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.

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 :)

more Christmas ornaments!

Leslie, the Queen Bee of Alpha Stamps, designed some adorable Tiny Diorama Boxes and I immediately felt the need to design a collage sheet! A BIG THANKS goes to Kristin Batsel who was kind enough to photograph her vintage ornament boxes for me :)

After getting my hands on a hard copy of said collage sheet, I proceeded to craft my heart out and produced two little ornament box ornaments...

they are decorated both front and back...

I think they are pretty darn cute and will look adorable hanging on a Christmas tree!

 As this was a bit of a last minute project (and they didn't take a whole lot of time to create!) you will find my supplies list for both ornaments below :)

Supplies Used:

Tiny Diorama Box Facades Collage Sheet

Tiny Diorama Box

Dimensional Snow - 2 Ounce Jar*

Dimensional Snow Writer 

Diamond Stickles* 

Holly Berry Garland 

Mini Brown Sika Deer 

 1/8 Inch Red Satin Ribbon** 

Fa La La Gold Bottle Brush Tree Set 

Miniature Red Sled* 

Tiny Wrapped Gift Box Ornaments - 1/2 Inch 

Botanica Red Glittered Star Picks

The paper pad I used is from a couple of years ago and is called Reflections Christmas by Echo Park Paper Co. I used Tim Holtz Distress Pumice Stone Ink Pad to ink the edges of everything.

Thanks for stopping by, now go make something!!

Christmas?! It's not even Halloween yet!!!

Those were the words I uttered when asked to do an ornament sample using the 2017 November Kit. I really wanted to squeeze every last bit of Halloween goodness out of October before ever even thinking about Christmas. Alas, it wasn't meant to be, so I started listening to Christmas music and got crafty :)

I made this first ornament using the Ornament Frame Set - Round and Retro Xmas Round Ornaments Collage Sheet from the November Kit. The paper is from the Tim Holtz 8x8 Kraft Paper Stash - Christmas, I really love the Tim Holtz Stash Pads because they are a nice weight and have such wonderful vintage images and patterns. I also used a Clear Plastic Round Dome on this ornament so it could be a "shaker" ornament.

Notice how the Santa image in the photo above is obscured by tiny clear micro beads, inside the plastic dome, when the ornament is moved or shaken. Alpha Stamps had a kit with shaker ornaments last year, too. You can see the many ornaments I made with last years kit (and other available components) on this blog post.

My favorite thing about this ornament is the pleated Cream Ribbon with Velvet Polka Dots I used to add a frill to the edge. It looks like it was complicated to do, but, because this ribbon holds a fold really well all it took was hot glue and folding (in little pleats all the way around the back of the ornament) to accomplish.

 My second ornament uses many of the same supplies as the first ornament but I did use a different ornament shape. It is Ornament Frame Set - Bauble and it is quite nostalgic in shape. So I just had to use this wonderful nostalgic paper from the Tim Holtz Christmas 8x8 Paper Stash!

I think the paper is perfect with this sweet snowman image from the Retro Xmas Round Ornaments Collage Sheet. Using a snowman image made it pretty much mandatory to use lots of snowflakes, such as the Flat Back Clear Iridescent Snowflakes and the Tiny White Snowflake Buttons. Of course I really had to apply lots of snow drifts with my trusty Dimensional Snow Writer.

To top it all off, I used a Christmas Snow Essence label from my Tiny Little Christmas Labels Collage Sheet applied it to a 3cm Tall Bottle with Cork with a few strips of Super Sticky Red Liner Tape - 1/8 Inch and added some snow (Flower Soft in Polar White). I think it looks adorable nestled in among the snowflakes and Maidenhair Fern Pick - Platinum.

I hope you are inspired to start making Christmas ornaments now, even if Halloween is still around the corner. Just think, you will be able to use them on this years Christmas tree!

My complete supplies list is available here.

 

 

Only 58 days until Halloween!

We are getting really close to Halloween so it seemed like the perfect time to roll out a Halloween themed monthly kit at Alpha Stamps. I had the honor of designing the collage sheets for the kit and it was so much fun... I made an extra one (not in the kit). It is called Little Demons and has lots of sweet demons to add to your Halloween crafting. (Just imagine making a cute banner or wreath with these cuties!)

I made a couple of ATCs with the kit components and some of the new things hitting the website today...

The card above uses the awesome Bat Border ATC Card that comes in the kit along with collage sheets, paper, ribbon and tiny buttons, oh my!

 I used the new Dragon Arch ATC Card for this one, and I really love how it looks :)

Both ATC cards were designed by Leslie, Alpha Stamps owner extraordinaire!

If you'd like to see a list of all the goodies I used on my ATCs, click here. 

But, WAIT!!!

There's a rumor going around that Alpha Stamps is having a Halloween SWAP!!!

I'm not sure of the details, myself, but, I bet you could find out by going here.

wise woman's apothecary cabinet...

The Oxford Dictionary defines "wise woman" as a woman considered to be knowledgeable in matters such as herbal healing, magic charms, or other traditional lore. That is the kind of woman I envision using this apothecary cabinet.

She would keep all of her herbs and other ingredients in well labeled, tightly covered, glass jars so nothing would be misplaced or misused.

 She would have lots of books, scrolls, and papers to fill up those two large drawers, and yes, sometimes, to leave stacked on the worktop. Her mortar and pestle would be well used and perhaps a bit dented.

 Her apothecary cabinet would be kept orderly and well stocked.

I used the brand new and wonderfully versatile Storage Hutch and 4 Inch Wide Chest of Drawers - 2 Drawers as the base for my apothecary cabinet. A bit of Dresden trim, some box feet and four skulls, used for drawer pulls, helped give the cabinet a spooky style.

Using my recently designed Tiny Little Grimoires Collage Sheet I made an open book to display on the cabinet worktop. I took photos while I assembled it so I could do a little tutorial to share :)

Carefully cut out the following pieces from the collage sheet. You will also need to cut out a piece of patterned or colored paper to use as a backing to the book cover.

 Glue the backing paper to the back of the book cover, print or color side out.

Trim off any excess paper.

 Ink the edges of the book pages and the cover.

 Score the pages as shown below.

 Glue the first set of pages as shown below.

 Using a large wooden dowel or a pen, bend your pages as shown, to give them the curve of open book pages.

 If you want a ribbon book mark, glue a thin ribbon to the book as shown.

 Next, glue the curved pages into the middle of your book as shown.

 They should look like this from the side.

 Continue to glue the curved pages on top of each other until you have a stack you like.

 It will look more realistic if some of the pages are slightly offset and a corner or two is bent.

 Next, glue the ribbon in place as shown.

 Then, using sharp fabric scissors, cut the ribbon to size and trim the end into a v shape.

 Glue a couple of papers on top if you want your book to look like it's in use.

 There you have it! Just a few simple steps to making an open book for your miniature scene :)

I hope you enjoyed this post and thanks for taking the time to read it. If you would like to view my supplies list, it can be found here.