The Dressmaker's Parfumerie Shoppe

Hello everyone.  I hope everyone had a wonderful New Year's holiday.  But the celebrations are over and it is back to the old grindstone.  But the Sin City Stamps design team is still at it and have some wonderful projects to share with you in the new year.



Today I have a fun altered art project to share, using all sorts of mixed media, dies, stamped images, and collage images.  We are sponsored this month by another fabulous company, Altered Pages, who have provided us with some wonderful collage sheets to share with you in our projects this month.

Supplies used:

Sin City Stamps:  Romance (banner); Dressforms (wire dressform)(lace border); Rosette Hearts (three rosettes); Art Journaling with Terri Sproul 2 (bricks)(flourish)

Altered Pages AP-785 Brown ATC collage sheet

Eileen Hull's Window Box die (Sizzix)

Ink pads:  Adirondack Espresso, Colorbox Frost White pigment ink; Memento Art Print Brown; Distress inks in Frayed Burlap, Evergreen Bough, Dried Marigold, clear embossing

Embossing powders: detail white, clear

Astroparche paper; 60lb Mottled Parchment Paper, Prima print paper scraps,

Grunge paste (Paper Artsy)  (modeling paste or spackle will also work)

Gesso (any brand)

Acrylic paints:  Vintage Lace and Nougat Fresco (Paper Artsy)

1/4" Scor-Tape

Mini button brads



Directions:



Cut window box from mat board and put window box together following directions on die.  Do not attach the box to the window frame just yet.  Spread grunge paste all over window frame and box front.  Allow to dry.



Paint window box and frame with white gesso.

After painting with gesso, my first thought was to use my various ink sprays, but I was inspired by a recent post of another one of Sin City's very talented designers, Astrid McClean, to use my Fresco acrylic paints instead.  So I next painted both the box and window frame with the Vintage Lace, then hit the high spots with Nougat for shading  to bring out the dimension made by the grunge paste.



Stamp bricks randomly onto window frame with Art Print Brown ink.  Smear and wipe off with paper towel.  Remember, this is a very old shoppe, so we don't want perfect bricks.  Distress window frame with Frayed Burlap distress ink.

Resize Parfumerie lady image from the Altered Pages AP-785 Brown ATC collage sheet  to 3-1/2" x 5" and print to fit inside the shadow box behind window frame.  This determined how large to make my shadow box, as follows.

To make the shadow box, cut a piece of cereal box weight chipboard to 5-3/8" x 6-7/8".  

Score along all four sides, first at 3/8" from outer edge, then again at 1" from outer edge.  Paint edges with the same color paint as on the window frame.

Trim off each corner, as shown in photo.  I only removed two corners so you can see the score lines at the corners before they are removed.

Add scor-tape to outer edges only, and fold sides up as shown.  

Adhere Parfumerie lady image to center of shadow box and glue tabs down along each corner to form box.  (I used hot glue for speed, but a good, quick grab glue, held with clamps, would also work well.)  Also, I placed the tabs on the outside of the box, which will not be seen.

Adhere window frame to shadow box.

Here is what it looks like on the back.

To finish off the back, I simply painted it with the same Fresco colors.

Stamp three different rosette images each onto three different Prima print paper scraps, one wire dress form, and Love Potion No. 9 bottle onto one Prima print paper scrap with Espresso ink.

Fussy cut images and ink each with Frayed Burlap, Evergreen Bough, and Dried Marigold distress inks.  Set aside.

Layer each smaller rosette piece consecutively with foam dots for dimension.  Glue fancy toothpicks to the back of each rosette flower.  Set aside.

Add clear embossing ink over bottle image and heat emboss two or three times with clear embossing powder to obtain the glass look.  Set aside.

Stamp and emboss lace border onto mottled parchment paper.  

Fussy cut image and place over bottom of window box, pierce holes through image and box and attach with mini button brads.  Add Frayed Burlap distress ink over lace image.

Adhere window box to bottom of window frame.  Adhere wire dress form and bottle, as shown.  Add some paper shreds and rosette flowers into window box.  See photo for placement.

Die cut photo wheel, cut in half, paint with Vintage Lace and Nougat, let dry.  Randomly stamp large flourish over photo wheel with clear embossing ink and heat emboss with clear powder.

Rub Frayed Burlap distress ink over wheel, wipe excess ink from embossing.

Adhere photo wheel to top of frame.

Stamp banner portion only onto Astroparche paper, coloring only the outside image with a Vintage Photo distress marker.  Using a marker makes it simple to stamp just a portion of your stamp, and if the ink starts to dry before you finish, just huff your breath onto it to re-moisten the ink.

Computer generate "Dressmaker's Parfumerie Shoppe" onto a sheet of paper, then align the stamped banner image over it and tape in place.  Run it through your computer again to get the phrase printed inside the banner.  Fussy cut image. (TIP:  Place the wording page on your monitor and let the light of your monitor help you see through the page with the stamped banner image to align it for printing.)  Adhere over photo wheel with foam tape.

I hope you enjoyed my altered art project today, and will give some of these techniques a try.  Thanks so much for stopping by, and be sure to visit Sin City Stamps to see all the new products they have, including chipboard, mini books, and die cuts, all to match and go along with your stamps.  And for collage sheets and mixed media needs, Altered Pages is the place to visit.  

Have a wonderful weekend, and enjoy the beginning of the New Year!

Barbara