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Thursday, December 24, 2009

Christmas Project #17

Santa Shadowbox
guest designer Kerry Lynn

The Santa shadowbox is made with a vintage photo mat and is sitting on an end cap from a vintage player piano roll.  St. Nick peeks out to see who's been naughty or nice this year in hopes he can deliver presents to those within his gaze.

So, this is the last of the Christmas projects for 2009...we are sad to see it come to an end.  But not to worry, CHA is only a few weeks away! We will be previewing the New Release early January.  Now THAT is something to look forward to!  And from what we have seen here in the gypsy camp, you're gonna love it.  
We hope you visit us again for a little more gypsy inspiration, ingenuity, and creativity.  You know us gypsies...we always have something up our sleeve!
Merry Christmas
-the gypsies

Wednesday, December 23, 2009

Christmas project #17

Cupcake anyone?
guest designer Kerry Lynn
(This may very well be the cutest thing we have ever seen!)
The cupcake stand is made with a vintage embroidery hoop. 
 
I mounted vellum inside the hoop and then applied a cut circle of the number rubbings, in other words, the rubbings were put on as a group not as individual numbers.  I just cut circle size I wanted from the rubbing sheet and then applied it to the vellum all at once.
 I also mounted underneath {around the interior of the embroidery hoop} metal paper edges so it would poke out with a cute little subtle scallop edging.  To finish off the stand I added 3 wooden spools of thread to the bottom.

I made the "jolly" flag with vintage crepe paper and an old Dennison label (a gypsy all time favorite!). The flag is stuck into the frosting with a key from the Vintage Hardware set.
Is it too late to do some holiday baking?
thanks again, Kerry Lynn for your fabulous inspiration...

Tuesday, December 22, 2009

Christmas Project #16

Christmas bags
Paula Cheney
Fabric bags for Christmas treats and small gifts.
Here's how I did it-
 Cut a piece of muslin fabric (for a small bag - 7 x 10").  I chose two 7gypsies clear stamps Nottinghill and the new Venice stamp.
Use the script stamp from the Nottinghill set to stamp the fabric in two colors of ink. There is no pattern to the stamping I just made sure the entire piece of fabric was covered.  I used Archival ink from Ranger.  The first layer of ink is Sepia and the second is Coffee.  Two great colors you should have in your Gypsy tool bag!

I stamped the center patch with another stamp from the Venice set (Very Beautiful) with StazOn Timber brown just to mix up the colors.
Position the patch on the front of the bag, pin in place.
Stitch with sewing machine.
Edge stitch the top edge of the bag.  Then fold in half, right sides together and stitch the bag closed on the side and bottom. Turn bag out to the right side.  Gather top of bag and tie with a ribbon.

For a larger bag ( 9 x 13" piece of fabric) stamp the same script stamp in Archival - Sepia.  Change stamp to the large clock from the Venice stamp set.  Stamp with Archival - Coffee just like we did in the last bag.
Using the stamp Gypsy Year, stamp December 25 on a piece of scrap fabric then cut out, stitch to bag front with red thread.



Stitch a string around the top of the bag and pull tight to close.
For the complete bag tutorial click here.
Merry Christmas!
-paula

Monday, December 21, 2009

Christmas Project #15

It's all about the trays today!

 Family Picture Tray 
Peg Hewitt
 We love this Photo Tray from an artist halfway around the world in Australia.  Peg has taken, what started as a white Photo Tray (not to be confused with the Artist Printer's Tray that has 12 small squares) and made a very clever, almost window-like effect.  

 The openings in the Photo Tray are 4 x 6" to accommodate a standard photo which makes it super easy to plunk down your picture in the opening.  But...Peg turned the tray on it's head by first orienting the tray on it's side, adding a larger picture than 4 x 6, and then actually cutting the picture into 4 pieces to make it fit.  It might take a bit more work to find a picture to make this technique work, but if this is the result, we think it's worth the effort.
Opens up a whole new line of thought, huh?

 Oh, and by the way...she covered the back of the tray too.
 
Thanks Peg for letting the gypsies share your tray!
Peg is on the design team for Shop and Crop, a great place to pick up some 7g goodies if you live in Australia.
If you have any questions about the tray you can contact Peg via her blog.


