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All About Houses

Filed under Art Projects, Back in Stock, Giveaways, Little House Kit, Lora Mahaffey, Newsletters, Shannon Cooper

A couple notes before two projects using the new Mini House Shadowboxes: The 50% off Sale on Spring & Summer Flowers Collage Sheets ENDS TOMORROW NIGHT (Monday, February 15th)!

AND the deadline to sign up for the Mad, Mad, Mad House Swap is also TOMORROW NIGHT!

(The Seed Catalog ATCs Collage Sheet and The Court of Flora Collage Sheet from the sale section are shown at left. And another is included in the Giveaway below.)
 


Design Team Member Shannon Cooper has created 3 super adorable shadowboxes, For the Birds.

Aren’t they sweet? There are 4 Mini House Shadowboxes, I have used boxes 2, 3 and 4 for my projects. They’re nice sizes for making a quick and simple gift to someone special.

I chose to paint the shadowboxes with a slate grey paint first, then apply Crackle and let it dry. When it is dry, then add a white topcoat. The interiors of the houses were papered with the beautiful Provincial 12 x 12 Collection, and then the entire thing got a good scrubbing of antiquing fluid.

For the inside of the houses, I embroidered birds and NEST on some scrap muslin that was then hung from backyard twigs and glued in place. Houses are people nests, so that is how I settled on the wording for House 2. Acorn Caps make the perfect feet, but only after you sand the tops even so your houses don’t topple over! (Lotsa glue helps, too.)

The roofs were covered in Sheet Moss and an Acorn Cap also worked out as a fine house number plaque, with a bit of paint and glitter, a snippet of lace, and one of these really nice Mini Numbers from Vintage Mechanicals.

Finding a nest small enough to fit inside the house was difficult, so why not make one myself? If you ever find the need for a miniature nest, there is a very uncomplicated way to assemble one out of a miniature Bale of Hay.”

For the Birds Shadowboxes Supply List

Ooooh I sort of left you hanging there about a very easy way to make miniature birds’ nests, didn’t I? Never fear… head on over to Shannon’s blog for a super easy tutorial and more pictures of her shadowboxes.
 


Before you rush off to Shannon’s blog, first take a peek at Design Team Member Lora Mahaffey’s Mini House Shadowboxes, Cotswold Cottages!

“An old English village is such charming place to take a walk in. Most of the buildings, including the houses are built from the stone available nearby and although they all have that commonality, so many are quirky and individual, reflecting the personalities of the folks that live in them.

The houses themselves are little Mini House Shadowboxes in four different sizes and they are adorable. And look… if you peer hard enough through the windows… they’ve all got little messages inside! Well, you have to turn the houses around, but we are playing with wee houses and pretending! The papers I used are from the Provincial 6×6 Paper Pad including the little messages, which are cute tags at the back of the pad.


The roofs on these houses are as individual as the the facades! I used some doll house shingles on a couple of them, the letter roof came from Alpha Tiles and the thatch is Sheet Moss. Scraps of Dresden Trim for trimming out the gable ends of the cottages and white acrylic paint went a long way for adding charming little dot details on the Decorative Windows.”

Cotswold Cottages Supply List

Visit Lora’s blog for more details and pictures.
 

 

Hooray for the Lots of Little Houses Giveaway!

Wow! This is a great little Giveaway, with a few bits from both projects shown today:
Provincial 6×6 Paper Pad (tons of papers in a classic, refined palette, plus the tags Lora used inside her houses)
ALL FOUR new Mini House Shadowboxes (Wow! Yes, only 3 are shown at right, but I’m including all 4 sizes.)
– The new House Jewelry Pieces (did you notice them used as windows on some of Lora’s houses?)
Miniature Bale of Hay (so you can make your own bird nests, using Shannon’s tutorial)

 
PLUS (not shown in the photos at right) I’m including:
Flora ATCs Collage Sheet (shown below — one of the collage sheets on sale at 50% off through MONDAY!)
– A set of Mini Bird Eggs (so you’ll have something to put in your newly-made nests!)

 
To enter the Lots of Little Houses Giveaway drawing all you have to do is leave a comment BELOW on this blog post TODAY or TOMORROW (the deadline is 11:59 pm PST, MONDAY NIGHT, February 15, 2016).

