Trim Organizers

Hello everyone! Mary here with two more trim organizers. I did one awhile back (click HERE if you want to check it out!) and realized one was not enough for my happy stash of lace. These boxes are quick and easy to put together! Once the boxes where assembled, I painted them both on the inside with brown acrylic paint.

Both boxes were covered with paper from the KellerKurtz & Company paper stack, lace and box feet from Tim Holtz. For the button borders, I first applied gesso. Once the gesso was dry, I embossed both the button border in the above picture with Aged Ivory Embossing Enamel by Stampendous. Once cool, pink twine was inserted into three of the buttons.

For the button border in the pictures below, I started out the same way. This time while the Aged Ivory was still in it's melted state, I added some sprinkles of Aged Rose Embossing Enamel and applied heat.

While the border was cooling, I worked on the five loose buttons (these are included when you order the button border!). I left the chipboard in it's natural color and just applied Walnut Stain Distress Ink to the outside edges. Pink twine was then inserted into all five. When the border was cool, I glued them onto the button border.

 

Now all I have left to do is put my lace on the paper covered cards!

Gina's Designs Products

Trim Organizer

Button Border

Just Bee Cuz

Happy Friday!!! I hope this blog post finds you all well. Today I have three ATC cards for you. 

You might recall a journal page I did several weeks ago featuring the same concept. One of the other designers loves bee's, and since I wasn't parting with my journal page, I made these for her.

The background, for the most part, is the same as the journal page. I won't bore you with a re-run, but if you missed it, just click on the link above and it will take you to that project!

 The ATC-sized honeycomb was cut apart and used on each of the cards. The "just" is up on two pop squares.

The crowns were colored using a silver metallic marker. The bee between them is from the small honeycomb & bee set.

The three solid hexagons were clinging to the honeycomb. I popped them out and reused them.

Gina has four different sizes of honeycomb & bee sets in the store. Why don't you buzz on over and see what goodies will inspire you?

Gina's Designs Products Used

Honeycomb & Queen Bees ATC Sized

 Honeycomb & Bees Small

 

Other Products Used:

Paint: Daler Rowney: Medium Yellow, Cream, Yellow Ochre, Lemon Yellow, Brilliant Red, Orange

Folk Art: Daffodil Yellow

Liquitex: Burnt Umber

Gesso

Rub-on Alpha Stamps from my stash

Stamps: RubberMoon - Mixed media 

Prima - #96081

White cardstock

Ink: Tim Holtz Distressed: Spiced Marmalade, Mustard Seed, Vintage Photo, Walnut Stain, Black Soot

Bling

Silver Metallic Marker

Streampunk Chest

Happy Friday! I hope you are all well and have some great plans for this weekend. What I have for you today is what I call my yearly steampunk project! On the top, I used the medium dressform from the Dressform and Wings Shape Set. The set come with three different sizes!  By the bottom of the dressform is one of the clock hands from the Clock Hands Shapes Set. The Heart with Gears is coming soon to the store. You can substitute with one of the hearts from the Steampunk Hearts set.

The drawers have one of the plates from the keys and plates set, several gears, and gears that were part of the Steampunk Frame.  Below you can see the smallest size dressform and wings!

This air balloon was part of the Steampunk Frame with the gear on the left added from the Gears Shape Set.

On this side,  you can see I attached part of the Texture Plate - Gears to it.

This is a close-up. I applied different colors of inks to the raw chipboard. In the picture below, you can see that I used the same texture sheet with texture paste. Once the texture paste was dry, I applied different purple inks over the top of it.

There are several different texture sheets in Gina's Store. Stop by and check them out!

Don't forget Gina's Designs is celebrating three years of being in business so you will get a
Free Birthday Shape Set with all orders over $20.00 during the month of May! 

If you are not already a member of Gina's Designs Craft Group on Facebook, get over there and join! We will be announcing other fun birthday activities there!

Have a great day!
Mary

Gina's Designs Products

Clock Hands Shape Set

Dressforms & Wings Shape Set

Steampunk Frame

Texture Sheet Gears

Gears Shape Set

Keys & Plates Shape Set

Heart of Gears (Coming Soon!!) - you could substitute with Steampunk Hearts

To Gesso or Not to Gesso by Mary M.