Grandkids
Ann Mabee
This Artist Printer's Tray (this is the one with all the little squares mentioned above) was made by Ann Mabee, one of the members of the gypsy design team.  Ann took the simple idea of wanting Christmas pictures of her grandkids and made it into an easy Christmas themed tray.
First, she set up a photo booth by hanging a white sheet as a background.  Next step?... She pulled in a small decorated tree.  Then, to add some variety (rather than just having each kid stand by the tree), she chose an old wooden chair and a red stool to give the kids something to hold on to or sit on.  We think it worked!
After the photo shoot (and what kid wouldn't want to have their own photo shoot?), she used Photoshop Elements to add the digital brush frame and each name to the picture.  Add in a little red flocked paper, some cut pieces of a metal paper edge and a few embellishments and your done!
We love this idea!

Sunday, December 20, 2009

Christmas Project #14

Friendship Tea
 Rachel Carlson
In the spirit of holiday entertaining...every year I make my friends "Friendship Tea".  This year I decided to put the tea in an extra special tin just for holiday giving.  Although it was VERY hard to cut my favorite Barcelona paper - Manresa but I took one for the team - pout.
The Friendship Tea is very easy to make and fun to give.  I have friends that actually look forward to my Friendship Tea every year...and wait till they see their tins this year!  IF I can actually bare to give them away...
Product used:
Barcelona paper - Manresa
Victoria paper - Jubilee
97% Complete sticker- Merry
Red bird brad- Chelsea Brads
Gaffer Tape - stitches

Friendship Tea - aka Russian Tea
1 cup Tang Beverage Mix
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup Instant Tea powder
1/2 cup instant lemonade
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves

Preparation
Combine ingredients and store in a tightly covered jar. To serve, combine two teaspoons of tea mix with one cup hot water, or for iced friendship tea, use one tablespoon per glass of ice water.

cheers to tea!
-Rachel
ps: Rachel's Friendship Tea was featured at Todays Mama...congrats Rachel!

Note to Self: Send Rachel more Manresa paper.

Saturday, December 19, 2009

Christmas Project #13


Holiday Gift Tags
Rachel Carlson
I KNOW you are still wrapping presents, you are, YES you are.  I LOVE tags, I just do, all kinds.  7 Gypsies makes it so easy to alter an already printed tag for some vintage holiday paper packaging.  OR you can have them on standby for those last minute gifts you need to give the doctor, the mailman, the milk delivery guy, etc.  I used a lot of scraps for these tags but also some staple products that you should have on hand for these types of projects.

  Products used:
Vintage Tags
Shaped Vintage look tags
Large Clear Stamps:  97% Certifiable - Oval
Various Brads
Various scraps of yummy 7Gypsies paper

and ONE MORE from 
Renee Camacho
 The monogram set is just PERFECT for unifying present tags and keeping them clean and simple at the same time.  AND the kids will know exactly who’s present is who’s as soon as they see their initial!

Supply list for Tag:
Monogram: classic alphabet
97% certifiable Round Clear Stamps
Other: cardstock, pop-dots, rhinestone, black ink

Friday, December 18, 2009

Little bird wall hanging
guest designer Kerry Lynn
I used another book cover for this one.  It's a great size for this project.
The large flower is a rosette I created using vintage piano roll paper {i hoard this stuff}.  I layered the rosette, a Christmas tree light reflector and then a metal clock (Vintage hardware kit).  Next is a bird made with the 7gypsies Victoria clear stamp set. I stamped the bird image, cut it out and then glittered with blue glitter.  I added some little vintage numbers to complete the center portion and then attached the entire rosette to the book cover.
The hanger is a vintage bulldog clip.
 To finish it off, I punched a hole at the bottom of the bookcover, added an eyelet and a large hanging crystal (Princesca Harware kit).
 Another fab project from Kerry Lynn!
Gotta get some of those bookcovers, right?  Apparently, there's a hundred things to do with them that have nothing to do with books.

Thursday, December 17, 2009

Christmas Project #12

Gypsy Necklace
guest designer Kerry Lynn

As far as we can remember we have never had a piece of jewelry featured on the Gypsy Journal... until today!
I made the necklace with vintage chain and pieces from the 7gypsies crystal Princesca kit.  For the spoon charm, I drilled a hole at the bottom and added a small crystal dangle from the same kit. 

