Thursday, September 27, 2012

NEW Theatre Shrine Kits, Alice in Wonderland, Steampunk, Circus, and lots of Day of the Dead!

 
Hey everyone! I can't wait to share our FABULOUS new products with you! I had a great time designing them and an even better time playing with them. I probably say that every time, but really, I had the most fun with these! First off we have FOUR new Theatre Shrine Kits! They are smaller than the original Ornate Theatre Shrine Kit (which is still awesome by the way) but these are much less commitment. And if you know me, you know I love small. The new Medium Theatre Shrine Kits are just the right size in my opinion. I think it would be great to have a whole "village" of them. Not only are there kits, but there are also coordinating Curtain Collage Sheets, Paper Cuts, and Theatre Character Stands. Everything but the red paint came from Retro Cafe Art Gallery to create my two theatres! Alice above and Circus below. For the Alice Theatre, you can find the links to the supplies used here.

 
This Circus Theatre was such a joy to create! Talk about childhood circus memories. I could almost smell the popcorn as I was playing. You can find the supply list I used for this Theatre here.

 
As I designed the Theatre Shrine Kits, they all started to take on my favorite themes. Steampunk, of course!

 
And my second favorite holiday to Halloween, Day of the Dead. As you can see from the other new goodies, I kept running with the Day of the Dead theme.

 
The Theatre Stands are one of my favorites of the new supplies. They are super handy and you can convert any image into a Stand-Up! Think trees and other "stage props" too!
 

 
Back to Day of the Dead. One of my favorite Day of the Dead decorations is definitely Papel Picado which means "perforated paper", but generally the flags are really large. So I started thinking... Should I? Could I? and the answer was YES! Actual tissue paper picado as small as 3/4"! You even get some with the Day of the Dead Theatre Shrine Kit! You will need to add your own string, however I found that dental floss works like a dream because it has a flat edge. I simply added a touch of Mod Podge to the floss and stuck them on.

 
And then one thing lead to another and I had Masonite Papel Picado! This stuff is great because it's super durable and excellent for jewelry making. As you can see above there are many ways to attach them too. You can find the supply list for my necklace that's on the top here. When you apply your acrylic paint, brush it on with thin layers so you don't clog your holes. If you get paint on your edges, simply sand it off and then apply a black archival ink to the edges. This worked beautifully on my necklace. To finish the necklace I added a thin coat of Spray Acrylic for protection. You can make your pieces reversible too! For my necklace, I left the back natural dark brown for a classy look. These would make great craft show sellers. As would the ornaments below!

 
If you like to paint and doodle, you will have a blast with these large Sugar Skull Ornaments. I know I did. They are also great with our Stencils. My skull ornament supply list is here in the listing. With Sugar Skulls, pretty much anything goes. I can't wait to add some glitter and bling to some too.
 
 
We also have 10 awesome new Collage Sheets in the shop! Not to mention new Halloween Stamps, Washi Tape, Charms, and more. Check it all out HERE. I would love to know what you think about the new goodies! Your feedback always keeps me motivated to keep on creating!


Sunday, September 16, 2012

Necklace Giveaway Winner!


It's time to announce the winner of this GORGEOUS necklace created by the talented Cassandra Vancuren!


And the lucky winner is, #8 Theresa Goldman! Congrats - I will email you shortly!



And don't forget to check out Cassandra's lovely new Collage Sheets in the shop! I know several of you are already enjoying them :). xo

Saturday, September 8, 2012

27 Brand New Collage Sheets, Design Team Art, + a GIVEAWAY!


I'm extremely excited to announce 27 Brand New GORGEOUS Collage Sheets exclusive to Retro Cafe Art Gallery by the uber talented Cassandra VanCuren are now in the shop! Not only that, Cassandra is offering one of her amazing necklaces as a GIVEAWAY too! (see below for details!)


But before we get to the giveaway, I have some fabulous Design Team art to share. This stunning Christmas card was created by Gerri Herbst using the new Christmas Pink ATC Backgrounds Collage Sheet. I love the combination of Shabby Chic and Christmas!


Gerri also created this fantastic banner using the same Christmas Pink ATC Backgrounds Collage Sheet. So versatile!


So beautiful Gerri!


Design Team member Jennifer Ingle created this adorable Little Red Riding Hood piece using the new Little Red Riding Hood ATC Backgrounds Collage Sheet, Little Red Riding Hood Charms Collage Sheet, as well as the Large Window Shadow Box Shrine Kit, and 10mm German Cotton Spun Mushrooms in aqua and brown.


So sweet and magical Jennifer!


But that's not all! I've been listing tons of other new goodies including these super cute Mini Calendars...


...and AMAZING Antique Wooden shoe forms. Check out all that's NEW here!

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And now for the GIVEAWAY! Brought to you by the talented Cassandra VanCuren! Go visit Cassandra on her gorgeous new photography blog! You won't be sorry. Now, would you like to win this gorgeous necklace created by Cassandra?




To enter the GIVEAWAY for this stunning necklace created by Cassandra:

1. Leave a comment on THIS blog post and tell me your favorite Collage Sheet by Cassandra Vancuren. You can view them all here.
2. If you are the winner and also a Facebook Fan, you will get an extra surprise. Let me know in your comment if you "like" our page.
3. One comment per person please. Winner will be selected via random number generator on Sunday September 16th. Good luck!

Monday, September 3, 2012

Tombstone Owl StencilingFun!






Next I did some stenciling on my base coat with the the Small Onomotoholes Stencil and my sponge brush.


For the stenciling I used the Copper paint. At this point I was satisfied with my base coat and decided it was complete. Of course you don't have to stencil. The patterns can be completely random, however as you will see later it made for great texture. 

After an hour, it was time for the top coat. Again I broke out some stencils, this time the Small Diamond, and Half Two Stencils.







I inked the edges using black and brown archival inks and then did some stenciling on a few of the lighter tombs using the small Diamonds Stencil, Falling Star Border Stencil, Bat Camp Stencil, and Web and Corners Stencil.


And here are my finished Tombstone ATCs! To embellish, I used our Owl Paper-Cuts, Glasses Cut-Outs (the hearts and stars are the extra pieces from the glasses), Moustache Cut-Outs, Witch Hat Cut-Outs, Gothic Fence Cut-Outs, Black Baroque German Dresden Border, Brown Baroque German Dresden Border, Mod Podge to attach everything, and a Sharpie Extra Fine Paint Marker.