Paula's Coming to Town!!

We have a lot going on around here.  Lot's of class kitting and all the detail work that goes into our teaching classes.  We will be teaching this month at three of our favorite Arizona stores.  If you are in the area, come and see us, we have some fun things planned.

September 11th - Paper & Metal Scrappers - Payson, AZ - We are teaching the class, "Our House" - A cute house made of book board custom cut just for this project.  It comes complete with a roof that lifts off and is actually a little book.  It's a fun project to leave around on a shelf, mantle or coffee table, that has a wow factor when you show what's inside.  Paper Metal Scrappers has moved from their original location, we can't wait to see what they have done with their new store.  Did we mention it's a lovely place to visit, in the mountains!

September 18th - Scrap Happy Sisters - Glendale, AZ - We just added this class to our schedule!!  We had such a fun time last year when we taught there we are thrilled to go back.  We will be teaching the "Close To My Heart" journal.  This classes teaches more of an advanced technique using the 7gypsies binderie punch along with some other fun techniques.  We will complete an 8x8 ringed journal with all the flip-outs and add ins, complete with a "book bra" closure....you're gonna love it!!

September 19th - Making Memories Unforgettable - Tucson, AZ - No visit to Arizona would be complete without making our way to the lovely ladies at MMU in Tucson.  This will be our 4th time to visit so we are anxious to see our good friends there.  We will be teaching two classes - the "Close To My Heart" class mentioned above and also the "Family Matters" class that is made on one of the new 7gypsies Letterblock trays.  

We will be doing some fun things while we are there, so stop by and see what we are up to.

Each of the stores are listed on the side bar, just click on them to link to their websites for class times and details.  Hope to see you there!!

After Arizona.....next stop, Texas!!

Digging for Treasure

Out and about yesterday with my friend Nancy.  We drove up the coast to Morro Bay to visit a store called Lina G.  We were on the hunt for some vintage trimmings for a project that is in the works. 
Lina has a fabulous store that I have visited many times over the years.  It is packed full of all kinds of vintage flowers, leaves, lace and ribbon.  It's the kind of store you have to dig in and open every drawer, lift up every basket, look high, look low, and you still might not see everything.
I apologize for the pictures in advance...I only had my iphone on me.

look at this cashwrap

bins of fabulous trim

jars of beaded leaves and such...

piles of vintage flowers

my purchase for the day

After an hour or so we were done looking for what we came for (don't you want to know what were making?)  What a great place to spend a few minutes or hours....it's always foggy out by the bay anyway so you might as well spend the time inside.

If you can't make it to Morro Bay, Lina has an online shop on Ebay, Trims and Treasures. 

Shadowbox Tray

Thought I would share the Shadowbox Tray I did for CHA with the new Conservatory paper collection.
The new tray is 12 x 16" and is much deeper than the Letterbox tray or the Artist Printers tray (maybe 3/4").  Love the way it looks just sitting on an easel (the easel does not come with the tray).  The new paper is perfect for the look of the tray too. 
Almost everything in the tray comes from my own collections of junk, with the exception of the optical lens in the top right corner and the industrial gears in the large bottom section and the metal label holders (one of my favorite products).
Love this project...hope you do too!

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1.  Button card
2.  Layered paper (Mesofauna, Feather and Magpie).  The blue feather is cut from Feather paper and raised with 2 foam squares.  Added two vintage bobbins.
3.  More of that cheesecloth I dyed in tea, vintage flower and a twig from the lilac bush in my backyard.
4.  Optical lens (new from 7gypsies).  I cut a skinny branch from my lemon tree to use in this square.  Once it was cut to size I threaded the optical lens on the branch, then added some leaves on the side.
5.  Mesofauna paper background.  Old bottle.  I printed the word "abundance" on a piece of paper, aged it a bit and wrapped it around the old bottle. Easy.
6.  Mesofauna paper and a bundle of lavender tied with brown and white string.


7.  The center section was little more challenging because of the shape.  I ended up covering the entire section with the back of Mesofauna paper (the back of Mesofauna is text from a book, plain but perfect).  Once the back was in place, I cut pieces from the front side of Mesofauna and Butterfly and Flora and layered them on top of the book text. The paper on the left side with the blue writing, I adhered to a piece of chipboard and aged just like I did back in the post on the "Forgotten Repository" piece (July 29th post).  I also did not glue down the top part of the wings of the butterfly on the very right so they lift off the tray. 

I also added in pieces of ripped paper that once glued down I rolled back parts with my finger.  See bottom left corner of the center section.  There is also one below the butterfly (see picture above).  All the layers just add to the dimension.
The wreath in the center is part of a bird nest I bought at Michael's some years ago.  I just pulled it apart enough to clip away the top half for the wreath shape.  I printed the little verse and threaded it into the wreath.  It is hung with twill tape I dyed and an upholstery tack.  Love that you can nail things into the wood!  This is when I added the bird that was left after I cut out section 5.  I liked the little bird peeking out from inside the wreath. 

