Down the Alley there's a little Poison Shopee

Months past... Back with a miniature project today for this spooky October - a little poison shopee owned by an old druggist down the alley.

How this came about?

I was trying to decluttering my crafting suppliers and found I've several "experimental" crafts such as broken frames cast from paper clays, an old old mini tin, some leftover miniatures stuffs and paper collages from Alpha Stamps which I was once their DT member years ago. And it so happen I've quite a substantial amount of Halloween and dark spooky stuffs. Well, upon looking through those paper collages, the idea of this rather old shabby abandoned drugstore came to my mind. And I ended up piecing everything together!

The druggist's poison shopee on my palm

Since it has been a while I've yet to upload videos on my YouTube channel, decided perhaps a short orientation in motion of how this little shopee looks like might be useful. Pardon me for the poor resolution, somehow the camera couldn't adjust itself to focus.  

When the shopee is open on my hand...

When it's opening...

Some nerve pills to curb your nervousness?

The skeleton hand is a last minute addition to this project, thinking having something to hold the little shopee will spook up the whole thing. Anyway it's Halloween, so why not?

Butterfly on the skull; an added "pop"!

Apart from those gigantic poisons at the bottom, pile of books, scrolls, an old clock with some dies are at the druggist's workstation. There's even a little signboard there! And a squid or maybe an octopus? Skulls and crystal balls at the very top, wondering is any apocalyptic going on besides being apothecary?  

Mystical eye with wings of a butterfly

Loads of details here and unfortunately there're limitations in making attempts to snap deeper into the shopee. Just click the image to enlarge to view if that helps. I'd think this will be better if view physically. Hmm... perhaps I should list it in my Etsy shop for this. Any takers?

I've taken tons of photos and I do hope these pictures can showcase how this little poison shopee well enough though missing some details. Most items used in this project are mostly from Alpha Stamps and one of the collages I used can be purchase here. 

Nonetheless, I hope this has been inspirational and I look forward to share more of such projects. Meanwhile, take care and stay safe!

Grow Where You're Planted; The Carrots Spa

It's May and it's coming to mid of 2018! Time really flies super fast! So fast that within a blink of an eye, April is gone! Oh well, been really busy busy and busy for the past 2 weeks. Though there was a little sad news along the way, I had a good rest in between before I get myself to create.

Therefore, for the beginning of the month of May, I'm sharing this cute little diorama project as part of my pilot also the last for Tresors de Luxe DT project, as Lucy has decided to disband the blogging team. Quite sad to hear as this don't seems to work out for her in a way. However, I wish her all the best. I'm also using some of the flowers and pastel papers from Little Birdie Crafts which are generously gifted by the owners of the company for me to try.

I got a carrot! #HereIsMyCarrot #BunnyUnderConstruction

A post shared by Katie Z. (@katiezoeyho) on Apr 1, 2017 at 5:09pm PDT

I made this wool-felt bunny last April, supposedly for a Easter project. As it can be seen here, it wasn't attempted at the end. Rather, for a good whole year it has been decided on a different form of project. It has been quite some time I'm attempting a diorama project, but for this it's probably one of a very different style I'm trying out for the first time. It's also my very first attempt using hand drawn illustrations on a diorama project, as if the bunny is in a cartooning carrots world. Hmmm, that's practically the idea behind. Well, took me a while to figure out in how to blend in the elements.

This is a long overdue work in progress project and I managed to get it done. Phew! One project off my PhD (Project half-Done) list! And here I present The Carrots Spa, where this cute little bunny guy get himself planted within and grow!

So here is the little guy, submerging himself in this cosy little mud tub of spring greenery filled with carrot sparkling essences. And a big carrot besides him! Look how glittering those carrot essences are in that wooden bucket?

Imagine the whole carrot spa is situated deep under the barrow, a place where the bunny can go under to have some relaxing time, out from the outside world. Isn't this too cute in the little bunny world? I've this little imagination at the back of my mind as I created this. Simply couldn't wait to complete that wild imagination of mine. And I managed to dig it out. 

