Free Patriotic Images!

I have another gift for you as we continue to celebrate this week on Facebook! With my favorite summer holiday just around the corner, I thought you might enjoy some Patriotic images. These are my two favorites from our 4th of July Collage Sheet. You can right click and save them to your computer. For personal use of course and as always, you are welcome to share.

And don't forget to go get your free Parisian Beauties Collage Sheet!

Paper Cuts Giveaway on Facebook and a cute tin Make-over!

Did you know that we have a giveaway every Wednesday on Facebook? While I don't usually post them here, this one was just too cute not to!

This week you can win a big set of our Brand New Paper Cuts! Go to the post HERE on Facebook that has this photo, click the photo, and leave a comment. That's it! The winner will be announced on Thursday.

I wanted a cute container for shipping, however didn't have a lot of time so I pulled from my large stash of Altoids tins, covered it with some torn off pieces of Washi Tape, tied with some pink Baker's Twine, and voila! Cute as can be. And it literally took seconds with unlimited color combination possibilities. I LOVE Washi Tape!

Ornate Theatre Shrine Kit Samples from the Design Team + More!

A few weeks ago I release our fabulous new Ornate Theatre Shrine Kit! The Design Team went to work right away to create some awesome samples! First up is Jennifer Ingle with her gorgeous "Alice Summers in Paris" Theatre Shrine.

Jennifer also used an Arc de Triomphe and Eiffel Tower Cut Out in her piece. And of course the Red Theatre Curtain Collage Sheet.

Inside you will see cool bits from the Steampunk Parts Collage Sheet.

She finished her piece with a Corked Glass Vial filled with Glitter. Very Alice! Beautiful Theatre Jennifer!

Next up, we have a stunning Theatre By Gerri Herbst. As you can see Gerri used the Gold Theatre Curtain Sheet. I just love her floor too. She used black acrylic paint to create the faux wood look.

The lovely dancers are from Collage Sheet DP247. "The dancers are movable so that the ballet can change each day"!

Gerri also glittered up a Large Eiffel Tower and Arc de Triomphe. Such an amazing piece Gerri!

I hope you are inspired to make your own Theatre Shrine. I still need to work on mine. I did add some lighting with a battery powered votive!

Also, there are some fun NEW goodies in the shop including 30 new Washi Tape designs. Isn't the Circus Dots tape super FUN! You can now find over 100 different Washi Tape designs in the shop! Love it!

And finally, the Paper-Cuts ATC winner from last week is #16, Sandra! Please email us at retrocafeart@gmail.com to claim your prize! Congrats!

A Special Offer for You From Land Of Enchantment!

*Read Below for a Special Offer!*

Our friend, the talented Debrina Pratt from Land of Enchantment, is offering a fabulous online workshop for the FIRST TIME! Finally, you can learn how she makes her exquisite art! As you know, we sell Debrina's fabulous Collage Sheets in the shop, so she is offering a SPECIAL SURPRISE for Retro Cafe Art Gallery fans! When you register for her workshop, type in "RetroCafeArt" at check out to receive a special bag of surprise goodies with your workshop kit. "The goodies will be printed ephemera, charms, ribbon, and shiny stuff"! You MUST enter "RetroCafeArt" at the workshop check out to receive the EXTRA goodies! You can register for her fabulous workshop HERE.

Brand New Paper Cuts and More in the Shop + an ATC Giveaway!

 I'm so excited to announce some BRAND NEW PAPER CUTS in the shop! I think you are going to love these! As many of you know, I had been carrying Paper Cuts by the talented Scott Lyon for several years. Unfortunately, he's no longer selling the Paper Cuts, instead he is focusing on his fabulous Wood Cuts, which he's been selling for quite some time in his Etsy shop. I asked Scott if he would mind me making some Paper Cut sets of my own since I could no longer buy his, and he told me to go for it since I was already carrying them! So I did!

  

Here is a sample of Scott’s Wood Cuts available in his Etsy shop. Several of his Paper Cuts are also still available here, while supplies last.

And now onto the awesome new Paper Cuts! As a licensed Occupational Therapist, I can really appreciate the ergonomic usefulness of these. So many folks have trouble cutting due to arthritis, so I just had to keep these in the shop!

 Butterflies

Moths

Owls

 Birds

 Eggs

(These have to be my favorite! I can never cut a perfectly symmetrical egg!)

 Fish

And last but not least, Dollies!

No doubt there will be many more sets to come!

In addition the the awesome Paper Cuts, there are other new goodies in the shop including 20 NEW German Dresden Designs, fab Vintage Goodies (including this cool ledger paper from the 1800s), and Alcohol Inks and Supplies (which are perfect with our Acrylic Charms!). Check it all out HERE.

*And now for some play time!*
(please excuse the messy work space. I hadn't planned on you coming over for a visit, however I decided to show you a few things!)

I knew I wanted to make a few ATCs! So I started with a piece of fabulous 1800s Handwritten Ledger Paper and my favorite Black Mat Board ATC blanks. I was elated to find that SIX ATCs fit perfectly on one sheet! It was serendipitous indeed! I simply covered one side of my blanks with Mod Podge and laid them on the paper. I just had to show you!

Cut or tear them apart and you are all set! Make sure to save those lovely little spare pieces for another project.

Since I had been making jewelry all day for an art show I have tomorrow, I wanted to get MESSY! So using some acrylic paint (white, aqua, and pink), a paint brush, and some Coffee Break Design Stencils, I went to town. The stencils I used were Small Heart Background, Large Onomotoholes, and the Psychedelic Circle Set.

While they were cute after the stenciling, I wanted to grunge them up a bit. This was actually my first time really getting in there and inking up the edges. Normally I just do a tad using my finger. But it was SO easy. I simply used one of the Tim Holtz ink blending pads and some brown and black archival inks. I didn't even use a tool, I just held the pad in my hand. I actually found that it gave me much more control! I was able to adjust the pressure as needed. And it must be something about that 130 year old paper - the ink just spread so nice and smooth. It almost looks like I knew what I was doing! Thanks awesome paper!

I kind of adore how the white stenciled hearts looked after the ink. They almost look like they have been bleached or burned in. Another unexpected surprise! And just look at that YUMMY Ledger Paper. This set is really something as it's completely covered in writing!

Finally, I embellished with the amazing new Paper Cuts! I used 6 of the 7 sets. Birds, Owls, Eggs, Butterflies, Moths, and Fish! I also played with some of the Alcohol Inks on the German Dresden. I used "Bottle" and "Denim" from the Rustic Lodge Kit to colorize a few pieces. The Silver Gate (bottom left) and Gold Cameo Frame (top middle) were easily transformed! For the butterfly ATC in the center I also used a Classic Brass Crown covered with a bit of Patina Gilders Paste.

(click the image for a closer look!)

Here is the messy proof that I colored the Dresden with Alcohol Ink. For some reason this mess looks beautiful to me. If you click on the photo, you will see there is a perfect little "you" in the center of the mess (completely by accident). Maybe you will get a bit messy this week too! I highly recommend it!

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*** So would any of you like to win one of my ATCs from above?***
Leave a comment on this post letting me know which of the NEW Paper Cut sets you like best. Sometime next week I'll pick a winner (using a random number generator) to receive one of my original ATCs from this post! xo