Blessed from the Ground Up! Can you believe it's November?! I'm feeling blessed and grateful and I hope you are too! I'm your NEWSLETTER OVERLORD, Lo

       

Blessed from the Ground Up!

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Can you believe it's November?! I'm feeling blessed and grateful and I hope you are too! I'm your NEWSLETTER OVERLORD, Lori, I've got all the DIRT and, as always, am here to bring you the latest and greatest from Gauche Alchemy.

The DIRT this month includes a fabulous funky new kit , Peg's cool canvas, a lovely layout from new Alchemist Ashli, a fun and fresh idea from Jenn, Misty's gorgeous frame, some pinterest finds from me, and the beginnings of Marilyn's studio makeover!
Here we go!

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Killer Kit

In celebration of Halloween and Day of the Dead, we have come up with this
amazing new kit. This kit is full of Day of the Dead awesomeness and
features a "Sugar Skull" background stamp from Viva Las VegaStamps and
bubble frames from GlobeCraft Memories. Along with those goodies, you get
a plethora of one of a kind goodies to include handmade cameos and
authentic milagros.

This kit includes:
-1 GlobeCraft Memories Large Fancy Bubble Frame (Rectangle)
-1 GlobeCraft Memories Large Fancy Bubble Frame (Oval)
-1 Day of the Dead Background Stamp from Viva Las VegaStamps (4.5" x 5.5")
-1 6x6 Mexican Skull mask from Crafter's Workshop
-4 sheets of patterned paper
-1 sheet of Braille paper
-5 pages of ephemera
-5 12" lengths of lace
-1 12" swatch of "Day of the Dead" fabric
-1 package of Jolee's "Sugar Skull" stickers
-8 authentic milagros (4 gold, 4 silver)
-4 stone skull beads
-3 hand decorated Sugar Skull beads
-1 roll of washi tape
-3 handmade polymer clay cameos
-2 handmade polymer clay cameo frames
-mini metal rosettes
-1 12" length of Punchinella
-1 6" x 12" length of PVC Punchinella
-1 skull party napkin

How cool is this kit? Get yours HERE

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Girl, Growing Up

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by Peg Hewitt

My girl is a quirky girl, hugely into Buffy the Vampire Slayer and other kick-ass movies, especially when the lead characters are female. Up until now she has had to run them by me, and had them significantly culled, prior to borrowing them. So her 15th birthday was a major milestone and her favourite day evah!
When I found the vintage comic book page in my GA kit it totally screamed at me, it simply had to be the background for this page! I have also used my fave new punchinella, some gorgeous teal lace, sweet new washi tape with birds, and some ouchless cardboard that I cut into hearts and inked.

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Super Scrappy Spread

by Ashli Oliver

Yes, you are right... it is almost Christmas. Why am I scrapping about the Fourth of July, you ask? Well, I figured I better get this last holiday of summer scrapped before moving into Fall and Winter! And speaking of, I will be sharing a fun home decor piece on the Gauche Blog later this month that I know will get you in the mood for all things fall.

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But, let's get on with this festive and patriotic layout for now, shall we?
When I saw some of the gorgeous napkins from the Paper Napkin Art Kit, I was super inspired to scrap a little Americana. After cutting out that adorable rooster from one of the napkins, I cut up the rest in little squares to pop all over my page and hopefully achieve a bit of a quilt-like patchwork feeling.

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In addition to being too fun NOT to include on my layout, little bits of punchinella, lace, and sequins also help to draw the eye to my title area...

And some tickets and little bits from the Scarlet Fever Red and the Blue Streak Mixed Media Color Kits don't hurt either!

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There we have it! A two page spread full of Gauche Goodness!

What has inspired you from your Gauche stash lately? Grab it and scrap it! Come on... you know you want to!

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Kiddie Crafts Aren't Just for Kids

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by Jennifer "Scraps" Walker

I think kids get all the neat toys these days. Not only that, they get some neat craft supplies, too! If you've never wandered down the kids art section of your local store, you might be missing out on some cool supplies for altered art as well. I found Crayola Crystal Effects Window Markers and wondered if these cool, "solar" powered markers that make these neat cracked-crystal designs would work on something similar--like transparencies?

Turns out they work great on transparencies and, once dry and crystal-ey, they're sturdy enough to be handled, at least a little bit, so they'll work for diy overlays. I used the "Crystal Clear" marker on a spare transparency sheet and drew on some snowflakes and stars. When placed against a darker background--like this navy corrugated board (with white paint splatters and some silver glitter) the designs really pop. Embellished with some ribbons and a knotted tassel from the Blue Streak Mixed Media Color Kit it would make a neat card front, journal cover, or even a bit of holiday decoration.

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Thankful Frame

Altered frame mixed media encaustic

by Misty Russell

I altered one of the $1 wooden frames from Walmart to make a fall/thanksgiving type of decoration. I used magazine pages from the Money Shot Kit to cover the frame and then added antique gold punchinella with gel medium. To finish it up I took book papers and magazine pages from the Money Shot Kit (this kit is FULL of ephemera!) and made flowers with them. Tucked under the flowers are some leave chippy's from Scrap Fx that I painted with a variety of distress inks.

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Pinterest Pretties

by Lori Wilbanks

Have you checked us out on Pinterest? First of all, if you are not familiar with Pinterest...get with it! No, seriously, it's amazing. I describe it as a virtual bulletin board and you can seriously find just about anything there. I have boards for recipes, things that make me laugh, clothes, craft ideas, color inspiration, quotes and words to live by, etc.
Our Gauche Alchemy Pinterest has gobs of inspiration, including tutorials, Design Team creations, and projects separated by color, to name a few.
Here are a just a few projects that caught my eye while browsing today:

 
 
 
 
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Studio Revamp--the "Before"

by Marilyn Hughes

I'm in that mood again. You know, the kind where you take one look at your studio and think "I can't take it any more!". So, I'm totally revamping my studio. Things are beginning to disappear into the Black Hole.

Okay, how will I to do this? Well, I have a plan.

First: Decide what is going and what is staying - an entire shelving unit w/contents, double-stacked display cases, & a too-small worktop are out.

Second: Sketch a layout. Where do I want things to go, how will work flow? Part of my problem right now is I'm cramped and sketching out my plans will ensure I'm utilizing my space efficiently while allowing room to move easily from station to station.

Third: Make a list of items I need - boxes to pack the stuff going into storage, someone to help me move everything, a new work surface, replacement work surface, and organizers (yay shopping!).
Fourth: Set a timeline. Factor in the time necessary to move items out, shift supplies around, add the new desks, etc., since some steps can't be taken until others are complete. Include supply costs to ensure funds are there when needed.

The KEY to all this? Make the time frame reasonable and include detailed steps. This will stop that feeling of being overwhelmed and checking off completed items will give a sense of accomplishment along the way. Also, remain flexible as even the best laid plans sometimes fail. I'm shooting for the end of December.

When I whined to my husband about wanting to do this and how hard it would be, his response was, "How do you eat a elephant? One bite at a time." Wise words.

Oh yes, there will be "After" shots. Stay tuned.

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Thankful to be HERE

As always, thanks for reading!! Until we meet again next month, go check out our blog. You'll be showered in inspiration, tutorials and the ravings and wafflings of our slightly mental but lovable Alchemists.

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Pinteresting. Verrrrrry Pinteresting ;)

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