Happy Birthday to A Vintage Journey!

Hello, I'm honored to be a guest on the A Vintage Journey blog today and to help celebrate its 3rd birthday! If you came from there, welcome and here's the scoop on how I put this all together. My wee little fairy house is tucked in so nicely in its woodland lantern home.

 

 Top view:

To add the texture to the plain, boring metal lantern, I brushed on Prima's Clear Crackle Texture Paste. When it was dry I used a combination of different green Distress Paints and a wash of watered down DecoArt Media Fluid Acrylic Sap Green to make it look mossy and worn. The wash soaks into all the crackle texture and makes it stand out.

The house is created with Tim Holtz's Village Collection dies. I love these little houses! You start out with the base Village Dwelling and then there all sorts of accessory dies to change it up. I used the Village Surf Shack die for the porch and the Village Gingerbread and Village Bungalow for the window treatments. For the siding, Tim Holtz has an excellent video tutorial on how to make it from the Distress Woodgrain Cardstock. It's at the end of his Halloween Village Manor video but it worked perfectly for this project with more fairy appropriate colors of course (pink, brown, green and Perfect Pearls mist for shimmer).

The roof I made from some white paper Prima leaves I colored with Distress Sprays. There were three different sizes in the package so I just played around with placement and where to trim to make everything fit.

Inside the lantern I made a base of styrofoam and foam core board pieces to build up the "fairy hill".

I used pieces of sheet moss (purchased at the craft store) to fill in the gaps and cover the base. I worked from back to front adding the moss (glue gun made it easy!) and the little flowers, mushrooms and other details.

Can't get to the back once the house is in!

Here all the rear elements were in place so I glued the house in. I started working on the sides and then finished with the front. Here are some more final details of the interior (warning, a bunch more photos!):

The flowers are a combo of silk flowers, Prima paper flowers and
handmade ones cut with the Tiny Tattered Florals dies.

I added little lace curtains in the windows.

The vintage mushrooms are from my stash.

Wait, there's more! (Lots to see. ;-) )

Whew, that was a long post! Thanks for hanging in there. If you haven't already, be sure to check out the A Vintage Journey March Challenge "All Aboard". There is no theme this time, they just want you to join in and help them celebrate their birthday. =)

I'm also entering this into the Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge, Handmade Flowers (for the little Tiny Tattered Florals my fairy is growing) and the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge, Bit O' Green (lots of green here and I'm sure the fairy has leprechaun friends).

I'm also now on Instagram! (finally!!) You can find me @creativejuicefreshsqueezed if you'd like to keep tabs on me that way.

The supplies I used for this project can be found at Sizzix or Simon Says Stamp. Follow the links below and a shopping you may go!

Tim Holtz Sizzix Die VILLAGE DWELLING Bigz XL 660992	Village Dwelling	Village Gingerbread	RESERVE Tim Holtz Sizzix VILLAGE GINGERBREAD Bigz Die 661608	Village Surf Shack	RESERVE Tim Holtz Sizzix Die VILLAGE SURF SHACK Bigz 661208
Tim Holtz Sizzix VILLAGE COTTAGE Bigz Die 661196	Village Bungalow	Tiny Tattered Florals	Tim Holtz Sizzix TINY TATTERED FLORALS Thinlits Die 660227	RESERVE Tim Holtz DISTRESS WOODGRAIN CARDSTOCK Ranger Ink TDA51022	Ranger Perfect Pearls Mist BISCOTTI Glimmer Spray PPM31253
Tim Holtz Distress Spray Stain OLD PAPER Ranger TSS42365	Tim Holtz Distress Spray Stain TEA DYE Ranger TSS42563	Tim Holtz Distress Spray Stain TATTERED ROSE Ranger TSS42556	Tim Holtz Distress Spray Stain PEELED PAINT Ranger TSS42389	Tim Holtz Distress Spray Stain MOWED LAWN Ranger TSS42341	*Ranger Wendy Vecchi Archival POTTING SOIL Ink Pad AID38979
Tim Holtz Distress Ink Pad PEELED PAINT Ranger TIM20233	Prima Flowers CLEAR CRACKLE TEXTURE PASTE Art Extravagance 961541	Tim Holtz Distress Paint FOREST MOSS Ranger TDD36364	Tim Holtz Distress Paint PEELED PAINT Ranger TDD36401	*Tim Holtz Distress Paint CRUSHED OLIVE Ranger TDD38504	*Tim Holtz Distress Paint GATHERED TWIGS Ranger TDD38542
Tim Holtz Distress Paint BRUSHED CORDUROY Ranger TDD39709	Ranger Tim Holtz Distress Crayon PEELED PAINT TDB49623	*Tim Holtz Idea-ology SWIVEL CLASPS Hardware Metal Jewelry	Tim Holtz Idea-ology GUMDROPS Ornamental Embellishment TH93183	*Tim Holtz Idea-ology PHILOSOPHY TAGS Hardware Metal Charm TH92678	*Tim Holtz Idea-ology 75 JUMP RINGS Hardware Attach Ring

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Eileen Hull – New Heartfelt Collection Pincushion

Hello! Eileen's new collection, Heartfelt, is soon to be in stores and all this month the Inspiration Team is sharing projects using it! For this project, I transformed the Basket Die into a pincushion:

It's not hard! First I cut the basket parts out of Sizzix matboard and coated them (except the handles) with matte Glue n Seal. Once it was dry, I "base coated" the basket with my Antique Linen Distress Crayon.

Next I embossed the sides and ends of the basket with Eileen's Basket Weave embossing folder. Then came more Distress Crayon fun! I scribbled on Vintage Photo, Rusty Hinge, and Fossilized Amber and blended them together with a wet fingertip.