  

The spa interior and mud tub are furnished with luxurious vintage laces and the wall is hung with huge loads of carrots illustration; all drawn and painted by me. The floor is well carpeted with green bushes that will give your soles a warm cushy soft feel, good for bunny feet! This really shows how much care was taken into consideration.

Foliage and clusters of various flowers draping from the top to the back of the spa, as if they are the fauna and flora planted within, derived from the earthly ground above. A cute little wooden ladder by the side for anyone who wish to climb up to view the lovely flowers above.

I've done up a very short video orientation on this project which was filmed at the very last minute without much planning as I thought perhaps it might be better to show how the project is like in motion. Well, it seems that the lighting wasn't that great and I apologize that the video is a little fuzzy to view. Nonetheless, I'd still very much wanted to share it, hence decided to go ahead.

Here are more pictures of this guy in his mud tub!

Hmm munch munch the munchy carrot!

 The mud tub is altered from an espresso cup which I got it in a $2 shop.
I love such good deals! 😄

The bunny in his carrots sack!

Bucket of carrot sparkling essence, overflowing with glitter!

Oh well, so much more I'd like to tell the story in details but I think this is good bite size. Otherwise, you peeps will be bothered by my lengthy story. Below is an extensive list of supplies I used for this project with links to various sources in where to get them. Sometimes, there's some great deals and discounts offered by Amazon.com and it's one of the places where most of the past season products are still very much available. 

List of Supplies:

• Finnabair Art Basics heavy gesso in white (Amazon, Scrapbook.com)
• Finnabair Art Basic clear gesso (Amazon, Blitsy, Scrapbook.com)
• Finnabair Art Basic modeling paste (Amazon, Scrapbook.com)
• Finnabair Art Basic light paste (Amazon, Scrapbook.com)
• Tim Holtz Distress Ink in brushed corduroy (Amazon, Blitsy, Scrapbook.com)
• Prima Marketing Watercolour Confections: The Classics (Amazon, Blitsy, Scrapbook.com)
• Prima Marketing Watercolour Paper Pad 3 (Amazon, Blitsy)
• Prima Marketing Shabby Chic Treasures Metal Door Signs
• Prima Marketing Metals for Wood Plaque (Amazon, Scrapbook.com)
• Prima Marketing Cigar Box Secrets Laser Cut Wood Icons
• Ranger Sticklers (glitter glue in orange peel, dry fine glitter in paprika)
• Little Birdie Crafts flowers and pretty pastel papers
• Tresors de Luxe ivory lace trims and fabric chiffon flowers
• Miniatures (wooden kitchen accessories, ladder)
• Spanish moss

That's it for today, and I'll be back soon for upcoming projects. Too many to show and I can't wait to share. 💖

Deck the Halls!

Lately, I'm into something new, something I wanted to do since late last year - to learn how to wool felt. I bought myself a reindeer kit to get myself started, however I ended up hoarding it and didn't manage to attempt. In view of this upcoming holiday season, I thought it'd be a good time to clear my stash. And yes, I've finally attempted!!! If you guys have been following me on my Instagram, some of you probably have seen a couple of my wool felting posts. Took me some time to get a hang of it and I'm still learning to get hold of the technique correctly. 

Though the pictorial instructions on the kit seem relatively easy to follow, I faced difficulties in getting the reindeer in shape. Then I got to realize the kit is probably a little challenging for a pure beginner like me. I should have started on something more straightforward and simple before moving on to more difficult ones. But heck, Christmas is here and I couldn't wait to get the reindeer done. At the end of the day, after struggling through I manage to finish off this bugger...

Apparently I had made this reindeer a little smaller than what was expected. I'd think it looks good for its size and to make it more adorable, I made him hug a Christmas tree with a jingle bell. Too cute! Just for that I had to make something to house him. And I made a hall just for this reindeer, my virgin wool felt!! Can't think of a better way than to deck the halls!

I used one of the boxes from Tim Holtz's vignette boxes as the hall. Painted a layer of crimson red over and finished with a touch of gold paint at the edges to tone down the already rustic look of the box in order to cater for this holiday season. This would seems like the hall has been refurbished. Decking the halls with boughs of holly wasn't easy. Certainly I find Graphic 45 St. Nicholas paper collection the perfect choice for this project (I still love working with Graphic 45, undeniably). Together with all my previous Alpha Stamp Christmas stash and Petaloo pine corn picks, everything just fit well into the theme. I had indeed spent hours digging through my stash to find these holly-related elements. And finally I managed to get the look I want.