8.  These are 3 rolls of vintage blanket binding I found in a junk store in Payson, AZ.  (which by the way we will be teaching a class in Payson next month...with a little junking afterward).  The paper wrapped around the blanket binding is cut from Feather.
9.  Number 9 and 11 are both butterflies cut from the paper Butterfly.  I glued them to a piece of cardstock and cut them out to give them a little weight so the wings would stay up after I adhered them with a foam square.  The background is the back of the same paper.
10.  Same back paper as 9 and 10.  Vintage metal button.
12.  Back is paper Magpie.  Piece of driftwood with a phrase cut from an old book.
13.  Old book paper just ripped and shoved into to the square.  Added my favorite little cotton string and a wooden spool that I added the word "love" to, just like the bottle before.
14.  Paper from Flora.  I nailed a small metal industrial gear on the left side of the box.  Then I nailed another on the exact opposite side.  I wound some wire around this nail a few times and then pulled it across the box to the small gear and cut it a few inches longer than the box.  Gotta love those Tim Holtz scissors! I threaded buttons and beads on the wire and then finished off by winding the wire around the small gear a few times and cutting if it off.  I did glue the big button to the wire so it would stay in place. and not slide all the way to the end.

One final note, I added a red label cut from Feather to the handle at the top of the tray to cover up the 7gypsies logo.  Details, details, details.
Well, that's it.  Super fun to play with...the ideas are really limitless on this one.
Happy Day,
paula

I love type. 

red graphic lampshade

I love everything about it.  How it looks...how it can change a project from good to great...how it can stand alone and be perfect.  
There is just something about letters that makes my heart sing.  Especially a lower case g.  Something about that shape. (I secretly wish my name started with g... p is such a boring letter) 

Numbers too.  Some numbers rank higher than others (because of their shape)... 2, 3 and 5 are most desirable, but of course we are both partial to 7's.
I thought I would see what I could find out there that related to type...just a sampling of what is available on ETSY among other places. 

gosh, I love that letter g...

Petit French Industrial Pillows

 

Nest pillow

Petit French Farmhouse pillows

Giant number letterpress coasters

Farmhouse storage basket

Neutra house numbers

love this idea...These prints are created using 25 words, numbers and phrases of your choice. The theme is up to you whether it's based on trips you've taken around the world, family memories growing up or inside jokes with friends...maybe even all the addresses of places you have lived.
18 x 24 runs about $120- other sizes available.  (btw - genius Christmas present)
mine should be the names of all the airports I been in...

 custom prints

Font Tray

Font coasters

and we always have to include a little Anthropologie inspiration...

 Lucky Number Knob, red

 I think these were made for me....Lucky number and all.

 Lucky Number knob, yellow

color swatch knob (with numbers)

Ordinal dresser

I will end with the genius work of Sande Krieger.  Did you see what she did to her bathroom door?  I have been in that bathroom, in fact I helped her pick out the floor tiles...but this is over the top good.

Thanks everyone who commented on the Shadowbox!
The winner of the Paddington paper is...

wig4usc said...
I really love the shadow box and thanks for sharing how you made it. I'm looking forward to getting those Paddington stamps!

August 12, 2010 7:21 PM

Congratulations!  wig4usc, will you send me an email to paula@2gypsygirls.com with your name and address and I will send the paper out!

Swept Away

This last week 7gypsies posted one of the projects I made for the trade show booth.  So thought I would post some info about how I made it. 
The piece is made using the new 7gypsies Library Drawer.  I turned the drawer on it's side and used it as a shadowbox.

Supplies-
7gypsies Library Drawer

2 sheets of Kings Cross paper

1 set of Industrial Gears (you get two of each shown here)

Paddington clear stamp

Cut the clocks from the paper.

Adhere clocks to a piece of chipboard with glue stick.  Don't worry that the edges of the clocks are cut off.  We will use that to our advantage.

Cut the clocks out again.

Time to add some color.  I used Vintage Photo, Wild Honey, Barn Door, Peeled Paint and Tumbled Glass.  This might seem like a lot of colors for one small project but we only use a bit of each for a subtle look.

 Use a blending tool to add a bit of each.  The colors can layer right over the next one.

Love this Wild Honey...reminds me of rust

Now your clock might look a bit bright so knock it back with Vintage Photo.  My Vintage Photo is well "seasoned" so if yours is new, you might want to dab off on a paper towel first. 

Now the little clocks... I know what the colors look like now so I can do all the little clocks at the same time.  They do not have to be matching, in fact different is good.  Remember you control the color!

The clocks are sitting in the drawer at different levels.

Here's how I did it:
I used an X-acto knife to cut some old foam core and then glued them together with my old glue gun. Then made them into little stacks or risers. I thought about using Styrofoam but since Styrofoam and glue guns don't mix I decided the foam core was a better idea (and it was at arms length).

I made some of the stacks with 4 pieces, some with 3 and I think one with 2 pieces.  I tested the depth in the tray and once I had it just how I liked it I glued a stack to the corresponding clock. 

Here are the same two pieces in the actual project with words added.
The quote says, "Time is a sort of river of passing events, and strong is it's current; no sooner is a thing brought to sight than it is swept by and another takes it's place". -Marcus Aurelius
I thought this was appropriate after I decided to use the picture of my aunts, Mamie and Flora taken in 1936.  Little did they know at the time but Flora would soon pass away.

I layered the new industrial gears with real watch parts I got in a junk shop. 
The hand came from the clear stamp (I just stamped it on cardstock and cut it out).
The hanging metal is also new from 7gypises.  I added the dangle at the bottom with the number two and hung it from the tray with a Tim Holtz memo pin. 
I used a piece of canvas as the background and mounted the picture on chip also.  I also used foam tape to lift the picture off the background.

If you're interested in the Paddington Collection...leave a comment and your name will put in a drawing 2 sheets of each of the papers.  I'll draw the name on Saturday morning.   Good luck!