A Valentine's Day Gift For YOU!

Because we LOVE you here at Retro Cafe Art Gallery, download this FREE Valentine's Day Digital Collage Sheet HERE on our site! This might just be one of my favorites thus far!

And speaking of things I love, check out the Brand New Goodies just listed. This Antique Ledger Paper from the 1800's is divine!

Oh, and even more GORGEOUS hearts! Go see what Design Team Member Linda Cain made with our Extra Large Heart Stand-Ups, Cupids, Winged Hearts, Heart Mix (and more)! There is a full tutorial HERE on Linda's blog!

xoxo

Merry Go Round and Round!

Happy Monday everyone! I have some LOVELY Victorian Exploding Picture Box Carousels to share with you! This stunning piece is by Design Team Member Linda Cain! Isn't it just fabulous? Linda has shared several how-tos, photos, and even a short video on her blog. Go HERE to see more of her masterpiece!

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This one I created around the holidays!

It was very easy and fun to create! I simply spray painted the entire box white. Then painted contrasting panels with aqua acrylic paint. I added some doodling using some fun Coffee Break Design Stencils, and finally attached some German Dresden and Circus paper cuts. The tiny flag is made from a toothpick and Washi Tape!

Supplies Used: Victorian Exploding Picture Box Carousel, Circus Paper Cuts, Night Sky Stencil, Small Diamond Background Stencil, Gold Baroque Border Dresden, Antique Gold Mini Scalloped Dresden (for the poles), Mod Podge, Circus Dots Washi Tape, paint, bits of vintage papers, and black Micron pens.

On the inside I did some very basic stamping using black archival ink.

And filled it with Truffles! Yum!

If you missed my first Carousel Box, you can find the post HERE. And watch the last image closely, it turns!

There's still time to get involved in our Valentine's Day Swaps and of course there are lots of New Goodies in the shop for you to play with! xoxo

Linda's Steampunk Theatre, FUN Announcement, and NEW GOODS!

Happy New Year everyone! It's already been a busy, creative, and exciting 2013 over here! The first thing I would love to share is the STUNNING Steampunk Theatre created by the fantastic, talented, Linda Cain. You can view more photos and how-tos on Linda's post! 

Speaking of Linda, a few weeks ago she contacted me and asked if I would be interested in her designing some pieces using our Coffee Break Design goods. Being familiar with Linda's work, I jumped at the chance and sent out a box of goodies right away. You can see from the piece above, her projects have been outstanding. So I asked Linda if she would like to be a part of the permanent Design Team and to my delight she accepted! Welcome to the Design Team Linda - we are thrilled to have you! Stay tuned for more lovely work from Linda Cain!

Last week I released a few new goodies including these wonderful "Manikin" Articulated Dolls! I wanted to play with one right away so here is what I came up with...

The pieces come on a sheet that you punch out, so before punching out the pieces, I spray painted the front white, and the back pink. For quite some time I've wanted to try my hand at the art of Zentangle, so I wanted a white surface to work on. Gesso would work as well.

You can find some wonderful Zentangle inspiration on Pinterest. I checked out some patterns and then using a fine black Sharpie, went to town!

And here she is, my first Zentangle Female Manikin! I used Black Eyelets to attach the pieces once I Zentangled all my parts!

The new Manikins also inspired some more JUST RELEASED goodies! Like these Stand-Up Busts (Male and Female of course!)...

Stand-Up Hands (in 3 different styles)... and More!

Check out all of the NEW goodies HERE! I hope you are looking forward to 2013 as much as I am! xoxo