How can I miss the little reindeer? He gets to sit in a bed of vintage Christmas flower soft bed!!

Added branches at the sides with some holly leaves hanging down to complete the entire theme. I thought it'd be nice to add some creature in the midst of a landscape and there it is, I found a miniature deer charm!!

And so forth, this hall for the reindeer is just this small, handy enough to hold. I hope you guys have been spending some great fun time in decorating your halls for this Christmas. I had so much fun (from juicing my creative brain cells) in decking this small little hall.

Here is a list of Supplies I had used for this project:

• Graphic 45 St. Nicholas paper collection (6" x 6" pattern & solids, 8" x 8" paper pad)
• Tim Holtz Idea-ology (vignette boxes, Christmas word band, mini plaquettes)
• Tim Holtz Alterations (Sizzix mini holiday greens thinlits)
• Ribbons (black & white checked flat braid, golden brown sweeper fringe, advent calendar tag ribbon set) 
• Flower Soft (vintage Christmas)
• Holly Elements (gold holly berries mix, holly & berry picks, pine corn picks, dark red holly berries)
• Acrylic Paints (Golden quinacridone crimson, Daler Rowney pale gold & rich gold)
• Charms and other stash (miniature deer, fleur dresden, 1/4" mushroom plugs, jingle bells, miniature Christmas brush tree, metal branches, wooden 2D trophy antlers, reindeer wool felt kit)

Magic Wonder - A Winter Faeries Fairy Box

For the past weeks while I was re-organizing my stuffs, I came across this half-done prepared (gessoed and texturized) filmstrip shadow box together with several primed fairies and flourishes hidden underneath my working desk on top of my craft mat. It was a long time overdue project; a project that I had planned and prepared way in advance supposedly to be completed in May for Gypsy Soul Lasercuts as a Guest Designer. However, things happened and almost all of my WIPs went into a halt instantly. Flipping through my notebook where I did all my project line-up scribbles, this is so much I had missed. 

Life shouldn't be full of resentments. For the very least, I had indeed a good long rest (mentally, physically and spiritually). I just need to get myself started somehow and those scribbles I had made months back is just what I need to rejuvenate my creative brain cells. Pardon me for the nag (I've a tendency to talk a little about my life) for life has been tough on me. The process of creation has always been a hibernating moment that will set me free from the real world. This has been one of the ways that I can be really be myself without any form of masquerade in order to maintain my inner sanity. So, I shall end my story here and present my completed project...

Presenting... 

A Winter Faeries Fairy Box, showcasing a little magic wonder for this Christmas!

My initial plan was to create some sort of gardening fairy scene but that's back in May; still stuck at the back of my head. Since Christmas is round the corner, I wonder why not doing up some wintry scenes? And yes I should. Since I've been hoarding a bottle of Aleene's True Snow for almost a year, it's time to try and use it. I transformed the filmstrip shadow box into a huge snow box that carries various miniature wintry scenes within the box, with a snowflake balcony on top. 

I planted 2 Christmas trees within the 1st and last box to keep it really simple. Unfortunately, I had quite a hard time trying to capture them within my camera due to the flourishes I placed on the outside. Sometimes the kind of work I do is just not camera friendly and you need to view them using your physical eyes. This is so much I could capture and I hope the pictures are not straining your eyes too much. If your eyes are really sharp enough to penetrate through the pixels of these pictures, you will get to notice some little magic I had added within the wintry scenes. I added some florescent glow-in-the-dark powder onto snow and trees! They do "light" up beautifully at night, subtly I should say.  Again, unfortunately I couldn't capture them 'cos the details are so hard to capture and only human eyes can view them.   

The entire media application, from creating the glittery snowy effect, building the snowflake balcony to building up the wintry scenes within took me close to a week to complete. It's the drying process in between that's taking up a lot of time as I was trying to garner the the kind of winter effect I want before I seal them with iridescent fine glitters. Oh yes! glitters! This was indeed a very glittery project and I used close to 3 different types of glitters throughout.