AND TO ENTER THE DRAWING, please tell me: What will you put in your little house shadowboxes?

Don’t forget to leave your (hello! correct) email address, too, so I can contact the winner; your email address does not need to be made public. Note: I’m offering free shipping, too, but only within the USA. International shipping will still apply.

Please be patient! Spammers try to post crap here a lot so comments are moderated. So if you don’t see your post in the comments section, be patient and check back in a few hours before re-posting it, please!

After midnight, I’ll randomly pick the winner (via Random.org). So make sure to check back to see who won! And check your mailbox on Thursday morning for the next Giveaway and Newsletter!

Hey, who won the Lover’s Tryst Giveaway? That would be Kim Lucak!

And she replied to my query ‘What additions to the Paper Flowers section would you like to see?”

Love flowers and the Victorian language of flowers!! I might add roses, pansies, hydrangeas and lilies!!!

Congratulations! Check your email for more info. (And good choices on flowers, Kim! Everyone had great ideas; stay tuned in future weeks as I add more flowers!)

  
Posted by Leslie, February 14th, 2016

86 responses to “All About Houses”

  1. Andrew Francesconi says:

    Since I love fairy creations, then it would be only natural to create little fairy houses. You have so many miniature items that could be put into them. What a perfect giveaway.

  2. I’ll put my wee little kaneeneewerkers in the wee little houses. Thank you

  3. Virginia says:

    I love the little houses for making fairy houses for spring!

  4. Dawn Rogers says:

    I LOVE houses! I a obsessed with using them in my art. I would paper these tiny houses with comic book pages and put in tiny dolls I make from clay or wood. So excited for this giveaway opportunity! I’ve had these on my wish list since they came out. Thank you!

  5. Jen R says:

    Love the little birdies so that is what I would put in mine.

  6. LindyLu says:

    These tiny houses are delightful! I would fill mine with my ancestors. I have been looking for a creative way to display my ancestors & family tree. I would put them in these tiny houses with furniture of their time period.

    Thank you for the opportunity enter this giveaway.

    I find you blog & all your creations just wonderful!

  7. Kari Gluski says:

    I would actually make mine into mini dollhouses with tiny furniture

  8. MaggieM says:

    I, too, would create fairy homes with lots of Alpha Stamps’ miniatures if I won this wonderful giveaway:) I’m excited to use my transparency fairy wings collage sheet!

  9. jean marmo says:

    LOVE the bird houses!! My mom is 88 and one of her hobbies is watching the birds out her windows. I would love to make these for her!

  10. barb macaskill says:

    These would be perfect to use as little gnome and troll homes for my fairy village!I can see a troll or two peeking out the windows to see if there are any fairies around so he can TRY to sneak up on them and kidnap them for soup!
    I really love Lora’s Cotswold Cottages! So pretty! TFS!

  11. Ruth Anna says:

    These little houses world make a wonderful street for my tiny dolls to take a stroll. The backs would be visible but inside would be sweet treats to tempt them.

  12. Cherie Day says:

    Houses! A fairy house – a Hansel and Gretel candy house – a bird house – an apothecary house. 🙂

  13. Kristie says:

    Love the little houses. I would make my houses all about Paris! Paris scenes in the background with luxurious laces and Fabrics, pearls, jewels and flowers.

  14. Carolyn S says:

    If I were the winner of this marvelous prize, I would create the inside room of a home for each season, changing the decor to match spring, summer, fall and winter. I can visualize it now. What fun it would be.

  15. Kieran Grey says:

    Little shrines! These are exactly what I’ve been needing. A little shrine for each element/direction.

  16. Phoebe Diamond says:

    I collect old photographs and cabinet cards, this would be a great project to use with them.

  17. Sandra Manring says:

    I make miniature flowers so would love to decorate them with trailing rose vines and also iris and tulips

  18. Lou Conaway says:

    Little houses are my absolute favorite! There are enough of these to make a little neighborhood, built at different times by very different people. Only people drawn to this wonderful place are looking for a real home where neighbors become close friends. I can feel building those wonderful houses as I think about them!

  19. Nan says:

    I would put a variety of little vintage rabbits in these little houses…love these little houses!

