"Steampunk-in" Altered Craft Pumpkin by Lynne

Hey there! While I'm not a huge Halloween fan (other than the cutesy little-kid type stuff) I do enjoy fall decor and I saw an altered craft pumpkin on a crafty friend's Facebook page which inspired my to create this one. Do check out Heather Tracy's blog Thicketworks and the lovely pumpkin she created at: http://thicketworks.com/easy-elegant-pumpkin/

I started with one of those craft pumpkins you can find at Michael's although this technique could be used on real pumpkins as well.

I used DecoArt Honest Copper metallic acrylic paint to coat the entire pumpkin. The colour looks richer and less orange in real life, but we were having a dreary overcast day.

I arranged a combination of chipboard pieces, flowers, and metal embellishments and then painted them with the copper paint as well. Then I set them aside to dry.

I used Mod Podge to attach pieces of lace here and there on the front of the pumpkin. I found the thinner synthetic lace worked better than the thicker cotton lace. I then added another coat of paint. If you try to attach the lace before the first coat of paint it may not cover well in the openings so the extra step is worthwhile.

Then I was able to have some fun with the background sponge painting over the copper with gold and adding some mist in warm tones.

After attaching the chipboard and other embellishments, I continued to add mists making sure to use some of them heavily enough to encourage dripping into the grooves of the pumpkin. I also rubbed Brown and Paprika Versacolor inks onto the embellishments to define them a little more. The final sprays were Dylusions Pomengranate Seed which has a rich burgundy and a dash of Heidi Swapp Gold Lame.

This really was a fun project to put together and I think a cluster of these altered pumpkins in different sizes (and maybe even some gourd shapes) would make an eye catching display. Happy fall to you and have a colourful week!

GYPSY SOUL ITEMS USED

Steampunk Shape Set

Chain Borders

Gear Border and Corners Miniatures

OTHER ITEMS USED

DecoArt acrylic paints

Prima flowers

Tattered Angels mist

Heidi Swapp mist

Dylusions mist

VersaColor Inks

Beneath the Sea with Guest Designer Katie Zoey Ho

Hi Everyone,

Katie here with my second guest post with GSL. What I am sharing today is a totally handmade bathroom art decor using Graphic 45 Voyage Beneath the Sea paper collection - a fusion of Art Novena and Steampunk.

Can’t resist steampunk stuffs - gears and wheels etc. I deliberately altered the corners, wheels and gears to match the colour scheme so as to give a marine feel. I’d think this would make a really nice bathroom decor.

GSL products used:

Gears Borders and Corners Miniatures

Steampunk Gears Set

The Sea is Calling and I Must Go Canvas by Pam Bray

Hi it's Pam today on the Gypsy Soul Laser Cuts Blog!!! I will be heading to Florida at the end of the month for a few days so I know I am hearing the waves of the water calling me. I am so excited to share "The Sea is Calling and I Must Go Canvas" with you today.

Begin by first inking a 8" x 8" pattern paper from the Beneath the Sea Paper Pad. Apply brown ink around edges using blending tool. Place on a 8" x 8" canvas.

Take Boss Gloss, dab around a 8" x 8" Texture Sheet Gears.  Apply rust embossing powder and heat emboss. 

 Place adhesive to the back of prepared Texture Sheet Gears.

 Place on prepared canvas.

 Adhere layers of card stock, pattern paper and doily die cut to top of prepared canvas.

Adhere a few more pieces of the pattern paper, journal block and card stock to the front of the prepared canvas.

Prepare one of the Steampunk Fan Blades and Gears, Borders and Corners. Add both to top of prepared canvas.

 Adhere paper strip from the Voyage Beneath the Sea paper.

Fussy cut two of the mermaid and seahorse of the images from the pattern paper. Add pop dots to prepared canvas.

 Add the second fussy cut mermaid and...

 Seahorse to top of canvas.

I hope you have enjoyed my tutorial on how to create a fabulous canvas and hope you check out all the steampunk goodness as well as other fabulous chipboard being offered in the Gypsy Soul Laser Cuts Store. Don't forget to follow us on Facebook and the blog. Pam

Gypsy Soul Laser Cuts Supplies:

Texture Sheet Gears 

Steampunk Fan Blade 

Gears, Borders and Corners (Contact Gypsy Soul Laser Cuts)

Other Supplies:

Graphic 45 Voyage Beneath the Sea Collection

8" x 8" Canvas

Doily Die Cut

Chestnut Roan Ink

Blending Tool

Xyron Creative Station

Beacon Zip Dry Glue

Stand Up Love Sentiment by Dianna

Hi everyone, Dianna here with Gypsy Soul Laser Cuts - Stand Up Sentiments - Love.  I used the colors for the February Facebook Challenge - Pink, White and Silver.  