I decided to exalt one of the fairies to the centre of the box, in front of the frame of which she carries a sign - believe in the magic of Christmas. 

I built a mini glittery snowman and place him onto a pile of snow filled with tiny snowflakes.

And someone left an ice skate there as well...

Lots of snow, glitter and flakes at the back of the snowflake balcony! I'm afraid the picture is not doing much justice - the ultra fine details are just meant for the human eye. I found an ornate rectangle frame which I moulded out from a silicon mould which I was trying to test earlier this year. Oh well, it seems I needed some sort of wordings and I decided to affix some woody letterings onto it to complete the entire project. Finally the magic wonder was done!!!

A little different away from conventional Christmas projects I've done previously, but I do hope this can give a you guys a refreshing idea in how to create a piece as such. Give it a try, you never know Christmas is not more than just snowflakes and fairies!

Here is a list of supplies I have used for this project:

• Gypsy Soul Lasercuts (filmstrip shadow box, small garden fairies, flourishes 2, stackable label set shape) 
• Prima Marketing Art Basics and Ingredients (heavy gesso in white, modeling paste, light paste, soft gloss gel, 3D gloss gel, art sugar in white)
• Tim Holtz (stackable snowflakes die, Christmas word bands, ice skates, woodland mini trees, perfect pearl PPP17714)
• Martha Stewart Mother of Pearl acrylic paint
• Clear Snap Smooch accented ink in silver fox
• Lindy Stamp Gang delphinium turquoise mist
• Melissa Frances Mica Flakes in white
• Aleene's True Snow
• Iridescent ultra fine glitter powder
• Acetate sheet
• Paper clay
• Own stash (various tiny and mini snowflakes, jewels, glitter garland, letterings, paper balls for the snowman, fluorescent glow-in-the-dark powder)

Coffee Express at Platform No. 9

At certain point of my life, I can be a fanatic freak of something something; something that caught my eyes that I feel like owning everything of something I fancy. Oh well, I can never have enough of suitcase frenzies and I'm certainly obsess over them especially old suitcases. It's definitely undoubtedly I'll have some sort of old suitcases in my very own home in the future.

Last year I was really obsessed with stacked suitcases, and for this year to bring my obsession to another fantasized level, I'm doing up a cafe based suitcase fusing with a fan-fiction derived inspiration from Harry Potter’s Hogwarts Express at Platform 9¾. With my love for coffee and a fan of Harry Potter, I fused these two together and created this Coffee Express at Platform 9. While it looks rather magical on the outside, as you enter you’ll be welcome into a suite of modernized coffee cafe where mugglers hang out for a cup of nice coffee. It’s practically the reverse scene setting where witches and wizards travel to have mugglers’ coffee. They still have to board the train at Platform 9¾ to head back to Hogwarts, but it’s just ¾ platform away from Platform 9.

I built this medium size suitcase based on my stacked suitcases PDF tutorial and transformed it into runaway suitcase by adding some wheels. I've a separate mini magician matchbox suitcase tutorial, as well as a miniature magician wands Snapguide tutorial if you'd like to explore. To add some fun, most of the miniatures within are not fixed and free to move around. I've done up a video orientation to show how to "play around" with this suitcase. Something really fun to play with! Sit back and enjoy the journey!

List of Supplies:

• Graphic 45 Cityscapes 12" x 12" Paper Pad (Cityscapes, Global Odyssey, Passport to the World, Crossroads, Street of Dreams)
• Graphic 45 Staples (Stamped Metal Brads, Ornate Metal Keys, Ornate Metal Label Holder)
• Gypsy Soul Lasercuts (2” wheels, miniature bookplates, faux metal number plates)
• Tim Holtz Matchbox L Die
• Craft blank matchboxes
• Petaloo Flowers
• Coffee Stuffs (liquor, wine, honey pots, bag of coffee beans, coffee glitters, coffee grinder, bronze coffee cup)
• Other Cafe Items (industrial lamps, glass lamp, wooden spec, coffee time signage)
• Suitcase Items (top hat, magical books, magical wands, umbrella, pocket watch)