  20. Laural says:

    I love my Fae so I would have to decorate each house with a different room using mini food and furniture etc. for depth and exploration

  21. Barbara Anderson says:

    I would make a forest village decorating them with things found in the forest. They
    would be homes to all the little creatures….mice, bunnies, birds…

  22. KIM says:

    I think these little houses would be ideal for Easter theme.
    Thanks Alpha Stamps for the chance to win.

  23. Barb Striethorst says:

    Perfect little houses for magical forest creatures!

  24. Alma Casiano says:

    little house say…tiny birds & fairies, maybe even fairy houses with birds it would be exciting to have a chance to decorated & maybe even win these thanks Alpha stamps

  25. Noreen says:

    I love little houses and villages! I think it would be fun to put a photo in each house and add memorabilia relating to the person in the photo.

  26. Michelle B. says:

    Oh, joy! Loving the little houses! I would make a collection of my
    “Relative’s Houses” — going to Grandma Louise’s house or Aunt
    Hazel’s house — complete with their photos and ephemera of what
    I remember about them and their houses. How about expanding this
    line to included some even larger houses, too?

  27. Sandy A says:

    I would put a token “something” in each decorated house as a snapshot as to who might live there! Love working with houses!!!

  28. Sue Young says:

    Ooh I’d make teeny fairy houses for some of the fairies that live with me!

  29. Laura callies says:

    I would make the structures into a series of dwellings from a german town. I would also connect them with an old cobblestone road/ walkabout.

  30. Kathlene Ford-Walters says:

    Nests, nests, nests!

  31. Carolyn Bowlby says:

    Oh, I love this Giveaway. I would try to re-create different sections of my own craft room. What fun this would be!

  32. Dennis L. says:

    I would make some Southwest style shrines.

  33. Jo says:

    I would make little shrines for the Day of the Dead – so cute!

  34. Nel says:

    I just love these little houses. My house is going to have an Easter bunny hopping on grass, picking up his colorful eggs and putting them in his basket!

  35. Leah Fein says:

    Fairy houses! Using tons of your minis plus wings wings wings.

  36. Traci says:

    Love the little houses and the projects today are so cute. Love the roof idea using Tim’s alpha tiles. Would love to make a few houses myself. >^..^<

  37. Kat Cashwell says:

    These are awesome!! Ready for spring!

  38. I love these items. I would love to try making these houses. Thank you

  39. Lana says:

    antique frozen charlotte doll.

  40. Sandy says:

    I am so gaga over little houses, would make awesome picture frames for old photos.

  41. Lou Anne H. says:

    I love the little houses! The moss makes them extra cute! A fairy house would be a perfect project!

  42. Ginette says:

    They would make a nice addition to my Christmas village

  43. Verna S says:

    Wow. With Spring comming, it would have to be birds and butterflies, those little garden fairies…. Can you tell I need some warm? Hahhaa

  44. Lauren says:

    Definitely little fairy houses, although I LOVE the bird houses in the post.

  45. marykay chisum says:

    I would make a christmas/winter village and another for spring. Halloween would am cool too!!

  46. Debbie Kaste says:

    I love the little houses. They could be used for so many different occasions. However, I think I’d make mine a garden themed one as a gift for my SIL at Easter. Precious!!!!

  47. Winnie says:

    Love these little houses! I think I would do something spring! I need spring!

  48. Carla says:

    Garden houses with lots of flowers and birds!

  49. Karen Mallory says:

    I love the little houses giveaway! I would use some of my relic and artifacts and make shrine type houses.

  50. Mary Helene says:

    Would love to make garden theme houses.

  51. Denise Bryant says:

    These are so fun! I’d make one with a Halloween theme and another with a Christmas theme!

  52. Beth Jones says:

    My granddaughter and grandson would help me decorate them as Santa Claus’ workshops. They love Christmas, as do I, and we all love crafting! Thanks for the opportunity!

  53. Kay W says:

    I would put in cats and kittens and make cat houses.

  54. Maryellen says:

    Oh I think a spirit house would be lovely.

  55. Ina M Good says:

    I have your cardinals and I would nest them out of a hay bale.

