Enchanted Pumpkin Carriage

Recently we received invitations to two weddings and a bridal shower.  This can mean only one thing.  That's right; an opportunity for more crafting!  One of the prospective brides' is a crafter so something hand made will probably be well received.  It just so happens that I have been waiting for an occasion to make  the pumpkin carriage from SVG Cuts Enchanted Autumn set.  Cinderella is so popular right now and the carriage just seems to fit with the wedding theme.  The carriage can be used as a centerpiece or a box.  Mine will be used as a box to enclose a gift card.

Here's the carriage so far.  I used orange card stock to match the orange print paper.  The pumpkin overlays were cut from Graphic 45 An Eerie Tale- orange for the pumpkin and purple and gold for the lid. The carriage base is Bo Bunny purple dot and the carriage overlays are from An Eerie Tale.

Finished Carriage- vines still need to be added to the base.

Assembled carriage base with vellum window.

Carriage with overlays and carriage base.

The carriage embellishments are simple-small pearls, buttons, crystals and a fleur de lys punched from card stock and painted with gold craft paint.  The panels on either side of the lanterns contain a pearl flourish and the panel above the lanterns are decorated with crystal "shaved ice" from the craft store. Ranger's Liquid Pearls was used to embellish around the carriage window. The wheels still need to be added. The wheels are thick and each wheel is cut 12 times, then glued together.  Since the wheels have to support the weight of the carriage, I glued them together with Hard Coat Mod Podge and then coverd the finished wheel with Mod Podge.  This made the wheels very hard and sturdy.

Embellished carriage, still needs more work.

Side View

Typography Inspirational Book

Lately I have been obsessed with Graphic 45 papers.  The designs are unique and beautiful and the paper is high quality.  Typography was among the pads of paper that I ordered recently.  The paper has inspirational messages like "It's a Good Day to have a Good Day." and the some of the images used are from Toulouse-Lautrec's paintings, including a Jane Avril image. I like this paper so much that I ended up ordering two pads and the coordinating chip board tags.

I thought Typography would make an interesting cover for the current inspirational book that I am working on. I wanted a more traditional bound book and found the Prima, Frank Garcia, Memory Hardware Rectangle Chip board Journal.  I found the book on a recent trip to Photo Scraps in Eldersburg, MD, but have had trouble finding it on-line. I need three more books for up coming projects, so I called Photo Scraps and asked them to order the books for me.

Front cover using Typography paper and chip board tags.

Book spine.

Here's a few more pages from the book-only ten more to go before it's finished.  Lapin Jardinier is from last year's Father's Day card and the flowers are hydragena's made using the Matha Stewart paper punch.

Lapin Jardinier

The fishing page uses elements from Graphic 45 Typography paper pad, card stock cut outs from a beach themed paper, Martha Stewart Crab paper punch, Stampendous light blue Color Fragments and sea shells that I found on the beach on Marco Island.  Everything is glued down with Mod Podge Hard Coat and then coated the entire page with Mod Podge once the page was dry.

Nevermore Raven Collage

While I was working on the C'est la vie canvas, Brittany approached me and asked if I would make a "cool canvas" for her.  She's a big fan of Edgar Allan Poe's literature, especially the Raven, so we decided that should be the theme.  It was difficult to come up with a design idea and get started.  Poe's Raven is very popular and has been worked into art projects so many times that it was hard to find an idea that hadn't been done before. As the blank canvas layed on my drafting table for a couple of days, I kept thinking of the quote by Vincent Van Gogh, " Just slap something on it when you see a blank canvas staring at you with a sort of imbecility.You don’t know how paralyzing it is, that stare from a blank canvas that says to the painter you can’t do anything."  I put a thick coat of black gesso over the entire canvas and the ideas started to flow from there.  Next the canvas received a heavy coat of purple acrylic paint, and swirled lines made with a texture tool.  I had the new Dylusions paints sitting on the work table and the concord grape just seemed to be calling out try me.  I diluted the paint with some water and painted over the textured ridges in the paint.  After it dried the Dylusions paint added a cool two-tone effect.  Dali's paintings- The Pesistance of Memory (the watches) and Argus (the eyes) were the secondary elements of the canvas and everything just progressed from there.

The canvas is almost finished-just a few finishing touches and it will be ready to hang.

Oh and Brittany if you are reading this post, I hope you remember all of the original art work that I created for you, on Mother's Day!

Canvas in progress.

Finished canvas- the brown on the bird is the light reflecting off the UTEE.