The linen fabric is ruche threaded with wire {super easy w/o a needle since linen is a loose weave} and then I created a hook at the top of the linen and at the end of the wire for the closure. I then attached 4 different large jumprings to the double layered seam binding so that i could wear it at different lengths.  The hook on the linen/wire part links to these.
This picture shows it short.
and this picture shows it long.
We love this idea!
The only question is...
How many can we make before next Thursday?
"lets see... one for my sister, my best friend, my mom and there's the gift exchange and..."

Wednesday, December 16, 2009

Christmas idea #11

Renee has two great ideas for making Christmas decorations with store bought frames.  She also uses the same monogram stamp set we showcased earlier in the week for the product challenge.  
Easy is good... on Dec 16th.

 Christmas Frames 
artist Renee Camacho 
I purchased several photo frames at Pottery Barn last year during their after Christmas clearance sales.  I knew that eventually I’d actually find a use for them that was perfect for me and the way I decorate at Christmas time.  I love to keep things simple, with little splashes of color mixed in a monochromatic color scheme.  Since I take (or at least ATTEMPT to take) a photo of our kids for the Christmas card every year at this time, it seemed fitting to make a monogrammed picture ornament.  (and if you know me at ALL, you know I LOVE all things monogram and showcase our ‘C’ throughout our house all year long as well as the #5…because there are 5 hooligans in this house, lol!)

ANYHOO – the frame itself was rather simple, so I knew I wanted to make it just a bit sparkly (to match all of my German glitter and clear glass ornaments on our main Christmas tree).  And of course, I love red, but really didn’t want to make the picture black & white, so I decided to change out the ribbon, too.

I printed the photo and mounted it onto blank chipboard for added stability and covered the backside with 7Gypsies patterned paper (the 6x6 paper pads are PERFECT for adding interest to smaller projects like these).
I stamped the C monogram onto vintage text paper and punched it out.  I then mounted it on a circle chipboard piece that was covered with an additional stamped vintage paper on the backside.  I punched a hole in the top and bottom to add my ribbon and crystal for the perfect finishing touch.



AND since simple is always best in my opinion, but you can be TOO plain, as well…I had to add a trio of buttons and a stamped & embossed Family trimmed cardstock to the backside as well as the date of the photo (because you know I AM turning 36 on Sunday and that old memory will quickly fade away soon!)


I LOVE how this turned out and was so happy to be able to turn our traditional kids annual photo into something that I can now put on the tree each year.


Supply list for Christmas Photo Ornament:
Venice 6x6 paper variety pack
Monogram: classic alphabet
Seam Binding: Gypsy Market
Princesca Hardware
97% certifiable Round Clear stamps
Family Clear stamps
Blank chipboard

Other: cardstock, pop-dots, vintage text paper, black ink, clear embossing powder, vintage buttons, circle punch

Christmas Frame Stand
artist Renee Camacho
I like to have little vignettes of decorations around my home along with quotes and pictures.  One of the things that I like to do is create paper projects for various frames to be added into the mix…
Here’s a frame that I found on clearance at TJMaxx.  As soon as I saw it, I knew it would be PERFECT for this concept…  It stands tall on a stand and will add height and interest to my little Christmas vignettes (once I get the 10 Christmas Rubbermaid totes out of the garage and actually have stuff decorated!...ha!)

Directions:
1.  Cut a 5x7 cardstock base.
2.  Trim edges of base with various scraps of paper, gold trimmings, and chipboard accent pieces (all from my leftover pile…which is WAY TOO LARGE, lol)
3.  Cut cardstock and patterned paper rectangles of various sizes, rounding the edges with a corner rounder punch.
4.  Lightly ink the edges of each piece using vintage paper ink pad.
5.  Attach each piece onto cardstock base.
6.  Adhere various accents such as rhinestones, buttons, and stickers.
7.  Slide finished piece into frame and display.
TIP-Make this decorated frame a permanent display by creating a unique 5x7 insert for each season.  I imagine this particular frame will find a home on my entry table with a little seasonal vignette.  It will be fairly easy to change them out AND make such a cute piece to catch the eye. 

 
ANOTHER NOTE:  I removed the glass insert so that the bulkier items fit without a problem.  If you feel you need the glass, just use flat items for accent. 