I assembled the parts using a glue gun and filled it with rice. The little cushion on top was simply a piece of fabric folded in half, right sides together and stitched on three sides. I turned it inside out and stuffed it with a bit of poly fill. I just stitched straight across the end to seal it. I knew the end would get tucked and glued under so I didn't worry about blind stitching it closed.

I used a hot glue gun to glue the cushion on top, making sure to seal all the edges to the sides of the basket so no rice could escape.

I tucked the Butterflies diecut into a memo pin and stuck it into the pincushion. I also used the heart Word Stitchlits die to make a tiny tag to tie onto the handle. The Stitchlits dies make it really easy to add stitched elements to your projects. The dies cut holes and all you do is thread your needle in and out. See this post for another project using the new Word Stitchlits.

Thanks for stopping by for a visit! Please be sure to head on over to Eileen's Blog and see all the wonderful projects the Team is sharing. There is a lot of inspiration to be had! ;-) Each week there will be a new batch to see.

Dies Used:

Sizzix, Eileen Hull: 
Basket (Sizzix)
Word Stitchlits (Sizzix / SSS)
Birds & Butterflies (Sizzix )
Basket Weave Embossing Folder (Sizzix )

Other:
Sizzles mat board

Distress Paint - Spiced Marmelade, Twisted Citron, Vintage Photo

Distress Crayons - set 2, set 3

Idea-ology Hex Fasteners

Tim Holtz fabric

Idea-ology Memo Pin

Archival Ink - Potting Soil

Sizzix & Simon Says Stamp links in this post are affiliate links which do not affect the price you pay but allow me to earn a small percentage of a sale. Thanks! (My husband also thanks you!)

AJVD Post Peek...

Good morning, I have a card today on the AJVD blog and here's a little peek for you. Head on over to see the whole thing! ;-)

Thanks for stopping by and have a great week!

Eileen Hull – Heartfelt Collection Journal

Hello! Eileen's new collection, Heartfelt, is soon to be in stores and all this month the Inspiration Team is sharing projects using it! One die that is sure to be popular is the Journal die. You can use this die to make your own custom junk journals, notebooks, planners… the possibilities really are endless.  It's also sized to fit Midori inserts; you can buy pre-made refills or make your own.

Here's a closeup of the cover of my journal:

Back Cover

Let's take a look at how it went together. (It was lots of fun! ;-) ) I cut two pieces (making the front and back covers) out of Sizzix Sizzles Mat Board.  I also used the front half of a Luggage Tag to form a title block on the front cover. To add texture, I stenciled Prima Transparent Soft Gloss Gel to lay down a pattern as a background.

I pulled out all sorts of lace, Prima Mechanicals, buttons and other doo-dads to form the cover assemblages. It was a serious "stuff" explosion on my desk! I used Prima Soft Matte Gel and Upi's Crafter's Pick Ultimate Glue to adhere all the parts over the previously stenciled pattern.

Next step, apply gesso! Once everything was nice and dry, I covered all the parts and lace with white gesso to prime it for adding color.

The first layer of color added was with DecoArt Media Shimmer Misters in White and Yellow. I like the DecoArt Misters because they are permanent when dry and won't react with other medias. The gloss gel I had stenciled on first also acted as a bit of a resist so the mists brought out the pattern. It makes a great background!

After the mists were dry I started layering on the Silks Acrylic Glazes. I just kept going until I was happy with it. =)

Partway through the process.

Assembly:
An easy way to bind the inside pages to the cover is to use elastic cord. I tried using thicker rubber cord but it wasn't strong enough and snapped. The spine parts of the covers overlap so I added a bit of glue between the layers to make a strong spine that wouldn't shift around.Then I threaded the elastic cord through the holes, using one long piece.

From the inside, I went down the bottom hole, up the one next to it, up to the top hole and down through it, up through the hole next to it, and then pulled the cord tight and tied it off with a square knot. By binding it this way, you can easily slip in your page inserts (in this case I used two Midori refills). Open the inserts to the center fold and slide it under one of the elastic lengths. Repeat for the second insert and the other elastic strap.

After I put the inserts in, I decided the inside covers were a bit plain and needed a background too. So I took the insides out again (good thing it's so easy! ;-) ) and came up with a simple addition. I had some white butterfly rub ons that I applied to the inside covers and then I sprayed them with the DecoArt Media Yellow Shimmer Mist. The rub ons acted as a resist and popped right out of the yellow color.

Thanks for stopping by and making it to the end of this looong post! Be sure to head on over to Eileen's blog to check out all the wonderful projects being shared there. Every week this month there will be lots to see!

I'm also entering this in the Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge – Make Your Own Background.

The supplies I used for this project can be found at Sizzix or Simon Says Stamp. Follow the links below and a shopping you may go!

Sizzix ScoreBoards XL Die - Journal	Sizzix Thinlits Die Set 6PK - Birds & Butterflies	Die - Tags, Luggage	Sizzix Little Sizzles - 6" x 13" Mat Board Pack, 6 White Sheets	*The Crafter's Workshop MINI HONEYCOMB 6 x 6 Template	Prima Flowers CLEAR CRACKLE TEXTURE PASTE Art Extravagance 961541
Prima Flowers SOFT GEL IN GLOSS 8.5 OZ. Art Basics 961435	Prima Flowers SOFT GEL IN MATTE 8.5 OZ. Art Basics 961428	Splash of Color WINE AND ROSES Silks Acrylic Glaze 30724	Splash of Color PINK AZALEA Silks Acrylic Glaze 30567	Splash of Color SUNBURST Silks Acrylic Glaze 97566	Silks-Boysenberry

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