Directions For Nevermore Raven Collage:

Canvas  8x10
Liquitex Black Gesso
Foam Brush
Assorted Buttons
Ivory, olive green and black Cardstock
Raven Poem
Ranger Ultra Thick Embossing Enamel-(UTEE) clear
Heat Gun
Tim Holtz Clock Stencil
Golden Modeling Paste
DecoArt Dazzling Metallics Venetian Gold paint
Dylusions Concord Grape paint
Palette Knife
Small Ceramic Tile
Tim Holtz Ideology Clocks and Gears
Decorative Trim
Martha Stewart Leaf Paper Punch
Liquitex  purple, black and medium grey acrylic paint
Small Roses- Black and Purple
Raven SVG Cutting File-mine is from the Silhouette On Line Store
Art Minds Gold Flakes
Small Metal Brad
The Robin's Nest Dew Drops-Water (blue, purple and green)
Tim Holtz Distress Inks-Vintage Photo and Tea Dye
Small Bowl of room temperature coffee-for aging the poem
Princeton Catalyst Wedge W-02
Tom Bow Aqua Glue
Small paintbrush
Ranger  Distress Ink- Gathering Twigs

1.  Coat the canvas with two coats of black gesso and let it dry completely.

2.  Use a foam brush to apply a thick coat of purple acrylic paint to the top of the canvas. Run the Catalyst wedge to create wavy lines in the paint.  Let the paint dry.  Mix Dylusions Concord Purple paint with a little water to make it fluid. Spread the Dylusions over the top of the ridges in the purple paint. Let it dry.  Paint the sides of the canvas with black acrylic paint and set aside to dry.

3.  Mix modeling paste with the Venetian Gold paint.  Lay the clock stencil in the center of the canvas and cover with the gold modeling paste mixture, scraping off the excess with a palette knife. Set aside to dry.  Once the piece is completely dry, brush (with a paint brush) a small area of the gold clock design with Tom Bow Aqua Glue and carefully lay the gold flakes over the glue. Press the gold down onto the canvas. The flakes should appear textured and not smooth.  Apply the gold flakes to the stenciled area, letting some of the modeling paste show through.

4.  Cut a Raven, using the measurements given in the SVG cutting file (mine is from the Silhoette Store), out of black card stock.  Cut a branch long enough for the Raven to sit on out of black card stock. I drew the branch and hand cut it but you can use an SVG cutting file or commercial die cut.  Apply a Versa Mark ink to the front of the Raven.  Cover the entire bird.  Cover the bird with UTEE and shake off the excess.  Place the bird on a ceramic tile and use a heat gun to carefully melt the UTEE.  Let the UTEE dry and cool down before moving the bird.

5.  Print a copy of Edgar Allan Poe's Raven on white paper using a laser printer.  Tear the poem to fit on the right and left sides of the canvas.  Pour leftover cold coffee into a small bowl and soak the poem pieces for a few seconds, remove and blot on a paper towel. Keep soaking the poem and blotting it until the paper looks aged.  Let the paper dry on the paper towels.  After the poem is dry, apply the vintage photo distress ink randomly to the paper.  Adhere the poem pieces to the left and right sides of the canvas, using Liquitex Matte Gel, smooth out any air bubbles with your fingertips.

6.  Cut 3 pieces of ribbon ( approximately 3 inches and 2 1/2 inches) and tie them together with a knot. Tie a knot at the end of each piece of ribbon. Glue the ribbon just under the edge of the clock face. Glue the Ideology clock face to the upper right corner of the canvas. Glue an Ideology gear to the center of the clock and then glue a small brad over the gear.  Glue a small purple Dew Drop to the center of the brad.

7.  Cut a piece of decorative trim 1/2 inch longer than the length of the canvas.  Glue the trim 1/4 inch above the bottom edge of the canvas, so there is a purple border at the bottom.  If the buttons have a shank you will need to remove it so the button will lie flat against the trim.  Glue 3 decorative buttons, evenly spaced, on the trim. Seal the edges of the trim with the Tom Bow glue.

8.  Glue a black rose to the lower right corner of the canvas just above the trim.  Punch 3 leaves out of olive card stock using the leaf paper punch. Glue the leaves under the edge of the rose. Glue a small gear to the left of the rose and glue a Dew Drop in the center

9.  Glue a small purple rose on the poem just to the right of the Raven title.  Hand cut 2 small leaves from the olive card stock and glue under the edges of the rose.

10.  Glue 3 black buttons across the top center of the canvas. Glue  smaller purple buttons in the center of each black button and glue a green Dew Drop in the center of each purple button.  Randomly glue the Dew Drops along the top of the canvas, leaving room for a title.

11.  Glue the branch approximately 1 1/2 inches above the trim on the left side of the canvas.  Place the Raven on the branch and glue to secure him.  Glue a small purple rose with the stem in the Raven's beak on the canvas. Glue a small dark purple crystal over the Raven's eye. Dot the center of the eye with black paint.