 
Supply List for the frame stand:
Victoria 97% complete tags
ATC transparencies
97% complete stickers: joy
Gypsy Market scrap pack: 8x8

ATC Chipboard: decorative
Misc: buttons, rhinestones, felt leaf, gold trimmings and stars, vintage text paper

Tuesday, December 15, 2009

Christmas Project #10

Artist Printers Tray
Sorry...we hope you saw it when it posted because it's now out for publishing.  Congratulations Kerry Lynn!

Monday, December 14, 2009

December Product Challenge

December Product Challenge
You may have heard that Kerry lynn, owner of Kenner Road is our guest designer this month. Okay, okay we started the rumor, but we were as excited to see her work as you are!  Her style is reflected in the kits she gathers together for Kenner Road so we knew her work would be right up our alley...a mix of old and new, junky with a bit of clever added in...and you know how us gypsies love clever.    And the very best thing?  She did multiple projects so stay tuned, there’s more from Kerry lynn all week long. Fab-U-lous!
 

So, back to our monthly Product Challenge...Three different artists, totally different ideas on what to do with the Monogram stamp set.  We hope you love these as much as we do. 
Enjoy!

Gift Wrap
Debbie Crouse
Used monogram stamp for gift wrap trim.

1.  Stamped monogram stamp on creme cardstock and cut out with a 1/8" edge from the dot circle.
2.  Used vintage photo distress ink on edge toward center.
3.  Glitter edge or leave plain.
4.  Using the monogram circle as guide pink edge of book paper 1/4" larger than monogram circle.
5.  Punch 1/8" holes on sides or top and bottom for ribbon to run through.
6. Run ribbon through holes and tie ribbon into bow.
Idea #1-traditional
 
Idea #2: silver glitter edge 

Notice that Debbie glittered a jingle bell and added her signature tiny tag for an extra detail.  She is so good at the little details that take a project from great to fabulous. Love this idea.


Wouldn't you like this under your tree?

Christmas Gift Enclosures
artist Ranjini Malhorta
I bought gold and silver envelopes at Walmart and sealed the back flap, then cut off the tops and punched out a half moon shape with a circle punch. I then added a vintage photo image (from ones I posted recently on my blog).
I simply printed the image off on photo paper, applied some PVA glue (a very thin layer) with a cotton swab, then sprinkled glitter on the entire bodice of the angel and in random areas of the bodice of the woman in blue. I love the subtle elegance glitter adds to the photos. I then added some ribbon and a monogram punched out and used as a tag. These would be great to use as place settings or to fill with treats and a card for a friend at a Christmas tea. 
 

Joyeux Noel Garland 
I also made a garland punched from the stamped monograms.  I used 7gypsies Metal Page fasteners (just pinch to close) to attach the monograms to a long length of gray grosgrain ribbon. Using the fasteners enables you to hang it both vertically and horizontally. It is simple but elegant. 

Joy Wall hanging
guest designer 
Kerry Lynn
Kerry Lynn used 7gypsies book cover (Autograph) to create this great little wall hanging.  The book cover makes a great vintage background to spread a little Christmas joy.  She punched two holes at the top for eyelets, then used a crystal chain from the Princesca Hardware kit and a piece of vintage chain to create a hanger. Then she wrapped a key from the Vintage metal kit with linen and wire and adhered to the book cover. 
Another piece of the linen is wrapped around the end of the chain and stapled.  Kerry Lynn stamped the O for the word Joy with the Monogram stamp, then punched it out with a flower punch.  She stapled vintage letters to the monogram flower to create the word JOY.  The rosette is created by fan folding a piece of red Zanzibar paper and then gluing the ends together to create a circle. 

The pieces are layered inside a vintage Christmas tree light reflector to create the rosette centerpiece.  Simple, clever, easy...what a great look. 

And remember...there's more to come from Kerry Lynn in the coming week! You won't want to miss it.
Kerry Lynn Yeary lives in beautiful sonoma county, california with her husband and two children "the littles". She adores creating anything that incorporates print & pattern with vintage textiles & ephemera. She loves sea salt caramels, the color pink, bonnie cashin, cutting paper, big beach bonfires and anything old, tattered and worn. She also owns a beautiful little vintage inspired kit club "Kenner Road" {http://www.KennerRoad.com}, named after the street she grew up on in the middle of nowhere in the heart of the central valley. You can learn more about her life & her passions and see more of her work on her blog, live.craft.learn