Friday, August 30, 2013

"The Intervention" - A layout featuring my cat Majicou

They stole this bag of catnip from a closed drawer in the kitchen. It was all over the house. I can't be positive which one took it from the drawer, but "Majicou" was the one caught holding the bag so to speak. He looked pretty guilty to me. In this layout I used chipboard grasses by Gina's Designs. I totally love the grasses and I've used it on everything from Layouts to cards, to canvases, and other altered projects. The butterflies are by Renea Bouquets on Etsy. The papers are by BoBunny,  the Trail Mix collection including the fussy cut birds. Ferns and other foliage dies by paper trey ink, and by Marianne Creatables.  Hope you like it :)


 Grasses by Gina's Designs

Thursday, August 22, 2013

Flying Heart Wall Hanging Kit

This is one of the wall hanging kits from Gina's Designs and it was a pleasure to assemble and decorate.

The kit comes with the following:

6 x 6 chipboard square with a small hole punched in each corner (I used my cropodile to insert eyelets into each hole).  This square piece is intended to be at the top

6 x 7.5 chipboard rectangle with two holes punched at the top and one hole punched in the center of the bottom.  This piece is intended to connect to the square at the top, and to hang the large key from the center of the bottom.

A large heart and a smaller heart
A pair of wings
A crown
Large key (to hang from the bottom of the chipboard rectangle) and also a smaller key
Corrugated die cut shape (I used this on the top piece)
Corrugated cardboard strip (fits the length of the bottom piece, and I chose to cut mine in half)
Three words (Dream, Inspire, and Create)

Please see the bottom of this post for a list of the other items from Gina's Designs that I added to my hanging.  This piece looked gorgeous as it was without the extras I added, but that's just me, I can't stop once I get my hands on my chippies :)





Gina's Designs Products used:
Flying Heart Wall Hanging Kit
Steampunk Shapes Set
Steampunk Shapes 2
Hinge straps shapes set
Brick Wall

Other Products used:

Butterflies from Renea Bouquets on Etsy
Tim Holtz Design paper
Prima Chalk Inks
Crackle Accents
UTEE
Metal Effects Iron Paint by Modern Masters (used on the chipboard keys and hinge)
Metal Effects Rust Activator by Modern Masters (The activator is part two in the above process)
Rub n Buff in silver, in gold and in patina
Tim Holtz silver metallic distress dabber paint
Tim Holtz distress embossing powder (on the wings)
Metal roses from my stash
Recollections gold roses
Magic Mesh in pale green
Tim Holtz chain clasps





Wednesday, August 14, 2013

Memory Box from Gina's Designs in an Alice in Wonderland Theme

These 5 x 7 memory boxes from Gina's Designs come in the same themed shapes as our ATC shrines.   I chose the one with the time theme thinking I'd either do an Alice in Wonderland themed project, or something steampunk.  It had been awhile since I'd indulged myself and created a detailed fantasy project.  I love to create a little world that tempts me to step into it.
The memory box could certainly also be used to display a favorite photo.  I thought about that possibility as well, and come to think of it, I just might need another one :)



I began by taping off the little notches with masking tape then painting the box with gesso.  You can skip the masking process, but you might have to do some sanding afterwards so that the notches will fit together properly when you assemble it later.  I applied some Japanese lace papers in shades of blue and green adhering and protecting it with golden gel medium.  Then came various ink sprays and finally some Kroma crackle to further distress the finish.


I created a little book covered with leather-look paper on the outside, and a little drink me bottle


 I love how the background came out both inside and out.  I then added lots of mosses, die cut leaves etc to create my fantasy forest. The tree on the inside is also by Gina's Designs.  The Alice in Wonderland images were purchased on Etsy and I doubled up the heavy cardstock before fussy cutting and then covered the images with triple thick gloss medium by Deco Arts  to make them very sturdy, shiny and durable.


 On the backside of the box I decided to lay some of the new chipboard bricks (coloring them with chalk inks and using some texture paste as my grout.  At the top of the brick wall I added one of Gina's curly trees also colored with chalk inks and stickles.
 I had so much fun, I hope you like it!

Gina's Designs Products used:

Time themed 5 x 7 Memory Box
(Gina's Designs products listed as coming soon are available by request and will be listed in the shop soon)


Other Products:

Japanese Lace Paper (I purchased mine online from Dick Blick Art Materials)
Golden Gel Medium in matte finish
Prima Chalk Inks
Prima resin mushroom
Various mosses and things from my stash
Tim Holtz glass bottle
Images from Etsy
Distress stickles by Ranger
Rub n Buff in gold
Gesso in white
Texture paste by Liquitex






Sunday, August 11, 2013

A layout featuring chipboard peacock feathers

I just love these peacock feathers.  This is my second time using these awesome feathers in a project and this time I simply colored them with Prima chalk inks and a bit of distress stickles in black soot.   I thought they were perfect for this simple layout of my cat Tulip.




Gina's Designs Products used:


Other Products:
Kaisercraft Miss Empire Collectibles cardstock die cuts
Petaloo flowers
Butterflies from Renea Bouquets on Etsy
Hanging resin lamp from Prima
Design paper by DCWV the Garden Tea Party stack
Stencil by Heidi Swapp