Nancy Wethington

Gypsy Soul Laser Cuts Gypsy Wagon . . .

How cute is this!

I have adored Gypsy wagons ever since I saw my first one.

I was 18 years old and traveling with my cousin and Grandparents through Northern Spain.

We passed a Gypsy wagon on a country road and I was in love.

The Gypsy life . . . carefree, traveling and seeing Europe on your own terms in a tiny house.

This 18 year old saw it as a somewhat romantic way to travel.

Now, the 66 year old in me wants a 5 star hotel room with room service!

(ok, it doesn't have to be 5 stars)

In any case, once I saw this Gypsy Wagon from

Gypsy Soul Laser Cuts

memories came flooding back and I was in love with this project.

Of course, the perfect pairing for this project is

Canvas Corps' 7 Gypsies collections!

I mixed several collections, both old and new

and set out to decorate the wagon

as well as all the miniature furniture, banners, stars & moon and shutters from

Gypsy Soul Laser Cuts.

To paint the wagon, I used

Tattered Angels Naturally Aged Kits.

I chose the Weathered Bronze kit for painting most of the wagon

including the wood and the tint on the shutters.

I added strokes of Glimmer Glaze to the roof

making the wood look a bit old with a dash of patina.

Inside the wagon is a bed and table & chairs,

all from Gypsy Soul Laser Cuts.

I've created a tutorial so you can easily see the steps I took to create this project.

Find it here:

 Gypsy Cart/Wagon PDF

Contact Gina to get your very own

Gypsy Wagon and have a great time decorating!

 

 

 

The whole enchilada . . .

 

 

Today is the day the entire

Canvas Corp Brands Crew

is being introduced.

I am lucky to be able to be part of the team

and demo at

the January 2016 show.

As an intro to the team, please visit

http://blog.canvascorpbrands.com/it-is-time-to-meet-the-canvas-corp-brands-crew/

where we all did a 4x4 canvas showing our creative style.

Here's mine:

and the original post of *how to*:

http://art-from-the-heart.typepad.com/art_from_the_heart/2016/02/canvas-corp-4x4-.html

 

7 Gypsies, Tattered Angels, Canvas Corp Brands . . .

Join me and all the Crew Members over at the newly created

Canvas Corp Brands Collective Facebook Page.

A place to share your Canvas Corp Brands

projects,

questions,

tips & tricks

and

so much more!

7 Gypsies Travel Mini-Book . . .

I used to fancy myself a bit of a gypsy.

With over 30 years experience in the travel industry 

I can't get enough of travel mini-books.

Here I used 7 Gypsies: Gypsy Moments and Wanderlust 8x8 paper pads

There are things to do with paper that are a  must for me:

{1}  Ink all raw edges

{2} Add pockets whenever possible

{3} Layer with chipboard and Crafty Foam Tape - even stickers!

{4} Use black Crafty Foam Tape or black chipboard or ink the edges of the chipboard with black.

Why? It creates less of a glaring lift than white would create.

{5} Fussy cut where you can to create layers and tags

{6} Odd numbers are more pleasing to the eye than even numbers

{7} Use magnets to create flip pages

{8} Create interest with double pockets

{9} If the packaging is pretty, save it and use it for backgrounds.

{10} Drag colors from one side of the page to another.

The right side paper already had a blue toned design

so I added a blue toned tag to the pocket on the left page. 

It helps to draw the eye from one page to another.

Thanks for browsing my travel book.

Valentine's day card in less than . . .

This is a very quick and easy Valentine's Day card

you can get ready in no time at all.

1. Cut a piece of cardstock (I used a piece of pink Bazzill) into a standard size (8.5" x 5.5")
2. Score on the 8.5" side at 4.25" and fold in half  on the score mark
3. Cut a piece of grey cardstock 5.25" x 4".  Fray ends of the grey cardstock with a Tonic edge distresser or the edge of a scissors.
4. Cut a piece of Gypsy Moments paper:  I cut from the left edge and a piece that measured 5" tall x 3.75" wide. Ink the white edges and set aside.
5. Using small precision scissors and the rest of the flowers on the paper shown above, fussy cut individual flowers.
6. You will have a small piece of decorative paper left. Cut a piece of the stripe side in a square about 2" x 2".
7. Take the panel with the flowers on it and fold the right side in 2 directions: one small horizontal fold and one small vertical fold. Roll those edges back to create a window of sorts. (Thanks Laura Denison for this trick!) 
8. Place the 2" stripe square behind the window and then glue the panel down to the grey cardstock. The grey cardstock can then be adhered to the pink card front.
9. Add a heart charm in the center of the window if desired.
10. Using the fussy cut flowers from Step 5 and Crafty Foam Tape, adhere the flowers to the front of the card, overlapping onto the decorative paper.
11. Add glitter where desired.

12.  Using a 2nd piece from Gypsy Moments, decorate the inside of your card before signing or adding a gift card. Add pearls to the front of the card (or I use Viva's Pearl Pens. They dry in under a minute!)

Love the vintage look of these papers!

And in less than 30 minutes, you can have a card ready to go on Valentine's Day.

Celebrate Spring 4x4 Altered Canvas Corp . . .

As part of the Canvas Corp Creative Crew

we were challenged to create a 4x4 canvas using Canvas Corp products.

I love using the backs of canvas. Here's one I created at least 10 years ago:

So, naturally, my first thought was turn the canvas over.

Birds are a favorite subject of mine so I turned to these beautiful papers from Canvas Corp for my design:

I cut a piece of 4x4 Blue & Ivory Mini Reverse Dot paper,

turned it around to the back

and used a centering ruler and pencil to mark off the frame.

After cutting the square on the measured lines, I had the two pieces needed

for both the outside frame and the nook.

Now to the painting.

