the vital question...

 Do you have a couple of hours to be creative? Then why not grab the new Architextures 2 paper set from Alpha Stamps and collage your heart out! 

Almost all of the images I used on this project come from that paper set and they are pretty fabulous. Besides the cooking and food images there are also travel images and wonderful floral papers. I haven't been this excited over a group of papers in ages!

I started this project with one Tiny Matchbox Theatre and one of the new, and adorable, Framed Matchbox Books. I collaged similar images onto both pieces so that they had a nice cohesiveness. Stacking them and tying a ribbon around them, when I was finished, made them seem like a cute little set.

 I love this amazing vintage cookbook image, from the Architextures 2 paper set, as the cover for the matchbox book. It is the perfect size and so quirky. A bit of washi tape works well to bind the cover together. I used the same tape on the matchbox theatre so that they match and both look like books.

 Inside the matchbox book is a strawberry with butterfly wings (sparkling with a bit of Diamond Stickles) just because I liked how it looked and it made me laugh. The few quotes on this project, including "can you keep a secret?" are from the Words collage sheet.

 Slide open the matchbox theatre and inside is a layered group of paper wine bottles and a 3D resin french bread. I think the bottles look pretty realistic with the bread because I used black adhesive foam to add depth. The bottles in the front (of this little vignette) have 2 pieces of tape stacked, one on top of the other, to give them more depth.

This was a pretty quick and easy project to do, most of the time was spent "fussy cutting" images from the paper and gluing the chipboard matchbox theatre and book together. I love doing collage projects like this because you can't get it wrong as long as you like how it looks :)

Thanks for reading my post, it is always appreciated. You can see my supply list here.

little framed fashion boxes...

I loooove making miniature vignettes in small boxes or large boxes or room boxes, etc. So, when we received a lovely pink and dark grey paper pad (with a fashion theme!) from Prima Marketing, I immediately started assembling a few vignettes (in boxes) in my head, lol.

I knew I wanted to use some shoe boxes and hat boxes in my vignettes, so, I took a look at a collage sheet I designed a few years back and decided to revamp it to work with this project. I removed the cake/pastry boxes from the sheet and added a glove/scarf sized box to the sheet instead. I recolored one of the shoe boxes pink so now there are four. AND everything remaining was resized to work with 1:12 scale miniatures as the original boxes were more playscale (or Barbie) sized.

I really like the resulting boxes and how they work with the pair of 1:12 scale metal shoes I painted a few years ago.

 The paper pad I used to "wallpaper" my boxes had so many cute images I had to frame one! Doesn't it look great with all of the boxes and pink tissue paper? The glove peaking out of the hat box is from my "A Lady's Boudoir" collage sheet and I used lots of other images from that collage sheet to complete the sweet dresser top vignette box below.

The above vignette box is done in 1:24 scale using the absolutely adorable 3 Inch Miniature Dress Form. I can't believe how cute this dress form is, and I love it even more with a strip of "lace" wrapped around the bottom. The pearls are a strand of super tiny ball chain I found while looking for finger nail decorations somewhere on the internet. I made the round hat box by gluing some of the paper from my paper pad onto a small tread spool and adding a bit of dresden trim. The "poster" on the wall behind the dress form is from the same paper pad.

 My last box portrays the top of a lady's dresser. The lovely ivory and gold jewelry box featured in the vignette is filled with vintage cabinet cards cut from "A Lady's Boudoir" collage sheet and a sweet bit of tiny gold chain along with a scrap of lace to mimic a handkerchief. I'm not really sure where I got the standing mirror but we do have a similar one available here.

All three boxes were framed with wooden frames I painted black. I am seriously running out of space to display miniatures and boxed vignettes so these were made to hang on the wall. I simply glued a picture hanger from the hardware store to the back of each frame and will hang them on my wall in the formation shown.
Thanks for stopping by and reading my post, it is always appreciated. My supply list can be found here.

tiny skyline sihouette book in a matchbox drawer...

I love this sweet new chipboard Matchbox Skyline Book from Alpha Stamps. It's the perfect size to knock out a quick, quirky art project in a couple of hours.

I used several different papers from Maps, Text & Ledgers 8x8 Paper Set as my base and as most of my collage images too (The images inside each tiny window are postage stamps from one of the papers in the set). The butterflies and the text "the pursuit of a paradox" are the only exceptions.

The tiny windows are from House Ornament Window Trims, and I darkened them with a brown stamp pad I had on my desk. I also used the pad to darken the edges of my paper for a grungy look.

