Tag Archives: PaperCrafts

Keep you ephemera close by

Keep you ephemera close by
Keep you ephemera close by

There’s a good chance you have a lot of ephemera. I do too. However, I have it stored away in so many different places and in so many boxes, that I often can’t find it when I am in the middle of a project.

To combat this problem, I made a desktop ephemera storage box. While it certainly can’t hold all my ephemera, I can keep it filled with different odds and ends that I can use in upcoming projects.

Keeping some of your ephemera nearby is is especially helpful for those of you who like to make junk journals and art planners. What’s more, it makes for some fun eye candy.

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Shake that Snow Globe

Shake that Snow Globe
Shake that Snow Globe

Just to shake things up a bit, I diverged from my usual art and made this cute holiday greeting shaker card. It reminds me of vintage snow globes, and it was a fun and easy project.

Visit Gypsy Soul Laser Cuts blog  to see the tutorial or just follow below. Read the rest of this entry

Miniature Santa heads up the chimney on Christmas Eve

Miniature Santa heads up the chimney on Christmas Eve
Miniature Santa heads up the chimney on Christmas Eve

 

It is late Christmas Eve and miniature Santa is heading up the chimney. Read the rest of this entry

Melt hearts with upcycled snowmen

Melt hearts with upcycled snowmen
Melt hearts with upcycled snowmen

Christmas is the perfect time for upcycling objects. Vintage salt shakers, sandbakel tins and wooden spools are ideal for creating adorable snowmen (and women!). Add in glittery snowflakes and things get really chill.

Sorry I am so flaky that I simply cannot resist a few snowmen puns. You will just have to roll with it.

 

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Create your own mixed media elements

Create your own mixed media elements
Create your own mixed media elements

Let’s face it, thousands upon thousands of crafters, myself included, use the same mass-produced decorative elements in their projects. However, there is another option. If you don’t want your art to feature the same materials hordes of other artists are using, you can easily create your own elements. Art-Journal-Embellishments--by-Betsy-Skagen-0037-2

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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

Brighten up your laundry room by making these retro signs

Brighten up your laundry room by making these retro signs
Brighten up your laundry room by making these retro signs

 

GSL-Retro-Laundry-by-Betsy-Skagen-407

Two of my favorite things in the world are mid-century graphics and snarky humor. I recently combined them to make one of my least favorite things in this world–doing laundry–a little more fun.  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