 I used Tattered Angels Naturally Aged Paint System.

It contains both sprays and paints and had the perfect colors for my project.

First I sprayed with this:

and then I painted with that:

The color combinations in the Tattered Angels kit gave me exactly the 

blue and browns I wanted for this project

with no guessing required on my part.

Once the paint was dry,

I slid in the blue dot paper into the background nook.

Then I fussy cut images from the Birds & Bees on Ivory paper

and painted with Tattered Angels Naturally Aged Paint System.

In this photo, you can see that little bit of sparkle the paint displays

(and it doesn't rub off!).

The assembly in full:

I added excelsior, a couple of feathers and some miscellaneous corners

from my stash

and the mini canvas is complete.

To see more from my Team Mates click the links below and be inspired to create your own 4x4 mini masterpiece:

Dana Tatar's 4x4 from 2015

Dana Tatar's 4x4 from 2016

Mandy Leever-Koel

Michelle Mitchell

Marie Heiderscheit

Virag Reti

Alison Osborn 

A Soul's Heartbeat

Suzz's Stamping Spot

Art At Home

Patti Senter

Canvas Corp/7Gypsies Stitched Mini-Book . . .

It's no secret that I have loved and collected 7 Gypsies goodies for years.

To use the word *hoard* is putting it mildly.

For this project, I combined new and old (and somewhat vintage)

7 Gypsies and Canvas Corp products

The base of this book is a vintage 7 Gypsies chipboard book.

The book came with 3 signatures and holes pre-punched in the spine of the book.

I decided to combine the signatures with a current collection

to create a

Route 66 Foodie Recipe Book.

Using 7 Gypsies Epicurean Collection,

I wallpapered the pages and created pockets for the Epicurean Recipe cards.

Torn pockets, side pockets, top pockets, envelope pockets - always pockets!

Notice on the left side of the page,

I  used a former 7 Gypsies acrylic piece to cover an old photo.

These mini-round hangers make great pull tabs!

Love the tiny kitchen charms!

The file folders made a perfect center for each signature.

They are adorable and come in many styles.

You can find them here:

Canvas Corp Brands File Folders

 

Sometimes, it's fun to use the back of the 7 Gypsies packaging

and add tiny images to  pages.

Another overlay from a former 7 Gypsies collection.

This one was supposed to be used on the 7 Gypsies carousel.

Thus the holes on the left side.

Ribbon threaded thru the holes dresses it up a bit.

The right side of this page is a fold out with more pockets.

Panel #1 on the right side with a chipboard belly band to hold in ephemera.

Fold out panel #2 with a belly band made out of laser cut chipboard from

Gypsy Soul Laser Cuts

Fold-out #3 with pockets on the far left to hold recipe cards.

For this page, I wanted to hang some of these adorable

mini recipe cards.

I took a 7 Gypsies mini round hanger,

twisted the top to make a hook,

added the recipe cards

and to make sure they stayed on, glued a bead on the end of the hook.

Some collectible envelopes from 7 Gypsies (yes, part of my hoard)

and back of 7 Gypsies packaging in that tiny sailboat.

More pockets thanks to ephemera and 7 Gypsies tape used as a tab.

Hope you enjoyed my photo-torial

See you next time!

 

7 Gypsies/Canvas Corp Workshop . . .

What a great group of gals!

A full class of 12 completed the

Houses in a Box

set 

from

Gypsy Soul Laser Cuts

using

7 Gypsies and Canvas Corp products.

They all turned out so cute!

Thank you so much to everyone who attended.

You were awesome!

Monday, January 4 with 7 Gypsies . . .

Monday's workshop at Checkered Cottage - Kirkwood MO

begins at

10:30 am and will probably last most of the day.

Please bring to class:

• Paper Trimmer (12" recommended)
• Scissors: precision tips for fussy cutting and stamp edge scissors
• Adhesive: both wet & dry and please bring a wet glue that is heavy duty (similar to Beacon 3-in-1)
• Craft Mat
• Crafty Foam Tape (dimensional pop-ups)
• Crop-a-Dile
• Paper Piercer
• Pencil & Ruler (recommend Tim Holtz ruler)
• Edge Distresser
• Ink and applicators to match project papers (I used Vintage Photo)
• Marvy Uchida Snow Pen (or similar)
• Red & Green (XMAS colors) colored pencils or markers or Copics
• 2 shades of brown (light and dark) colored pencils (Copics won't work)
• 2" circle punch (if you have one)
• Edge punch (your favorite decorative edge punch)
• Score Board
• Long reach Crop-a-Dile (not the regular crop-a-dile) if you have one
• Gold leaf pen
• Black acrylic paint, sponge brush and paper plate to hold paint
• Baby wipes (it will be somewhat of a messy morning)

See you at Checkered Cottage!

Tuesday's 7 Gypsies Calendar Junque Journal Workshop . . .

 

Please bring to class a Basic Supply List:

• Paper Trimmer (12" recommended)
• Scissors: precision tips for fussy cutting and stamp edge scissors
• Adhesive: both wet & dry
• Crafty Foam Tape (dimensional pop-ups)
• Crop-a-Dile
• Paper Piercer
• Pencil & Ruler (recommend Tim Holtz ruler)
• Edge Distresser
• Ink and applicators to match project papers (I used a basic brown like Vintage Photo)

We'll be using 7 Gypsies Ordre du Jour new papers and embellishments along with Gypsy Soul Laser Cut leaves to create this 2016 calendar book.

Can't wait to put this calendar junque journal together with you. IMPORTANT NOTE: You may add anything you want to this book and we'll bind it in class. So if you have any old envelopes, special papers or mementos, bring them with you and make this project your own.

See you at 

Checkered Cottage - Kirkwood MO

10:30 am