12.  Paint the branch black, apply the paint thickly to give a textured appearance.  While the paint is still wet dab medium grey paint randomly along the branch.  Mix a little bit of black into the grey paint and dab randomly over the (wet) grey paint leaving some lighter grey showing along the branch.

13.  Put a few drops of distress ink on a craft mat.  Use the wooden end of a small paint brush to pick up the ink and randomly dab the ink over the surface of the poem.

14.  Print Nevermore on card stock.  Cut the title out, distress the card stock with tea dye distress ink.  Tear the ends of the card stock, leaving enough room to roll the ends.  Use an awl to roll the ends of the card stock inward toward Nevermore.  Glue Nevermore about an 1 1/2 inches under the row of buttons at the top of the canvas.

Bunny Garland

As I started to decorate for Easter, I wanted to do something different this year.  Something that would compliment the bunnies that we set out every year.  I came across this cute Bunny and Carrot Swag from Snapdragon Snippets.  I envisioned the bunnies draped from the banister in the foyer (similar to the Bat Garland).

I cut the bunnies and carrots to the dimensions given in the SVG cut file. Next I inked the edges of the bunny with Tim Holtz Vintage Photo Distress Ink. After assembling the bunnies, I used colored pencils to highlight the inside of the ears and add a pink blush to the bunny's cheeks.  To give the bunny's face more dimension, I glued wiggly eyes over the black eyes.  After all of the bunnies and carrots are assembled; wire them together, using the holes in the paws and the holes in the wreath, then thread purple ribbon into the hole of the bunny's paw (end bunnies only).  Now the bunny garland is ready to hang.

Rose Bud Flower Pot

I'm really enjoying all of the capability of my Silhouette Cameo and with the Silhouette Design Store carrying a large selection of cut files finding the right image for a project is so easy.  Jamie Lane is one of the designers' that I found while browsing through the Design Store. She creates the most beautiful 3D flowers.  I loved her Rose Bud Flower Pot and could envision so many uses for it.

Jamie Lane has a tutorial for the assembly of the flower pot on her Bits of Paper blog.  For those of you who own other cutting machines, she has a shop for SVG cutting files on her blog.  I'm currently working on the flower pot to send to a relative instead of an Easter card.  When cutting the flower pot I didn't realize that the top edge would fold over the outside of the pot. Had I realized this I would have chosen a card stock with the same color on both sides.

One rose done, 5 more to go!

Finished Flower Pot.  Bunny image from Sarah Bailey.

 Here's the work in progress.  All of the pieces have been cut out and the edges have been rolled using a wooden skewer. One yellow rose has been assembled (5 more to go).  The project is easy but the assembly of the flowers does take some time, mostly holding the pieces together until the glue sets.

Craft Tip: Lightly mist the card stock pieces with water and blot the excess water on a paper towel.  This makes shaping the pieces much easier and the card stock retains it's original stiffness once it dries.  Misting also made it much easier to glue the pieces together.  The Bunny Easter tag was made by folding a pieces of ivory card stock, cutting the top edge and gluing a strip of light purple paper along the cut edge.  The Bunny is the middle bunny from Sarah Bailey's Bunny Trio (Silhouette Design Store).

Chat Noir Chalkboard Sign

It's no secret that I love Chat Noir!  There's just something about him, maybe it's his mysterious air and those deep yellow eyes.  Who knows? In any case he works well in a lot of different art projects.

Recently, while I was out buying canvas for up coming projects I came across this interesting chalkboard sign.  My first inclination was to pass on it because I don't find chalkboard signs that inspiring.  The carving on this sign was beautiful and the subtle grey color just seemed to give the piece depth and character so I decided to buy it although I had no idea how I would use it.

Since the carving on the sign reminded me of architectural carvings from 18th century France, the piece should have a French theme. All of the embellishments used to create the sign are things that remind me of France- Chat Noir, lavender colored flowers, and of course the Eiffel Tower.

Finished Chalkboard Sign

Close up of Eiffel Tower

Directions for Chat Noir Chalkboard Sign:

SVG Cuts Maple Manor cutting file-Chat Noir image
Recollections Paper Flowers and Purple Rose
Martha Stewart Leaf Paper Punch
EK Success Fleur de Lys Paper Punch
Olive green and black card stock
Recollections Sophia 8x8 inch card stock pad- light purple and grey
Paris SVG cutting file- Silhouette Store
Recollections small self adhesive pearls
Recollections Butterfly-purple
Recollections spray ink- light purple
Miss Kate's Cuttables Flower print and cut file
Tim Holtz Distress Ink Vintage Photo
Recollections Chalkboard Sign
Cricut French Manor Cartridge-Eiffel Tower
Swiss Dots embossing folder
Foam Dots

1.  Resize Chat Noir to 4 inches in height for the cat and slightly larger for the outline and whiskers. Cut both the cat and the outline out of black card stock using the Maple Manor SVG file.  Glue a scrap of yellow card stock behind the cat's eyes and use a black marker to make the pupils. Glue the outline to the cat.

