Shaker Ornaments!!

Shaker ornaments are all the rage right now, just search Pinterest and you will see tons of examples. But how can you make them yourself? Well it's easy with the awesome new Chipboard Ornament Layers from Alpha Stamps. These babies are fun, easy and are only limited by your imagination!

I whipped these up in a couple of days with most of the time devoted to glue drying time.

Look at that, the backs are as pretty as the fronts!

 Let's take a closer look at each individual ornament, shall we...

 This beautiful snowy scene was created using Deer in Woods Ornament Layers, silver and white paint, recycled sari silk ribbon and lots of glitter and sequins.

 I created this simple distressed ornament using Tim Holtz Christmas Tidings 8x8 Paper Stash, Stairs Christmas Morning Ornament Layers, and Hanging Stockings Ornament Layers. I made it double sided by gluing the two die-cut inserts back to back with a sheet of cardstock in between.

 I did the same double sided trick with this ornament using Christmas Delivery 6x6 Paper Pad, Ice Skaters Ornament Layers, and Flying Sleigh Ornament Layers.

Since I created two double sided ornaments I had leftover outer rings and clear plastic domes. Not wanting to waste those parts I decided to use a couple of collage sheet images from the new Gnome & Mushroom Ornaments Collage Sheet to make up an additional ornament...

 Isn't it adorable! I love gnomes and mushrooms! And snow, and moss, and buttons...

 In order for the images to be glued to the outer ring when creating this ornament sandwich, I had to leave a bit of white paper around the edges. Don't worry about seeing it when finished, though, as it is covered up once you glue it to the outer ring.

 Since it is necessary to keep the parts flat once you put the glitter in the dome, I traced a line around my roughly cut collage image so I would know exactly where to place the image once the glue was applied and I was ready to attach it :)

I truly enjoyed making these ornaments! It was fun finding stuff to put in them to shake around. My main ingredients for all of the shakers were Flower Soft - Polar White, a fine white iridescent glass glitter from my stash and 1mm Micro Beads - Clear AB. In addition I added sequins, tiny buttons and polymer clay cane slices depending on the theme of the ornament. You can see my complete supply list here.

Thanks for stopping by, I hope I inspired you to go make some shaker ornaments for yourself :)

a miniature fairy garden specimen under glass...

It seems like everybody and their sister has gone nuts over fairy gardens lately. I'm not complaining as I think they are a lovely way to decorate your garden but, how about shrinking it down a bit so you can display it on your desk, shelf or table?

I did just that when I created this tiny little fairy garden specimen...

It may look complicated but it was really very easy to do... although there are a lot of steps to doing it, lol. I wanted to share my process with you so I created a Snapguide to show you how you can make your own miniature fairy garden under glass. Click here to view :)

Most of my supplies came from Alpha Stamps, of course, and you can see my supply list here.

Thanks for stopping by... now go make something!

the forgotten garden...

For the last three months I have been working on a miniature garden scene. It started out as a simple garden shed, an idea triggered by the arrival of the Wooden Market Stall Kit, but it soon grew to included two Cottage Bases, an arbor, a platform base, stairs, the skeleton of the gardener, a huge wisteria vine, shutters, window boxes, and lots of garden accouterments...

As I was photographing the garden for this blog post I decided I really need to add one more Cottage Base in between the two existing bases so I can add a water feature... Yes, I may have become a bit dotty from inhaling too many glue fumes...

Let me show you some of the things I like best about my overgrown garden...

 The back of the shed has lots of "ivy" growing up it. I cut apart a plastic vine I got at a craft store to make the ivy...

 Inside the shed is a wonderful potting table stocked full of garden supplies. I used "soil" made for miniature railroad enthusiasts to fill my potting soil bag and make a dirt pile on the potting table. I find lots of useful stuff in the miniature railroad department of the craft store!

 I made this heather plant out of Flower Soft, Lycopodium, and floral wire.

 The wisteria vine was made from a plastic flower bush (from a craft store) I cut apart and combined with lots of Fern Garland to make it look overgrown.

 If you look closely you can see a cat peeking through the arbor at that nest tucked into the wisteria...

 A drippy faucet is easy to achieve with a bit of Making Waves Resin Water...

 Take a peek through the window and you will see a little rat watching the cat napping...

You can find my supply list here for all of the great products from Alpha Stamps. Speaking of great products... let me show you how easy it is to put together that potting table...

 I paint my pieces before I glue them together.

 All you need is a bit of white glue.

 Before I glued my table top on I decided to change the color...

 When the glue on my potting table was dry I touched up any spots I missed while painting...

 After the glue dried on the table top I gave the whole table a good sanding to make it appear used...

 

Then I applied a bit of darker brown paint here and there to age it even more...

Such a fun and easy little table to make! It could be used in a garage or workshop too :)

I hope I haven't put you to sleep with this loooong post! Thanks for stopping by and have a great and artful day!

a little house greeting card for your bff...

I love house shaped shrines, die cuts, etc, as many people do... I think it's probably because it's such a familiar and comforting shape. And guess what? Alpha Stamps has a brand spankin' new monthly kit, out for February, and it's all about Little Houses! I just couldn't resist making a little something with some of the parts of the kit and the new Provincial 6x6 Paper Pad by Kaisercraft.

I love Kaisercraft 6x6 pads because not only do they have fabulous small scale paper in them but they include extra pages of borders and other embellishments :) As a matter of fact I used two tag shaped embellishments on my card...

Inside is a gold Claddagh embellishment I'm kinda in love with. I used a Lipstick Red Copic marker to color the heart red because I thought it cold use a pop of color.

It's a very simple card made with paper, dresden and collage sheets. I used hinges on the paper covered die-cut chipboard pieces (in the Little Houses Kit!) so it could open and close. On the front is a bit of Flower Soft and an adorable little wreath from Little B.

If you'd like to create your own card to gift to your bff or someone special, here's my supply list.

Thanks for stopping by and have an inspired day!