 Hello fellow chipboard lovers! I know many times you have read on this blog that the designers started their projects by using gesso. Gesso (which is pounced jesso) is primer. It gives your paint or glue something to hang onto as well as giving a tone that will allow the true color of your paint to be seen. In the picture below, the vintage lady on the right is how Gina's Designs chipboard will look when you receive your order. The lovely lady on the left has a coat of gesso applied to her.

 The ladies from above have invited a few of their friends to help show the effects of using gesso on Gina's chipboard pieces.

 

 First up are the sprayed ladies! I used the same amount and the same color of Lindy's spray on them, but the outcome was very different. The lady on the right has the gesso applied to her.

Next we have the painted stripe girls. I hope you are able to tell from the picture the differences. Starting from the top, I used a heavy body paint (Titanium White) and you can see the head on the left still is showing some of the brown undertone from the chipboard. The next three colors are your basic acrylic paint. You can tell the yellow and pink on the left have soaked into the chipboard. Since the lady on the right had a layer of gesso first applied, the brightness of the colors can be seen. While it is true the black paint looks good on either piece, my preference is to still gesso!

I embossed both sets of wings from the Dressforms and Wings Shape Set and a key plate for a project I am working on. I used gesso on the bottom piece, but not on the top nor on the key plate.  You can definitely see the difference! 

 Here is another shot of them on a different background. The wings on the right has gesso applied to it.

Again, the same amount and the same color of embossing powder was used on the items.

Gesso is available at art supply stores and you should be able to find it at the big box craft stores too. There are so many brands of gesso out there for you to chose from. My recommendation, start with a small, cheap jar and experiment! 
 If you are looking for that true color, use gesso. If you don't want to give your pieces several coats of paint, use gesso. Looking for the darker color to come through like the embossed pieces above? No gesso!

So it is up to you, to gesso or not to gesso....only you can answer that question!

If you do have questions, please feel free to leave them in the comment section! Thanks for stopping by!

Mary

Gina's Designs Products Used:

Dressforms & Wings Shape Set

 Keys & Plates Shape Set
Vintage Ladies Silhouettes Set

Other Products Used:.

Lindy's Stamp Gang Embossing Powder - Magic Moon Pearls

Hampton Art Stamps Embossing Stamp Pad - Emboss!

Studio 71 - Gesso
Lindy's Stamp Gang Starburst Spray - Blue Hawaiian Blue
Americana Paint - Lamp Black & Poodleskirt Pink
Liquitex Heavy Body Paint - Titanium White
FolkArt Paint - Daffodil Yellow

Art Journal Page by Mary M

 WOW! March 31. Where did this month go? I hope this post finds you all well and ready for some wonderful spring (or fall for some of you) days! I know I am ready for windows to be open. Today I have another art journal page. Yes, I do believe these are my new addiction. I call this one "Bloom Where You R Planted."

For this one I took a couple of sheets out of a large dictionary that was going to hit the trash.  I cut the pages into strips of different sizes and adhered them to the page with a glue/water mix. Gesso was lightly brushed over the top and allowed to dry before I played around with watercolors. The Prima doll was stamped directly to the page and was colored in with watercolor crayons, paint and marker. Instead of legs, I gave her a stem.

The dragonflies were embossed with Orbit Olive Gold. I used a combination of paint, ink and marker on the flowers and planter. The letters were put on white card stock and I used ink and chalk to define them. 

Thanks for stopping by the blog today.

 Tomorrow Deann is up with the new monthly challenge for Gina's Designs Craft Group on Facebook! And don't forget, this is the month all of our new designers and educators will make their debut!

Gina's Designs Items Used

Spring Shape Set

Other Items Used:

Gesso

Page from a dictionary

Watered down Glue

Crayola watercolor paints

Stampin' Up watercolor crayons

Distress Inks: Bundled Sage, Broken China, Milled Lavender

Alpha stickers from stash

Prima doll stamp
Rubbermoon Art Stamp

Pretty Blooms Stamp Set by Scrappy Cat

Markers

Chalk

Acrylic Paint:Lemon Yellow, Deep Yellow, Medium Yellow, Violet, Portrait Pink, Leaf Green, Dark Green, Limonaide

Orbit Olive Gold by Lindy's Stamp Gang

Bling from stash

Four Tabbed Mini by Mary M

Check out How to Make Gina's Designs Four Tabbed Mini Album by Mary Melsheimer on Snapguide.

