Gibson and his Girls! by Lucy Edmondson

Charles Dana Gibson was a pen and ink illustrator at the turn of the 20th century whose models epitomized his ideal of female beauty, with long hair, tiny waists, and long slender necks. They became known as the Gibson Girls! I have had the two full size sets for a long time now and they are great favourites, so I was delighted when the tiny images came out last week, and I have combined them with some other old favourites for Minxy's 'Something Old, Something New' challenge. I love the flexibility you get with The Artistic Stamper stamps that enables you to mix and match.

Well, the first bit of the 'pocket Art History' was true, but I now get a bit fanciful so humour me! I decided that Collage Man would be Gibson, standing by the door outside his smart studio, where inside await his models, ready to be sketched. I think in reality he was a bit fatter than this distinguished gent, but if he can dream then so can I!

What you will need:-

Artistic Stamper stamps: Collage Man, Collage Lady Elements, Artist's Plate No 1, Words Set Nudes,
Small but Beautiful Gibson Girls
Distress Inks: Tattered Rose or Spun Sugar, Vintage Photo, Shabby Shutters, Dried Marigold, Tumbled Glass
Distress Crackle Paint - a pale/neutral colour such as Tatteered Rose or Picket Fence, etc
Crafty Notions Spray in Co-Ordinating Colour
2 Hinges
Pen Nib
Black Archival Ink Pad
Inkssentials White Opaque Pen - Optional

Brad or Tiny Button or similar for the door knob

You can get everything you need except the tray from Jennie, but if you don't have anything similar (sometimes embellishments come in them), you might like to use four small matchbox drawers glued together. You will need a small piece of strong card, approx 7.5 cm by 9 cm ( ins).

What I did:-

1. Brush a neutral shade of Crackle Paint around the inner edges of each of the compartments in the tray and set aside to dry.

2. Stamp the Collage Man in black onto the strong card, and cut it into a rectangle to fit your compartment tray (mine was a little smaller than the stamp). Turn it over and stamp the poem from Collage Lady to cover the piece. Sponge both sides with the Distress Inks, using the Tattered Rose or Spun Sugar for Gibson's face, and either leaving the collar bare or filling it in with the white pen. Edge both pieces with Vintage Photo to frame, and flick some water at the pieces with your fingers.

3. Stamp three of the Gibson Girls onto white card, and the ink bottle from the Artist Plate, and cut to fit the compartments then colour as above.

4. Stamp a pen nib from the Artist Plate and the Woman, Mystery, Passion, Beauty words onto white card and ink up. Cut out a continuous strip of words to go around the outside edge of the tray, and cut a rectangle around one of each of the words for the back of the door. Edge with Vintage Photo and stick in position as shown.

5. Once the crackle paint is dry, sponge with Distress Inks and spray with mica sprays. Stick the four tiny images into the compartments and add the pen nib.

6. To finish, stick the hinges in place with strong glue, allowing plenty of drying time. Add a brad head or tiny button as a door knob, as shown.

I do hope you have enjoyed this project and it would be great if you gave it a go! Do tell me what you think as I would love to hear! Thanks for looking.

Lucy