a dia de los muertos (day of the dead) cat mermaid shrine??

Well, why the heck not? I love cats, day of the dead shrines and mermaids are really apropos right now. Last but not least, Alpha Stamps is doing mermaids this month and I really wanted to participate (not be left out, lol). So, I created a collage sheet with mermaid parts to fit the awesome Articulated Mermaid Paper Doll so you can make this...

Isn't she cute?? I love her, she has so much attitude! Anyway, you could just make a mermaid (or two) with the new collage sheet and be done with the whole thing... or you could make a whole day of the dead shrine to house her in!

 I made a shrine because I really do love day of the dead shrines and never need an excuse to make one.

 The shrine is composed of an Arched Shrine Shadowbox, a Balcony Balustrade - 12 Inch, and a brand new Stairstep Shrine Base. Plus a whole bunch of brightly painted doodads...

I used the Tiny Scalloped Shingles or Scales Stencil - 5x5 Size to add some texture to the top of the shrine base...

Of course I used Nuvo Embellishment Mousse - Aquamarine to push through the stencil because this stuff is the most amazing thing on the planet! Not only is it awesome to paint with and dimensional enough to hold its shape through a stencil, it is iridescent and comes in some luscious colors too!!! It's now available in nine colors at Alpha Stamps. (To see the colors I used click on my supply list for this project.)

 I attached my little mermaid to the interior of the shrine by gluing her to a couple of Small Wooden Spools then gluing the spools to the shrine wall. Makes her look like she's swimming around inside the shrine :)

 Someone has left her a yummy offering of chocolate mice and some lovely marigolds (which are really Tiny Paper Roses - Orange because I have yet to find miniature marigolds). The chocolate mice were made by a lovely miniaturist in England. I purchased them a few years ago on eBay.

Thanks for stopping by and reading all the way to the end. I hope you enjoy making your own day of the dead mermaid kitty and shrine :)

Vintage Sewing Vignettes...

I work for Alpha Stamps so I'm often asked (or volunteer!) to do a sample that uses new products. This month I was asked to be a Guest Designer, which means I received the same box load of Vintage Sewing/Cat themed goodies the Design Team received.

Yiiipppeeee!!!!

So here's what I came up with to showcase these inspiring products...

First up is a sweet shadowbox filled with lots of miniature goodies and some adorable kitty images from a vintage sewing advertisement.

Don't you just love that tiny vintage sewing machine!?!

I must confess to designing a collage sheet of Mini Sewing Notions to use along with the other goodies I was given. I just couldn't help myself, lol. All of those button cards, boxes, and the pattern envelope are easily made with the collage sheet and some glue. Of course I added tiny buttons and spools too, but Alpha Stamps has them available for you too!

My next project was a sweet vintage miniature sewing basket, well two sewing baskets as I love them so much I just couldn't stop at one! It's as if you found a miniature copy of your Grandmother's sewing basket :)

This one has an adorable Japanese Cat Button on the front!

I made the tiny pincushion/button keeper from a Tiny Jewelers Tin. It was super easy to make. I simply broke the glass out of the lid of the tin, glued pink paper inside, cut out a 1.5" circle of ultra suede, ran a running stitch around the edge of the ultra suede circle put a small ball of cotton in the middle and gathered the edges together with the running stitch to form a pouch. I then glued the pouch into the lid with the majority sticking out, glued some Dresden Trim around the edge and boom, there it is ;)

Thanks for stopping by and reading my post! If you'd like to check out some of the awesome goodies I used to make these little sewing vignettes go here. Please leave me a comment if you enjoyed my post, all comments are greatly appreciated :)

Goodbye Halloween... Hello Christmas!

Whew! This year has just flown by. I can't believe I was making Halloween goodies just a few weeks ago and now I feel the need to start making things for Christmas.

Last night I whipped up a couple of Christmas Cat House Ornies to start off this years round of Holiday crafting. These ornaments are super fast to make and pretty darn cute (if I do say so myself). Of course you don't have to make Cat Houses... you could make Santa Houses or Reindeer Houses or whatever your heart desires. But, do use the faboo Die-Cut Chipboard Houses with Windows from Alpha Stamps to make it waaay easier on yourself!