The Bunny Circus Eggstravaganza

The March kit from Alpha Stamps is here! So many chicks and bunnies; spring is on the way, which means Easter is not far behind. I love some Easter art, but I found a collage sheet entitled "Circus Chicks", and you sure can't go wrong with that! I made my Little Niche Egg shrine into a tiny springtime circus, because why not?

I fell in love with the little chick in its clown costume, and decided to work around him. Sure, he's not a bunny, but he is, at least, now sporting the bunny ears. For the background, I found the perfect circus image from the Big Top Circus collage sheet, and made it the background of my niche. I used two copies of the circus collage sheet so I could cut out the flags and banners and attach them with foam tape for added dimension. I also cut out the ball, and attached it with two layers of foam tape to bring it to the forefront.

Every circus needs a ringmaster, but the rabbit image I wanted to use had his head facing away from the action. I cut out the body of that rabbit and used the head from a different rabbit from the same collage sheet. Now he's paying attention!

The chick on the collage sheet appears to be wearing an eye patch, so I colored the patch yellow to match his head, and added a couple of crazy eyes. The eyes I used are designed for fishing flies; they were the perfect size for this crazy little clown chick. Because the eyes are plastic, it was easy to trim his left eye so it looks like it sits behind his beak. I also gave him some bunny ears, cut from the original head of the ringmaster bunny. Now he fits in with the other rabbit performers.

Here are a few photos of how this project came together. I first chose the image of the chick, and the circus background, and then the perfect piece of scrapbook paper from the Echo Dot Summer Dots and Stripes 6x6 pad that coordinated with those colors. The dotted paper was glued to the egg, and then carefully trimmed with an x-acto knife. Some baker's twine was glued around the outer edge. The circus image was adhered to the back and sides of the cardboard niche, which was then glued together with white glue. Clothespins work great for holding things together while the glue dries.

The niche was put in place and the flaps glued to the back of the egg. Masking tape held down the flaps during drying time. The hanger was also glued on at this time.

White Dresden trim around the opening reminds me of those sugar eggs with the scene in them that I used to love as a kid. I tried it out to make sure I liked it before gluing it down. In the photo below, the flags in the circus background have not yet been doubled up. That was my next step.

 

See how the flags pop, now that there's an extra layer? After the egg was put together, the outside was decorated with all the elements. The chipboard grass was greened up with a combo of paint and colored pencils. I used three clusters to make the Easter grass that the egg sits in.

Thanks for visiting the bunny circus! For a complete list of supplies, click here.

Easter and Bunnies and Chicks, Oh My!

Spring is almost here, Easter is coming, and it's time for spring crafting! Alpha Stamps has some great new shadowboxes, and nothing says Easter like bunnies and chicks, so I made a shadowbox for each.

There were four sizes to choose from. I love the smallest box (2" by 3"), with the egg shaped opening, so I started with that. I lined the egg on the lid with teeny tiny flat backed pearls to invoke the feeling of a sugar egg.

Here's a detail. Hint: there is no way I could place these tiny stones without the help of a wax pencil. I use mine all the time to help place tiny stones or even tiny paper cutouts.

The larger bunny in the background is glued to the back of the box, while the smaller bunny is attached with foam glue dots to give some dimension. The "Bunnies" banner on top is also adhered with foam dots.

I love the tiny basket, but it was a bit too wide to tuck back into the corner of the box, so I took some heavy duty scissors and cut the back part out. It was also a little bit too tall, so I cut the bottom part off as well (after this photo was taken). Once the basket was cut to size, I glued it to the back and bottom of the box with some white glue. When it's filled with a little Easter grass and some eggs, you can't tell it's been cut.

Alpha Stamps just started carrying these mini pin stands that make it so easy to place things like the eggs and little yellow duck. Just a tiny dab of glue holds them on, and you can stick those items down into the Easter grass and have them stay put. Love these!

Once the box was assembled, I painted wooden feet to add to the bottom, and added bright plaid ribbon around the sides and a bow at the top. Yay, bunnies!

Now on to the chicks... 

 

There were so many adorable images of chicks on the collage sheets that I just had to fill this box with them. I put the smallest chicks in the back, and then started stacking larger and larger chicks up with foam glue dots. White dresden trim adds a lacy feel. I made a little banner out of pink cardstock to put in the left hand corner. A few pearled flowers, and done!

Happy Easter, happy spring! For a complete list of supplies, click here.

Little Garden Book

I enjoyed using the Alpha Stamps Hidden Drawer Book Box in my The Little Book of Men
project so much that I asked Leslie (Queen of AS) if I could have another one just for fun.  I got a brightly colored paper pack and was inspired to do a Spring Garden theme. An image from the Women and Flowers collage sheet was the perfect size and had all the right colors for the cover of the book.

I love how this "woodgrained" paper looks almost like book pages. Here's the spine and top of the book:

The Little Book of Perfect Men held ATC cards, but this book has a secret that's a bit more fun: a tiny garden and a tiny gardener, plus a pretty songbird and a sweet little bunny.

I used some Leafy Green Underbrush for a grassy lawn, and a stick from my yard for a tree. Some tiny leaves from some Miniature Coiled Leaf Stems were glued onto the branch with a little dab of hot glue. The bunting and the birdhouse were cut from the paper that was featured on the sides of the secret drawer, and the pennants in the bunting were attached to the back with dimensional glue dots to give them some depth.

I thought this would be a great playset, so the rabbit and the peg doll are removable.

Now you can take a little garden with you wherever you go! For a complete list of supplies, click here.