The pictures below are how I decorated my journal. The paper is Graphic 45 - Couture.  The frame and the word inspire were both embossed. I then cut out a black oval to go behind the frame and attache the word to it. Pop dots were used to attach it to the book.

On the side I used one of Gina's dangle and created this fun charm.

The corset was painted black and the "lace" painted white.

The sewing machine is embossed with black and silver.

The next three pictures are the tabbed pages. The chipboard was painted black.

The hanger and the dressform were embossed with black. I attached these two piece as well as the corset towards the edge of the covers so I would still have the flat surface for writing.

Gina's Designs Products Used:

Tabbed Mini Album
Flourished Frames Evie
Dangles
Miniatures Shape Set - Ladies Choice
Vintage Seamstress Shape Set 
Words & Phrases 1

"Bee..." Art Journal Page by Mary

Hello fellow crafters. Today I want to share with you my very first art journal page! I had so much fun making this. I learned two things while doing this: there is no wrong way to create and I love making a mess!

I started with page with a coat of gesso. From there, I used all the paint colors listed below to create the background. I just kept adding layers. If I didn't like how the color turned out, I applied more gesso to that area and started again. Once dried, I sprayed Lindy's at the top of the page and let it run down. While the page was still wet I took a paper towel and pressed to absorb the excess. In some places, it lifted the color which added depth. After that I used stamps in select spots across the page.  The brown spots were created by watering down brown paint and using a fan brush to splatter it across the page. The edges of page were inked with Vintage Photo, Walnut Stain and Black Soot.

The honeycomb was first cut a part and then painted brown. Once it was attached to the page, I used my finger to apply gesso in random spots. The bees were first painted yellow and when that was dry, I used black gesso for the markings. The Prima stamp was used on the wings.

 

There were several hexagons pieces that I was able to pop from the honeycomb to use. After the yellow paint was dry, I used some rub-on alpha's and edged the tiles with Walnut Stain and Black Soot.
For the words, I rubbed the letters onto white card stock and then used Walnut Stain along the edges. Once they were adhered to the page, I used a charcoal pencil to create the dark frame around each of them. For a softer look, I used my finger to smudge the lines.

 Gina's Designs Products Used

Honeycomb & Bee Large

Other Products Used:

Paint: Daler Rowney: Medium Yellow, Cream, Yellow Ochre, Lemon Yellow, Brilliant Red, Orange

Folk Art: Daffodil Yellow

Liquitex: Burnt Umber

Gesso

Rub-on Alpha Stamps from my stash

Stamps: RubberMoon - Mixed media 

Prima - #96081

White cardstock

Ink: Tim Holtz Distressed: Spiced Marmalade, Mustard Seed, Vintage Photo, Walnut Stain, Black Soot

Lindy's Stamp Gang - Summer Lovin' Sun

Black Charcoal

Thank you to all the wonderful artists/crafters that shared their art journals on various social media forums. You have all inspired me to make the leap!

Standard Clock by Mary

Hello fellow crafters! I have a brand new product for Gina's Designs - the Standard Clock. This clock has so many possibilities! I kept it simple. I plan on using it in my bedroom and haven't really decided on the decor in there yet.

The clock comes with the base, the clock face (back circle and numbers), brace to hold the clockworks and the clockworks. It all comes in separate pieces for easy altering! As always, I put a layer of gesso on all the chipboard pieces. The paper I used was Paris & Co. The numbers where embossed with Lindy's Stamp Gang. Sorry, I forgot to write down the color. The clock face numbers were attached with Scotch quick dry glue. 

The back of the face plate was textured using Gina's Texture Sheet - Swirled Hearts. When the texture paste was dry, I dusted some perfect pearls over it for color.  The brace and all the edges were painted brown.

Thanks for stopping by the blog today!

Gina's Designs Product Used

Desk Clock Standard

Texture Sheet Swirled Hearts

The Moon Sees Me Tag by Mary

Happy Sunday, folks! I have a cute tag for my Gina's Designs DT project featuring stamps by RubberMoon! When I saw the "See the Moon Words" stamp, I thought of the Celestial Shape Set from Gina's!

