Category Archives: Gypsy Soul Laser Cuts

Sled into Solstice with your crafting

Sled into Solstice with your crafting
Sled into Solstice with your crafting

Chubby-cheeked sledders in a glistening snow-covered countryside is my nod to the December 21 Winter’s Solstice. You can learn how to craft this miniature vintage holiday scene by following the step-by-step tutorial or visiting this featured project at Gypsy Soul

Winter-Solstice-Sledding--by-Betsy-Skagen-0015 Read the rest of this entry →

Make a miniature witch’s steamer trunk for Halloween

Make a miniature witch’s steamer trunk for Halloween
Make a miniature witch’s steamer trunk for Halloween

Brooms, hats, potions, and spells–ever wonder where witches keep all the necessities for hair-raising fun on Halloween?

Well one witch stores her goods in this miniature steamer trunk.

Witch-trunk-by-Betsy-Skagen-0054

Featuring a spooky spider latch and faux leather exterior, this trunk includes many tiny accessories.

Witch-trunk-by-Betsy-Skagen-0013

Miniature witch books, charms, bottles of potions, herbs, witch stockings and more. Read the rest of this entry →

Expanding Christmas Journal Part 2

Expanding Christmas Journal Part 2
Expanding Christmas Journal Part 2

This Expanding Christmas Journal is brimming with tags, magnetic enclosures and deep pockets so that you can store almost unlimited Christmas memories, photos, ideas or recipes.

GSL-Christmas-Journal-by-Betsy-Skagen-0113

Because the tutorial for the Expanding Christmas Journal is so detailed, I decided to break it up into two parts. In case you have not seen Part 1 of the tutorial at Gypsy Soul to learn how to create the album base and the surprise fold-outs,I thought I would first provide a recap of the book. If you have already seen Part 1, then continue below for the rest of the tutorial. Read the rest of this entry →

Create an all encompassing storage system

Create an all encompassing storage system
Create an all encompassing storage system

Desk-set--by-Betsy-Skagen-0073

My crafting often turns me into somewhat of a hermit. It is easy for me to spend days in my studio–especially during less pleasant months–and only venture out in the world to run errands.

I fill my studio with fun vintage items that remind me to enjoy life outside my little corner of the world. When I created this organizer storage unit for my studio I used it as an opportunity to remind myself both of travel adventures and vintage treasures I had yet to discover.

If you want to learn how to make this storage unit, please check out my tutorial. Read the rest of this entry →

Add dimension to handmade cards

Add dimension to handmade cards

Thank-you-card-by-Betsy-Skagen-0026

It is SaturYAY! The perfect day for rebuilding my stash of handcrafted greeting cards. One way I make my cards stand out from those purchased at a store is by adding dimension with layers. Read the rest of this entry →

It’s ok, I’m here now

It’s ok, I’m here now
It’s ok, I’m here now

After two and a half loooooong months away due to an unplanned medical snafu, I am gratefully alive and finally venturing back into crafting.

Unlike the arrogant little tot featured in my project, I was much less confident about getting back to crafting. I decided to make the transition a little easier by using some of my favorite things for my first project: Gypsy Soul Lasercut’s Mini House Shadowbox, Paper Calliope’s Snarky Ancestors, 7gypsies paper and Seth Apter’s embossing powders.

GSL-Rusty-house-by-Betsy-Skagen-463 Read the rest of this entry →

Gardening at night

Gardening at night
Gardening at night

Night-Gardening-by-Betsy-Skagen-192424

 Spring has arrived and gardens are blooming. But beware those cute little garden gnomes…for at night they turn the garden into a place where evil resides.

Night-garden-Betsy-Skagen-0874

Under the cloak of night  these gnomes cast wicked magic upon your garden. Innocuous plants turn into man-eating beasts while the gnomes themselves cart body parts from nearby cemeteries into their gardens. What they do with them, one can only imagine…and shudder.

Night-garden-Betsy-Skagen-0866

I had such fun making the “Gardening at Night” scene (which by the way gives a subtle nod to R.E.M., my all-time favorite band). You can see the tutorial below, or better yet, stop by the Gypsy Soul blog to see where it all began.  Read the rest of this entry →

Hippity hoppity back in time with a vintage ATC

Hippity hoppity back in time with a vintage ATC
Hippity hoppity back in time with a vintage ATC

Hippity hoppity Easter’s on its way. With Easter approaching, it is the perfect time for springtime tales and bunny tails.

Easter-ATC-by-Betsy-Skagen-0793

I combined these themes with my take on a time-honored altered art form–the Artist Trading Card (ATC). Read the rest of this entry →

A ballerina music box goes steampunk 

A ballerina music box goes steampunk 
A ballerina music box goes steampunk 

Paper-Calliope-Steampunk-Ballerina-0676

My latest creation was inspired by my daughter who will be performing in a steampunk circus show for the month of August.

Instead of being a dancer like this tiny figure, my daughter will be riding a giraffe unicycle (giraffes are the extra tall unicycles) amid amazing steampunk props and scenery. However I loved the idea of transforming the typically delicate music box into a steampunk wonder. Read the rest of this entry →

A secret one story home for you

A secret one story home for you
A secret one story home for you

Paper-Calliope-Book-Box-0403

When I was a child I would get lost in book series like the Borrowers and the Littles. They both featured tiny human-like creatures who lived undetected in our homes using discarded or lost items as their furniture–bottlecaps for table tops, thimbles for stools, etc.

Paper-Calliope-Book-Box-0415

When I saw Gypsy Soul Laser Cuts Hidden Drawer Book Box, I knew this faux book would create a perfect home for fictional tiny characters. Read the rest of this entry →