2.  Cut the Paris title to measure 4 1/2 inches in length out of light purple card stock. Distress the card stock with the distress ink.

3.  Cut the Eiffel Tower 5 inches high, using the French Manor cartridge.  Emboss the tower with the Swiss Dots embossing folder. Distress the tower with distress ink. Cut the flourish across the tower out of light purple card stock and use the distress ink around the edges.

4.  Print and cut a small flower using the dimensions given for the flower cutting file. Distress the cut flower with distress ink.

5.  Spray the paper flowers with purple ink to give them more depth of color.

6.  Punch a fleur de lys out of the grey card stock and distress with distress ink.  Punch 7 leaves with the leaf paper punch, using the olive card stock.

7.  Attach the Paris title to the chalkboard using foam dots. Apply a small pearl to the top of the tower in the "A" and to the fleur de lys dotting the "I".

8.  Glue the flowers around the left upper corner of the chalkboard sign,  Place 2 paper flowers in the center and 3 roses on the ends (2 on the left end and one on the right). Glue (the 4) leaves under the edges of the flowers. 

9.  Glue the butterfly to the upper right corner of the sign.

10.  Use foam dots to attach the Eiffel Tower to the lower right side of the sign. Glue the flourish over the center of the tower.  Place Chat Noir in the middle of the tower so that his tail hangs just below the base of the right leg of the tower.  Glue the print and cut flower behind the cat. Glue the fleur de lys at the base of the lower on the lower left side.  Glue a purple rose just above the fleur de lys and glue the leaves under the edges of the rose.

11.  Attach small pearls to the fleur de lys and the ends of the flourish.

Owl Thank You Box Card

We're just back from sunny and warm Marco Island.  It was so nice to be outdoors again.  I took lots of pictures.  I always enjoy watching the Pelicans and can't resist taking lots of pictures of them.  Here is a photo of my favorite Pelican. He stood on the pier for quite awhile watching the fishermen clean the fish and hoping for any left over scraps.  He was the only Pelican with beautiful turquoise eyes. He was so adorable that I pleaded with the fishermen to throw some of their fish scraps directly to him.  I wanted to do something nice for him since he allowed me to get close enough to get some great photos.

Large Aloe plant growing along the walkway.

 While I was on Marco Island, I attended the Shell Show.  The Shell Show had some amazing art work and craft items all created using shells.  I stopped to talk to an artist who had carved a cameo in a large shell, using her own antique cameo necklace as the inspiration.  After viewing the exhibits I walked through the shop with handcrafted items made using shells.  I spotted a unique shell sculpture.  I picked up the sculpture and chatted with the artist and decided that this piece would be a really useful addition to my studio to hold all of the small items that usually end up rolling around my drafting table while I'm working on a project.  As I walked away, I noticed a group of ladies crowded around a large table full of baskets of shells.  The ladies' took a small zip-top bag marked $3 and proceeded to fill the bags with shells from the baskets. The shells were beautiful and I was able to fill a bag with about 100 small to medium size shells.  Picking through baskets of shells is a lot easier than hunting them on the beach ( which I also did ).

Shell Sculpture

Sample of the shells purchased at the shell show.

I'm really enjoying all of the capability of my Silhouette Cameo.  I found a Lori Whitlock A2 Box Card in the Silhouette on-line store.  The SVG files for the Owl Thank You Box Card can also be purchased directly from Lori Whitlock.  This card is cute and different.  I cut a second owl tab and added some tulips to the front of the box.

Owl Box Card

Side view of Owl Box Card.

Directions for Owl Box Card:

Turquoise and purple print card stock
Light purple, aqua, dark purple, green and ivory card stock
Small flowers
Wiggly eyes
Lori Whitlock A2 Owl Box Card SVG file


 Cut the card according to template directions.  Cut three squares and a long rectangle out of the purple print card stock.  Cut the box out of ivory card stock.  Cut three rectangles out of turquoise card stock.  Cut the Thank You sign out of aqua card stock and the owls out of light purple and their tummies out of dark purple. Cut three owls (duplicate the owl on the long tab).  Cut the leaves out of green card stock.  Assemble the box according to directions.  Glue one owl in the front of the box and glue two small flowers behind him.  The flowers were some that I had punched using the Martha Stewart Tulip paper punch and scraps of left over card stock.