I started by using one of Gina's x large chipboard tag and applied gesso to it. After the gesso was dried, I used various sprays, drying between different colors. Once I achieved a color, I used the inksplat stamp

All the chipboard pieces had a layer of gesso applied to them. After that I painted the shapes with appropriate colors. On the cloud I used RubberMoon's "See the Moon Words" stamp.

Gina's Designs Products Used:

Chipboard Decorative Tags X Large

Celestial Shape Set

RubberMoon

mixed media inksplat -art stamp

see the moon words

Other Products Used:

Paint: Medium Yellow, Yellow Ochre, Deep Yellow, Brilliant Blue, Lamp Blue, Butter Milk

Gesso

Lindy's Stamp Gang: Danny Zuko's Denim, Whale Water Blue, Ocean Blue, Tiffany Lou Blue, Bachelor Button Blue

Ribbon from my stash

glitter

Happy Holidays Shadowbox by Mary

Thanks for stopping by Gina's blog on this last day of 2014. I have a happy holidays shadowbox for you today. I apologize for posting this after Christmas, but it was a gift!

This element piece was made with one of Gina's doilies and a punchelement 1 inch scalloped.

You can see the three different techniques I used on the ornaments. After they were painted I used bling on the first, a rubber stamp on the second, and one of Gina's snowflakes that I glittered on the third.

The number 25 was custom made by Gina.

From all of us a Gina's Designs, have a safe and Happy New Year!

Gina's Designs Products

Memory Tray Shadowbox

Punchelements - 1 inch Scalloped

Pine Tree Shape Set

Cardstock Doily Set 1

Christmas Shape Set

Snowflake Shape Set

Faux Metal Number Plates (Custom Ordered)

Other Products Used

Paint: Liquitex - Burnt Umber
Folkart - Lipstick Red, Classic Green,
Wicker White, Thicket
DecoArt - Dazzling Metallics - Luminous Gold
Paper: Bo Bunny - Silver & Gold Collection
DCWV - The Christmas Combo Stack
DCWV -  The Homemade Christmas Stack
White metal snowflake brads
Large metal snowflakes - ButterBeeScraps
Glitter - Martha Stewart
Candy cane
unmounted stamp
red pearl trim
bells
acetate
tag

"And the Stockings Were Hung..." Tag by Mary

Happy Monday! I have a fun Christmas tag for you today. The tag is one of the three tags form the Chipboard Decorative Tags X Large set.  To give the wall a bricked look, I stenciled the tag with the Texture Sheet - Brick Wall  using several of distressed inks. I cut a small section from the bottom of tag and made a back box with it to simulate a fireplace. The next time I come across a small branch, I will have to gather it for logs!

For the stockings, I painted them red, used ink on the edges and a cotton ball for the "fur" look. The middle stocking is stamped with a snowflake stamp.

Gina's Designs Products Used 

Chipboard Decorative Tags X Large

Texture Sheet - Brick Wall

Christmas Shape Set

Other Products Used
Please visit my blog HERE.

Merry Christmas!

Compostion Box by Mary

Hello everyone, Mary here.  I hope all is well. I know that many of you are busy with school starting again. I don't think it has sunk in that I will not have to crack the books this semester!

Today I have one of Gina's composition boxes. These boxes come with the large box, the three smaller boxes, a wooden key and the chipboard numbers. Currently it shows the number 25 in the store, but you can order any two numbers you want. As of this post, you will need to leave Gina a message as to which numbers you would like.

The inspiration I used was my trip to Ireland in 2006. We were there for two wonderful weeks.

 

 All the inner boxes had the outer edges first inked and then I applied some paint in spots. I love how it looks worn.

Thanks for stopping by the blog today! I hope you have a great day!

Gina's Designs Products

Composition Box

Words & Phrases 1

Other Products

Paper: Antiquity

Paint: Americana - Burnt Umber

Glitter Glue: Studio G - Brown

Embossing Powder: Stash

Metal Charm: Stash

House: from Ireland

Tim Holtz: Distress Ink - Walnut Stain

Bling: Me & My Big Ideas

Stickers: Stash