 Although the skyline book has fold perforations, I cut mine apart after papering the front and back, because I wanted to put it back together using decorative tape, as I really love the way that adds to the grunge esthetic.

I used Diamond Stickles on the butterfly wings and added an adorable Small Brass Hitch Fastener to the matchbox drawer for a handle.

The whole project was finished in one afternoon as I listened to a favorite podcast. I find it so relaxing to make smaller creative projects using very few supplies when I've had a stressful week.

Thanks for reading this post. You can find my supply list here.

Easter celebration boxes...

Alpha Stamps has a new monthly kit out today and I helped design it :) Since Easter is on April 1st (April Fools Day, lol) this year, March's kit is Easter themed. Some of the things in the kit are gorgeous papers from Bo Bunny, an adorable Happy Easter collage sheet from Catnip Designs (me), and a sweet shadowbox with an egg shaped cover. Here's a photo of the box I made using the kit along with some other goodies...

Isn't it sweet? There are three other shadowboxes and lids available, in the Easter theme, that get progressively larger in size. I, of course, had to make one of each...

I used paper from the new Jubilee 6x6 pad for this cute bunny box. In the box is a nest I built with eggs from the kit nestled inside it.

This adorable chick box has a vintage bunny girl ornament holding a fuzzy yellow chick and Easter basket inside.

*Note: It's a good idea to reinforce that little piece of die-cut chipboard between the chicks legs. I just glued a small piece of toothpick to the back of mine.

 This chocolate bunny box is my favorite! I made an Easter tree decorated with vintage colored eggs, a vintage basket and vintage look bunnies that are available at Alpha Stamps :)

Look how cute that bunny is...

And, yes, I did add Easter grass and colored eggs to that tiny basket!

Here's a photo of the whole group...

I bet you're wondering what that thing in the middle is, am I right?

Here's a closer look...

I love the the shutters we recently got in from Prima so I had to incorporate them into my Easter group. Amazingly, the rabbit cover from the Easter Covers for Mini Shadowboxes set fits inside the shutters perfectly. How cool is that :)
Now, I wanna share a little tutorial with you on making your shadowboxes deeper than they actually are. Although the depths range from 7/8" to around 1 1/2" and may be just fine to accommodate a paper collage or thinner multi-media vignette, I chose to use fatter items to create my vignettes. This made me scramble to create more space! Here's how I did it...

 Build your shadowbox and ink or paint any areas that may peek through the paper you cover the box with.

 Cover your box with paper inside and out.

 Paint your box cover on both sides as well as the edges. Notice I removed the tabs used to make this a removable cover.

 Paper your cover and cut out the egg shaped window with a craft knife. Then carefully fold the edges of the cover around the shadowbox to ensure a proper fit.

 Cut up a small cork, dowel or piece of balsa wool into four equally sized pieces. Mine are 1/4".

 Create a cute vignette inside the shadowbox. Hot glue the four pieces of cork/wood to the corners of the shadowbox so they don't stick out beyond the outer edges.

Lay the cover over the cork/wood pieces and fold the edges down into place.

Holding the cover in place, as shown above, lift up one flap and run a strip of hot glue along the shadowbox edge. Press the flap down until the glue cools. Repeat until all four sides are permanently glued down. That's all there is to it.
So who's ready to start making some cute Easter boxes?? Come on! You know you want to!
You can find my complete supply list at this link. 

Pussy Cat Theatre...

The new kit this month at Alpha Stamps is called Pink Valentine Theatre Kit. As a fan of the color pink I immediately fell in love with this kit and begged to make a sample! For said sample, I went back to my roots a bit and made a cat headed ballet theatre...

and it has lights!

The lights were so easy to add because the Punch & Judy Theatre (that I used as a base for my creation) has a lovely cubbyhole on the top, perfect for hiding your lighting controls.

I used a Mini String of Fairy Lights and hot glued them to the ceiling of the theatre and threaded the wire for the controller through a tiny hole in the ceiling so it could live in the cubbyhole.

You can just see the fairy lights in the photo above.

Here I am with my controller out ready to turn the lights on!

It looks so pretty all lit up!

If you're wondering how I got all of my scenery and dancers to stand up, here's my secret. After cutting out the pieces I wanted to use I glued them to 1/8 Inch Wooden Dowels then I made holes in the theatre floor, with a craft knife, where I wanted them go.

