Orphanage Rd. In Winter

Nothing says "holiday season" like some morose orphans looking sadly out at the snow, amIrite? When I found that the next Alpha Stamps monthly kit contained a window shadowbox, for some reason, I immediately thought of circus kids. Leslie, of Alpha Stamps fame, was kind enough to design a collage sheet full of vintage circus kid images for me. I chose a large image of four solemn looking waifs, gave them all bright red clown noses, and built "Orphanage Rd." to house them.

Yeah, it's warm and better than living on the snowy streets, but it's obvious it's not a great place to be. These poor kids want nothing more than to run away and join the circus, if only the circus will have them. So sad!

I used two collage sheets so I could cut out the girls in front and stack them for more dimension. The upper trim is a Fleur Border, painted black and then coated with glaze.

Here's how they looked before adhering them. I used foam adhesive glue dots to raise the image up. The girls have one glue dot separating them from the guys, and the guys had two glue dots separating them from the back.

Inside the box. Yes, I cut their poor little legs off, but you can't tell once they're behind the window.

Before I covered the outside of the box, I used a Sharpie to color the inside window panes black. The outside windows were colored with a silver Sharpie. The little girl and her dog were originally considered for this piece, but they just looked too happy.

To cut the background paper, I placed the paper, centering the pattern, and adhered it with removable glue dots.  I then used a pencil along the outside border of the window opening, and then cut the paper a little larger than what I traced. The silver outer pane will cover the edges of the paper, so it doesn't have to be perfect.

After gluing the paper on the front, I used some Tacky Glue to construct the box. Clothespins held the box until the glue dried. I cut the corners as shown, and once the box was dry, glued the paper to the sides, wrapping them in the same way you'd wrap a present.

I'm not going to lie, adding the snow made me a little nervous. I sure didn't want to wreck all my hard work! I cut a piece of scrap cardboard and did a few test runs. I first used the Diamond Dust with just white glue, but it was too subtle when the glue dried clear. Using White Opal Liquid Pearls looked way more like real snow. Once I figured out what looked better, I just went for it.

Bless you, sad little orphan children. I hope your circus dreams come true.

For a complete list of supplies, click here!