Nevermore by Barb

I've been a fan of Edgar Allan Poe's work since I can remember. Of course, what's probably his most famous work, The Raven is at the top of my mind the closer we get to Halloween. I make it a point to read it every year and something in it always strikes anew. So, when I first saw Gina's Designs Gothic Chandeliers, I knew right where I was headed. 

I began with a 9 x 12 canvas panel which I coated with purple acrylic paint. I used a stencil and sponged on acrylic paint for the clock. Then I slopped on a couple different colors of alcohol ink and some bright green acrylic paint. Slopping paint and ink on stuff is fun!

The chandelier was the biggest, most time-consuming part of the project. First, I masked off the ravens with blue painter's tape, then I coated the chandelier silver by pushing an ink pad all over it. Then I coated it with holographic embossing powder and heat set it. 

I used Amplify! in black to coat the birds. After it dried, I hit them with the heat gun - Amplify! sort of puffs up when it's heated so it gives the birds a little more dimension. I "lit" the candles with irRESISTibles in yellow, and added teardrop rhinestones to the chandelier to really make it shimmer.

The feathers, from the Feather Shape Set, were very easy. I simply pushed them against a black craft ink pad. Craft ink is a little thicker than water-based inks so it gives chipboard a really good coat with less of a mess than painting.

I finished things off with a tiny apothecary jar of "poison". The poison is really just green acrylic paint, a dropper full of green ink, and a bit of Pearl Ex for shimmer. I glued the bottle to the canvas. 

Of course, no Poe tribute would be complete without the infamous "Nevermore" as "quothe" by The Raven. So, my last task was to stamp that on the canvas using rubber stamps from Blue Luna Press and black StazOn ink.

Gina's Designs Products Used

Gina's Designs Gothic Chandeliers

Feather Shape Set

Bird Shape Set

Other Products Used

Acrylic paint

Clock mask by Tim Holtz

Craft ink pad

Silver ink pad

StazOn ink pad

Holograph embossing powder

Rhinestones

irRESISTibles

Amplify!

Rubber stamp alphabet by:

Blue Luna Press

Witch Door Owl by Dianna

Hi Everyone, Dianna here with a Halloween Witch Owl.  Gina made me a witch hat to fit the door owl.  

I started by spray painting the owl, hat, eyes and wings black. I then used a Fisker double feather punch and punched about two hundred feathers in black, green and two different colors of purple. 

I could not help myself and made Wanda's eyes with eye lashes. (Yes, I named the owl Wanda).  I traced the eyes, fussy cut them and then cut them in half for the eye lid.  I then punched a 2-1/2 circle in purple,  a 1-1/2 inch circle in white and a 1-inch circle in black. I then cut straight lines in a two inch strip of black paper for the eye lashes.  Around the black circles I used Stickles to give the eyes some more pop.  The nose was traced and fussy cut out.  

I used black Stickles first and daubed all over the hat.  Then I used a dark purple Stickles and daubed that all over also.  A light purple Stickles was then used to create highlights.  I created a rosette with the same paper as the one on wings.  The feathers were colored with purple and green markers. Stickles was also used on the feathers.  The spiderweb was colored with a white paint marker and white Stickles. The purple and green spiders were left over from previous project. 

I sprayed Gina's "Wicked" with green Maya Mist and it dried just like the picture.  I placed another spider on the title and glued it to the wings.  Done!

ITEMS USED

Gina's Designs

Title Wicked

Feathers Shape Set

Spiderweb Shape Set

Door Owl (Coming Soon!)

ColourArte and Craft Group Challenge

Hello all!  Gina here to share a project I made using ColourArte products. 

All month long you will be seeing lots of gorgeous work by our team members featuring ColourArts.  If you have never used them, be sure to check them out! The colors are fabulous; fully pigmented and the shimmer is just perfect.

I decided to team up my ColourArts Twinkling H2O's and Silks with Deann's Facebook Group challenge, Recycle, to create a faux canvas.  I began with a cracker box that was headed for our recycle bin. 

I glued the top flap shut and coated the box with gesso.  Once dry, I covered the box with strips torn from old dictionary pages. Using the Brick Wall Texture Sheet, I created the brickwork in the upper left corner with Snow-tex.  I colored the bricks with Playful Peony Twinkling H2O's, Black Soot and Fired Brick Distress Inks.

I then used the Guatemalan Green Silks to wash the box.

The Balloon was painted with Silks in Apple Blossom and Emperor's Gold.  The background for the balloon top was cut from a piece of old sheet music.

The feather was colored using Iridescent Blue Twinkling H2O's and then inked with some Chipped Sapphire Distress Ink.  The Key was washed with the Emperor's Gold Silks for a brass look.

I printed out the quote using a word processing program and cut it up to arrange it as I wanted it.

The tree was inked with Walnut Brown Distress Ink and the branches tipped with Pretty Peridot Silks.

Thanks for stopping by the blog today.  Remember to keep an eye out for all the fabulous projects featuring ColourArte products this month.