  56. Rosemarie Grant says:

    I will put photos of my favorite lady friends along with notions and miniatures of their favorite things. One lady can’t hardly live without chocolate, so I would fill hers witth mini cakes and cookies. Lots of bling as we all llove that.

  57. Jackie Barth says:

    I think I would put some Easter themed things – crosses, bunnies, eggs, etc. Sure hope I win!

  58. Sue C says:

    Prayers and poetry! Children! Flowers! Birds! What a west giveaway….thank you!

  59. Sue C says:

    With no way to correct my error – ‘west’ was supposed to be ‘sweet’ . With two comments, I may be disqualifying myself, but I can’t leave a silly mistake like that unaccounted for.

  60. Marilyn H says:

    I would dig though all my miniatures and find some animals to put in one, maybe add a shelf and put bottles and glasses in another.

  61. Susan Schultheis says:

    I just love love love to make little neighborhoods with houses. I love to dress them up with texture, paint, beautiful paper and color. Sometimes I make a rural street, sometimes city, but my favorite is the cottages like Lora. Thank you for such a fabulous giveaway.

  62. Margaret D says:

    I would put little birds and trees and springtime things because I am ready for spring!

  63. Thalia says:

    Fairies of course. And birds.

  64. Robyn says:

    Lovely! I would include a bird nesting, a red squirrel peaking out from his grassy nest, and a ground squirrel hibernating in a straw nest. All in their little houses. 🙂

  65. Sokat says:

    Seasonal woodland scenarios Would be perfect as a collection.

  66. Marilyn Fishwick says:

    I would use the little houses shadowboxes to make a circus village. Fill them with circus people, circus animals and children. Love the ones on Alpha Stamps’ site today. Those embroidered birds are especially great.

  67. Ann Pierce says:

    I would fill them with furnishings, flowers, and art!

  68. Chris callies says:

    I would use the houses to make some of my favorite fairy tales come to visual life!

  69. Carol Slowik says:

    I would use three boxes as well and put a photo each of the wildlife that I feed. BlueJays in one, deer in one and a great pic I took of a black bear hanging off the bird feeder!

  70. Linda Marie says:

    The smaller the better. I have tons of tiny furniture that would fit right in!!

  71. Abby says:

    I live in the city, so I’d make rowhouses or brownstones but give each one some distinctive adornments.

  72. Dawn Furie says:

    First would be a homage to my dog…a house is not a home without a dog.
    Then of course fairies…everyone needs a fairy house 🙂

  73. Ritva says:

    Beautiful little houses – for faeries, or for tiny bottles…

  74. Elizabeth H. says:

    I would make a home for faeries.

  75. Brenda Moehlig says:

    I think. Santas village. With toy workshop, Christmas bakery, an elves quarter, and Santa’s home. I think having a pull out album of sorts where the components can unfold then you add the miniatures it would be fantastic. Thank you alpha stamps. Good Luck everyone.

  76. Jennie says:

    I’d make little “Birdhouses in Your Soul”. A series inspired by the song and video. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NhjSzjoU7OQ

  77. Allyson Kettler says:

    I would put Alice in Wonderland vignettes to go along with my class that I am taking from Jane Davenport on Alice in Wonderland. They would display the whimsy of Alice so beautifully.

  78. Suzanne Goding says:

    Perfect little houses to have so much crafty fun with!! Yum! My little daughter is obsessed with fairy gardens. I think I know where at least 1 of them are going!!

    Best of luck guys.

  79. Luanne Shoup says:

    Must have some of those flamingos!

  80. Nancy S says:

    I would create little fairy cottages!

  81. Eve Watters says:

    Music and birds,
    Or a wee little mouse,
    So many cute things
    To put in my house!

  82. LeAnn says:

    I would use them to make birdhouse ornaments.

  83. I work in a real estate office and would make personalized homes for each of our agents to thank them for keeping me employed!

  84. angelic says:

    A little bunny village! This would be great to add to an Easter basket with a chocolate bunny.

  85. Emily Ann Dale says:

    Love all the houses. I’d make bird houses with pics of birds inside.

  86. Jill Whalen says:

    I would like to make two bird houses, make one a fairy house and one a kitchen. Sounds like so much fun!