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

Composition Box by Kathi and Layout by Melissa

Hi Crafters!  Today we have two projects to share.  First up is Kathi with her version of the Composition Boxes we've been sharing with you this month.


Hi everyone, it's Kathi here to share my composition box & a video on how I altered it. It's hard to believe it's been 40 years since I graduated from High School in 1974.  I thought it would be fun to create a memory box representing Lewiston Senior High, Lewiston Idaho, home of The Bengals.  I decorated the box with my school colors.

Bengal Tigers 

Full view of box, 

High school colors purple & gold.

close up of top

Video :

Supplies Used:

Gina;s Designs:

Composition Box

Boarder Sticks

Other supplies:

Quick Quotes paper "Julie Je T'aime"

Distress paint

WOC flowers

Recollection flowers

Flat back beads. 

Miniature photo frame

Stuffed Bengal tiger

Chipboard letters & numbers from my stash


Next up is Melissa with an amazing mixed media layout.

Hi everyone! Melissa here with a 12 x 12 layout for Gina's Designs Lasercut Chipboard.

This is a photo of a beach in Greenport, on the north shore of Long Island, New York.   It was taken in September, almost October, so I put a little Halloween in here too, just for fun.

All of the chipboard was first prepped with some gesso, followed by some texture paste painted on with a brush. I only put a tiny bit on the sea horse.  The chandelier got painted with blue metallic acrylic paint, then glossy accents, then a little gold ink. For the chains I applied gold ink over silver glitter.  The flames have gold leaf on them.  The crows were painted with black acrylic, then glossy accents, then gold mica powder and water.  I went around the edges with a black sharpie to make the colors stand out more.

The blue mermaid was painted with watercolors. I drew fish scales over blue paint on the dress, then put a little green gel pen on. To make the hair look like strands,  I scratched wet texture paste with a straight pin.  I painted it with gold mica powder and water, and followed that with a little purplish- blue mica powder.

On the green mermaid I put scales on by using a piece of netting and texture paste. I painted it with blue watercolor, then watered down green acrylic silk.   I rubbed in some gold mica powder.

The sand dollar I first painted with wet gold mica powder, then a little brown watercolor around the star part, to give a little definition.  I rubbed in pewter mica.  

The seahorse is brown watercolor. I added detail with a pencil, using a print of a seahorse as a guide.

Thanks for looking!

Chipboard used:

Gothic Chandeliers

Sweet Summer Shape Set

Mermaids Shape Set

Sea Horse Shapes

Other products used:

Jaquard mica powders

Glossy Accents

Butterfly by Reneabouquet

Winton and Lewis Watercolors

Stencil by Finnabair for Prima

DCWV paper

Swarovski flatback crystals

Tiny pieces of Vintaj

Jolees bling