Gina's Designs Products used:

Feathers Shape Set

Hot Air Balloon Net Style

Bare Trees Mini

Wooden Decorative Keys

ColourArte Products used

Silks Acrylic Glaze

   Pretty Peridot

   Guatemalan Green

   Emperor's Gold

   Apple Blossom

Twinkling H2O's

   Playful Peony

   Iridescent Blue

Pink Vintage Tags

Hi everyone! Melissa here with two tags for Gina's Designs. I found this size project fun to do. The tags made a great base for the layers of things I put under it, and top too. I added some pieces to hang off the bottom. I'll be putting this on a wall in my scraproom.     

I painted all the chipboard with gesso. I mixed perfect pearls with a tiny amount of water, and brushed it on the tags.

I applied glossy accents to the other chipboard that's white.

The wood medallions have a coat of gold lumieres on them.

I put fresh flowers, both from my yard and from a bouquet of pink roses, and baby's breath  under memory glass.   

                                                                   

Thanks for looking!

Gina's Products Used:

Chipboard Decorative Tags Large
Wood Medallions 1
Feathers Shape Set
Birds Shape Set
Daisies
Scribble Frame Fairy
Cardstock Doily Set Intricates

Other:

Graphic 45 Papers
Watercolor Paper
Canvas
Twinkling H20s
Winsor and Newton Watercolors
Perfect Pearls
Sizzix Decorative Strip Die, Butterfly Frenzy
Vintaj medallion
Crafters Workshop Stencil, Cherry Blossoms

House Shrine Box by Barbara Rankin

Hi everyone!  I am so happy to be here today, as this is my first post with Gina's Designs.  I was thrilled when I was asked to be their guest designer for June, and I hope I can inspire you with my creations.  I have to admit though, that with great products, such as these, it is quite easy to make even me "look good".  

I love birds and wings and feathers, so my first project is an altered bird house, using Gina's House Shrine Box.  

Assemble box with Beacon's Quick Grip glue.  Coat entire box with white gesso and let dry.  Then color inside of box with Spanish Moss, and the outside with Cascade chalk paint.

Trim a piece of print paper from the Tim Holtz Wallflower paper pad to fit inside the house, distress edges, ink with Chestnut Roan chalk ink.  Adhere inside box.

 Cut an irregular piece of the Chicken Wire Large, color with Krylon Silver Leafing Pen.  Adhere at the top of the box opening with the Quick Grip glue.

Measure and cut Boarders Sticks Lace to fit along roof eaves.  Coat both sides with white gesso, then paint with ColourArte Indian Copper Radiant Gel.  Cut a 2" x  8" piece of silver duct tape, emboss with a decorative embossing folder.  Trim length of duct tape to 1-3/4" to fit the roof.  Paint the silver side with Indian Copper.  Pick up a tiny amount of the Cascade chalk paint with your finger and dab randomly over the lace border, as well as the duct tape, to simulate patina on copper.  Peel off adhesive liner on the duct tape and adhere to the top of the roof first, then adhere the lace border along the eaves.  Use the two extra lace pieces to form a decorative element at the center where the two border strips join. 

 

Coat one of the birds from the Birds on Branches Assortment with white gesso, let dry.  Color with Silks Acrylic Glaze in Nutmeg, Pretty Peridot, Silver Bells, Mango Mamba, Ocean Wave. 

Cut a few branches off of one of the Leafy Branches with Birds and coat with white gesso.  Paint the leaves with Pretty Peridot and the branches with Nutmeg Silks.  Adhere both pieces to the side of the house and part of the chicken wire for support.

I first sketched in some details on my bare bird with a pencil, then painted it with the Silks Acrylic Glaze in Pretty Peridot, Silver Bells, Mango Mamba, Ocean Wave.  I drew the eye with a black marker and the white spot from a white gel pen.  For added depth, I used a charcoal pencil to shade in the same areas as my sketch.

 Make three eggs from Creative Paperclay and a tiny bird's nest from green excelsior.  Paint the eggs blue and add tiny dots of brown to each egg.  Place inside the nest and then place the nest inside the house. I attached a 1/4" dowel, approximately 1-1/2" long, to the back of my bird so I could attach him to the back of the house, but make him appear to be sitting on the nest.

Coat the Hypericum Berries with white gesso, then paint with Olive Vine and Rusty Mauve Silks, let dry.  Add dots of 3D Crystal Lacquer to each berry.  Adhere to front of house.  Here a a few closeups.

