distancing and making healthy choices. And, whether it's carving sigils, crafting, cooking comfort food, or Netflixing, I hope you're finding a bit of calm and hope in this crazy time.

P.S. Wash your hands. 

P.P.S. I love you.

Free Photo Friday

Once a week I share an old timey photo from my personal collection. Feel free to use them in your mess making, art and crafting.

The images are not polished and left in their grungy, smudged and speckled glory. Just how I like 'em! Without further ado... 

Do NOT sell, give, or distribute the images as your own, digitally or printed, alone or as part of a collection, collage sheet or group. BUT DO absolutely make stuff with them and sell the stuff you make. If you share your project, a link is appreciated.

Violators will be turned into toads, given warts, all the bad stuff... I mean it... It won't be pretty. 

Free Photo Friday

Once a week I share an old timey photo from my personal collection. Feel free to use them in your mess making, art and crafting.

The images are not polished and left in their grungy, smudged and speckled glory. Just how I like 'em! Without further ado... 

Do NOT sell, give, or distribute the images as your own, digitally or printed, alone or as part of a collection, collage sheet or group. BUT DO absolutely make stuff with them and sell the stuff you make. If you share your project, a link is appreciated.

Violators will be turned into toads, given warts, all the bad stuff... I mean it... It won't be pretty. 

All about bee wings

I've had a few requests for additional information, and questions about attaching the wings when following my Needle Felted Bumblebee video tutorial and working with the Bee Wing Digital Download and Bee Wing Transparency Sheet. 

First, you'll need wings.

The Bee Wing Transparency Sheet is a pre-printed sheet with 32 pairs of bee wings in various sizes. Cut them out as you go along. How you cut them out will depend on which method you want to use to attach the wings. I'll show you two methods below.

To print your own wings you'll need the Bee Wing Digital Download. You will use this file to print onto transparency paper. When buying transparency paper it's important to buy the correct type for your printer. Look for "inkjet" or "laser" on the packaging depending on which type you have. When printing specify that you are printing onto transparency paper by changing the settings. This will give you the best results.

I use two methods to attach the wings.

Method 1
Select the wings you want to use. Leave a little extra tab at the end of the wing when cutting them out.

With a very sharp blade, make an incision into the body of the bee where you want to place the wings.

If you've felted the bee well, this cut should not cause the bee to come apart.

Apply a tiny drop of glue to the end of the wing

Push the wing into the cut, wiggle it into just the right position, and allow to dry.

Method 2

Cut out your preferred wings and make a diagonal cut at the end. The cut should reflect the angle that you want the wings to sit at.

Apply the a small drop of hot glue to the underside and edge of the wing. You may want to practice applying the glue to get used to applying just the right amount.

Press the wing into place. Wiggle slightly so that the glue catches to the wooly surface of the bee. Hold the wing in place as it dries.

While the first method will give you a stronger bond, I actually prefer the second method. Once you get the hang of how much glue to apply it's a much quicker and simpler method.

I've had people ask about adding wire to the wings. When I was planning this project I thought that wire would be needed but at this size the transparency is thick enough that it doesn't need added support. Unless you want to create posable wings, or a super huge bee, wiring the wings is unnecessary.

As always, if you have a technique or method that you prefer, by all means continue doing what you're doing! There's no wrong or right way to do things and experimentation is the key for discovering what works best for you.

Have a great week crafty friends!