Merry and Bright

Hello Gypsies and Merry Xmas!

Now that Xmas Day is done it's time for the crazy Day-after Xmas shopping. But in between bargain hunts, take some time to create a keepsake or two for this season. This is one of my favorite seasonal projects, featuring one of my favorite subjects – my little gal. 

This is a 12x12 canvas with a base cover of olive green paint – note that I didn’t paint all the way to the edges, but left an uneven border all the way around.

Next I layered strips of paper – don’t forget to tear and shred those edges for extra grunge!

The letters are made using Tim Holtz Grunge Letters. I like to mismatch the letters to the backing so some letters hang off the edges of the backing and nothing is perfect. 

  The backing is painted with chunky paint – I used a sponge brush to get extra chunkiness - the letters are painted olive green and dappled with gold Stickles. I used my “finger-tool” for the Stickle application. 

The Xmas tree is made from paper curls. I love curling paper and it’s such a quick and easy way to create dimension in a piece. The heavier papers work best for this one. Cut strips of paper and use the edge of a scissor blade – like you curl ribbon. Gentle pressure while pulling the blade over the paper and voila! Paper curl!

I built the paper doll using basic shapes and a mix of papers. The collar, hat and mitten trim is actually net ribbon scrunched and shaped to fit. Brads decorate the hat. And the arms and legs are accordion-folded, and only tacked down on the ends for movement and bounciness.

For the photo, I printed a pic on canvas – the canvas adds another texture and is more interesting that plain old paper – then cut to fit. Go for a headshot that is slightly larger than the paper doll for a more whimsical look.

This is a great gift for the holidays, or a sweet way to celebrate a birthday – change the color scheme and voila! Instant birthday celebration canvas. I added random buttons and brads but you could also add personal keepsakes or tiny pics too.

Thanks for stopping by the caravan today. Be sure to come back for more fun, and don’t forget to have a very Happy New Year!

~ Materials ~

12x12 canvas

Paper and brads by Theresa Collins

Grunge Blocks by Tim Holtz

Where the heck have I been!?

Hello Gypsies!

It’s been forever since I’ve been able to spend time crafting and blogging. The challenges of real life, real job, and real-world commitments became pretty darn overwhelming this past year. But I’ve made a pledge to put myself first a little more for the new year, and I’m starting here with my blog.

Way more than a year ago I made my very first video tutorial – Paper Chain Mania! It was a blast to make and lots of  fun to watch, so I’ve dusted it off for the blog today. Hi to my peeps at Authentique Paper, who featured this video as part of their Xmas in July blog last year.

Some people were curious about how I shot the video. Here’s my high-tech video studio. Note the iTouch perched on a stick – very sophisticated!

The papers I used in this video are Xmas colors, but you can easily substitute gold and silver for some festive New Year’s Eve decorations. Paper chains are a great substitute for streamers at birthday parties and can make quick garlands to dress up a simple get-together.

Check out the video for all the steps, then grab some paper strips, your stapler and maybe a little champagne and get yourself chained up!