 

Gina's Designs supplies used:

House Shrine Box

Leafy Branches with Birds

Hypericum Berries

Birds on Branches Assortment

Birds Shape Set

Feathers Shape Set

Border Sticks Lace

Chicken Wire Large

Other supplies used:

White gesso (Liquitex)

2" wide silver duct tape 

Beacon Quick Grip glue

FolkArt Home Decor Chalk Paint (Cascade, Spanish Moss)

ColourArte Radiant Gel (Indian Copper)

ColourArte Silks:  (Nutmeg, Pretty Peridot, Silver Bells, Mango Mamba, Ocean Wave, Olive Vine, Rusty Mauve)

Decorative embossing folder

Chestnut Roan chalk ink

Tim Holtz Wallflower paper pad

Krylon Silver Leaving Pen

Green Excelsior

Light Green Moss

Petaloo tiny blue flowers

Black Pen

White gel pen

Charcoal pencil (for shading)

Thanks so much for stopping by today, and I hope I have inspired you to try making some of your own art projects with Gina's Designs.

Until next week, when I have another project for you, I hope you will have a very creative week.

Barbara Rankin

Mad Hatter Birthday Hat by Dianna

Hi everyone and a happy 3rd Birthday to Gina's Designs!  Gina helped make this idea a reality - thank you, Gina! She cut this hat for me and was very supportive when I took over her craft room and decoupaged everything in sight. 

The paper is actually book pages from Alice in Wonderland that was lavishly distressed with ink.  I did use color pencils on some of the pages.  I used Beacon's Fast Finish Decoupage and it was a pleasure to work with (Warning! This stuff is like water so a little easier to work with and it does dry fast).  The above picture is a side shot but I wanted it to be the first picture.  I used a blown up picture of the mad hatter and placed one of Gina's Designs tea cups in front of the mad hatter.  I used Sparkling H20's on Gina's feathers and some of the left over rosette from the hat band.  I added the cards to celebrate Gina's Designs 3rd Birthday!

This picture is actually the front of the hat.  I used Gina's Designs String Alongs - Alice and applied Sparkling H20's.  The pocket watch was cut from a String Alongs and I included a metal watch face.  The white rabbit is a stamp from Deep Red colored with Copic Markers.  The blue band is a rosette die that was cut from blue paper.

The caterpillar was cut out from a Alice in Wonderland page and popped up on one of Gina's mushrooms. Sparking H20's was used on the mushrooms to give them some depth.  This Alice is a stamp from Saturated Canary and colored with Copic Markers.  

 

There was a lot going on here with all of the colored pages so I used a hat from Gina's Alice String Alongs to brake it up a little. 

This is the top of the hat, I just had to include the Cheshire Cat :)

Thank you for looking!

Items Used

Gina's Designs

String Alongs - Alice

Feathers Shape Set

Tea Time Shape and Border Set

Other Items

Beacon Fast Finish Decoupage

Deep Red - White Rabbit Late

Saturated Canary - Alice

For The Birds Canvases with Mary B

Hello, Mary here today with a simple set of canvases rockin' an awesome pop of color!

With Gina's chipboard shapes, it only took a bit of glue, some white paint and a wash of color to create two canvases ready to jazz up your home decor or make the day of a friend or family member.

I began by gluing down one of the pieces from the Birds On A Wire 2 set and the largest feather in the Feathers Shape Set with a small amount of tacky glue.  A quick coat of white acrylic paint and a little Mod Podge to seal it in and it's ready for color!

I've outlined the pieces with a water-soluble graphite pencil to make them stand out more.

I finished my canvases off with a few white circles drawn on with a white PITT pen...

...and a sprinkling of glass microbeads for a little sparkle!

And that's the project.  They were so simple to create, and add such a lovely touch of color.

Thanks so much for joining me today and I'll see you next time!

Gina's Designs supplies used:

Birds On A Wire 2

Feathers Shape Set

Other supplies used:

8 by 10 inch canvases

white acrylic paint

Mod Podge

Lindy's Stamp Gang spray inks

General's water-soluble graphite pencil

Faber-Castell white PITT artist pen

Aleene's Tacky Glue

microbeads

May Arts 1 1/4" and 1/4" black silk ribbon 

Colorful Cards

Hello everyone. Shanna here today with some cards for your inspiration.

I really was inspired by some watercolor cards I saw recently and wanted to try it out myself.

I started out with adding water to my watercolor paper. Then I added some Distress Inks to the paper letting them soak in and then I splatter water all over to add texture. Splatter is my most favorite thing ever I think when it comes to watercoloring.

So for the first card, I wanted to play with some cooler colors.  I used Black Embossing Powder on the stars from Heidi's Star Shape Set. I also used white embossing powder to add the sentiment to my card front.

For my second card, I used a feather from the Feather Shape Set. I gave it two sets of gesso to make it very white. I went with bright warm colors for the second card. I love them both so much it is hard to pick a favorite.

Gina's Designs Products Used

Feathers Shape Set

Heidi's Star Shape Set

Steampunk Marie Antoinette by GDT Amador

This steampunk Marie Antoinette monochromatic cage was created by guest designer Amador!

Here is a great view of the back of her showing many of Gina's Designs products.

Gina's Designs Products Used

Steampunk Cage - Dressform

Steampunk Hearts

Steampunk Fan

Feathers Shape Set

Layered Flourish Chloe Small

Paris Shadowbox - the Fleur-de-lis

Clock Hands Shape Set

Art Doll - Small