To keep them in place I used hot glue.

I think they look clean and uncluttered this way.

Thanks for stopping by and reading my ramblings. I hope you will try to create a theatre for yourself or a friend. If you're interested in the supplies I used, you can find them HERE.

Go make something!

collecting and diplaying one inch scale miniatures...

I've been collecting miniatures since I was a child. Way back then the miniatures were all different scales and mostly cheap things bought at the local five and dime store. I still have a bunch of those old miniatures in my collection and now they are considered kitschy vintage, lol. About ten years ago I started going to miniature shows (such as the Good Sam Showcase of Miniatures) and my collecting turned to artist made miniatures and higher end commercially made miniatures.

Miniatures are perfect for collecting because they don't take up much space to keep and display... until your collection out grows your space and you can't display everything. This is a huge problem because I want to see and enjoy my collection daily, not just store them in a box. So in my search for a better way to use my allotted display space I came upon a labor intensive, hand crafted, four room display box attached to a turn table (lazy Susan). I thought the idea was brilliant and rushed off to beg Leslie to have a kit made to sell through Alpha Stamps. And that is how the 4 Season Spinner was born. Of course my name was vetoed in favor of calling it the Rotating 4 Scene Room Box but no biggie, as I still got to make the first one for myself.

 Isn't it fabulous!? Four whole rooms to decorate!

 I decided to do the four seasons as a theme for this first one. (Yes, I will be making more because it is super easy to construct and I was able to display sooooo much stuff!) The first two rooms I decorated are Spring and Summer. It took so long to do the decorating on these rooms that you will not get to see Fall and Winter until next month when I finish them. Anyway, here's Spring in all her Easter bunny glory...

 I love the Easter Bunny wall paper, so Springy! I must admit most of the smaller stuff in this room is from my collection and is either vintage, handmade, artist made or no longer made. But there is a supply list of the available items, here. Remember, decorating a room like this gives you an excuse to start collecting or to start displaying your collection.

Let's take a look at beautiful, dreamy Summer...

 I decided to do a Victorian style boudoir to represent Summer because I had tons of stuff to use. You may remember the dresser from a previous post. I love the way the dresser turned out so decided to keep it. I did use a bunch of stuff in this room that is actually available, YAY!. Here's the supply list. (Also, the shoes are made by Sylvia Roundtree, (The Doll's Cobbler) and are amazing. But the chair is vintage and was snatched up by me on eBay.)

 By the way, I didn't use permanent glue to attach my stuff to the room this time since I was keeping this for myself and I may want to change things up at some point in the future. I used Bluestik Reusable Adhesive Putty instead of glue. It's cheap and works amazingly well.

Wow! Thanks for staying to the end :) I hope you are inspired to make your own 4 Season Spinner or maybe it will be four of your favorite time periods (18th Century would be fab!) or four rooms inspired by your children or pets, or four fairy tale inspired rooms. The sky's the limit!

Waterless Snowglobes...

I love the idea of snowglobes but I really don't care for the water and fake snowflakes they contain. Sooo, I used a DIY Snowglobe from Alpha Stamps to make my own version without the annoying water and fake flakes.

Then I made a little apothecary jar version using the Apothecary Jar with Lid also from Alpha Stamps. I think they look adorable together...

But they look really cute on their own as well!

For those of you interested in making your own waterless snowglobes I've assembled a few tips on turning a boring globe on a white plastic base into a fabulously festive globe on a pedestal...

 I used a black and white Grosgrain ribbon attached with hot glue to cover the white plastic base.

 Next, I attached a Wired Pine Needle Stem (with hot glue) to hide the space where the base and globe connect.

 After painting a Small Wooden Finial and a Candlestick Holder red, I hot glued them to my globe and base as shown.

 Next I cut apart a Berry Sprig and a few inches of Holly Berry Garland and hot glued the leaves and berries around the finial on the top of the globe.

 I glue the leaves on one by one so I get complete coverage in the areas where I want it. Awww, it looks so pretty!

 Using my remaining garland I hot glued it to my ribbon around the base. Which left an ugly messy area where the two ends meet.

 To hide this, I simply glued a holly leaf right over the top of the mess :)

 I thought my snowglobe was still just a bit too boring so...

I added JOY, peppermints and glitter to make it truly fabulously festive!

I hope I have inspired you to make a little something for yourself!

 If you'd like the supply lists for either or both projects they can be found here and here.
If you'd like to buy one of my pieces they are available in my shop :)