I painted the love sentiment white.  I then had Gina cut out the Love lettering from Yours Truly paper line. I glued pink paper first then off set the grey paper. I embossed the grey paper with silver and white embossing powder.  I then used a pink distressed ink on both the pink and grey paper.  

I painted the large heart from Build a layout Lovebirds white then colored it pink with a Copic Marker.  I applied glossy accents to the heart and sprinkled white and silver beads.  I cut out the man and women from Authentique - Crush -Cache.  The dress was blue and I colored it pink.  I painted the gears from the Gears Borders and Corners Miniatures white and used Stickles on the gears.  I placed grey pearls and rhinestones in the center of the gears.  

I painted the lovebirds white and colored the birds grey with Copic Markers.  I cut one side of the heart vine and colored it white and pink.  

I wanted the back of the Love to be pretty also so, I painted the Heart of Gears white and then colored it pink.  I used Stickles on the heart and placed grey pearls in the middle of the gears. 

Thank you for looking! 

Items Used

Gypsy Soul Laser Cuts

Stand Up Sentiments

Build A Layout Lovebirds

Gears Borders and Corners Miniatures

Heart of Gears

Other Items 

Authentique- Crush - Cache

Echo Park Paper

"CREATE"-Altered Paint Palette

Hello my crafty and creative friends! Lynne here with an altered wooden paint palette. I've seen seen some beautiful projects made using these and decided it would be fun to try using some of the unique and interesting chipboard pieces from Gina's.

I primed the palette with gesso, then arranged  and attached the chipboard, corrugate, flowers, metal, paintbrush and stenciling with texture paste before adding a second coat of gesso.  I then painted the entire surface with metallic silver acrylic paint before using Twinkling H20s to create a rainbow of colour on my project.

Afterwards I added a few clusters of mica flakes for sheen and a bit of different texture. This was such a fun project to create, giving me a chance to mix and match all sorts of goodies, and I love the effect of the paints over the silver background! Thanks so much for stopping by, and hope you have a wonderfully creative week!

Gina's Designs Items Used

Steampunk Lightbulb set

Gear Borders and Corners Miniature

Gears Shape Set

Butterflies and Dragonflies

Other Items Used

ColourArte Twinkling H20s

Metallic silver acrylic paint

Prima and Crafter's Workshop stencils

Metal gears and shapes

misc. flowers and embellishments

Crazy for Coffee by Barb

Henry Ward Beecher said, "A cup of coffee -- real coffee -- home-browned, home-ground, home-made, that comes to you dark as a hazel-eye, but changes to a golden bronze as you temper it with cream that never cheated, but was real cream from its birth, thick, tenderly yellow, perfectly sweet, neither lumpy nor frothing on the Java: such a cup of coffee is a match for twenty blue devils, and will exorcise them all."

Anyone who has known me for more than, oh, 25 seconds, knows that I'm a certifiable coffee addict. It took absolutely no stretch of my imagination when it came to this design. I began by painting a canvas board with white, blue and brown acrylic paints. Then I added the splatters, rings and coffee beans - all of which are done with rubber stamps.

I coated the gears with Brilliance Pearlescent Chocolate ink and dabbed a bit of Pearlescent Sky blue over that once it had dried.

I painted the spoon with Imagine Crafts Creative Medium in silver. While it was still wet, I used a rubber stamp to make the impression on the handle. When it had dried completely, I used my finger to rub blue ink into it to make it stand out more.

I began the mug by painting it with a layer of gesso. After the gesso was dry, I colored it in with Colour Arts's Twinkling H2Os. I didn't want an empty mug (mercy, no!), so I colored in some liquid using a Sharpie. I also added Distress Stickles to the "liquid" to give it extra sparkle. I used a rubber stamp with StazOn ink for the words on the mug. For the steam I painted the piece with gesso and then glopped on a thick layer of Distress Stickles.

I wanted the word "coffee" to look like an old enamel sign. I began by giving it a thick layer of irRESISTibles spray in wedding white. Once it was completely dry, I stamped "coffee" all over it, again using StazOn ink. I used the same shade of ink and, using my finger (which only stayed stained for about a day and a half), I lightly rubbed it here and there on the piece. To give it a little extra depth, I dabbed on Distress Stickles. 

And now, if you'll excuse me, I think I'm going to get a cup of coffee!

Gina's Designs Products Used

Coffee & Tea Shape Set

Gears Boarders & Corners Miniatures

Remember the Journey

Hi everyone! Melissa here with a layout for Gina's Designs. My mother-in-law took this photo at Land's End, in Cornwall.

I had a lot of fun decorating chipboard, as usual! For the background I applied texture paste on a texture sheet, then sponged on gesso. I then painted with Viva Modeling Cream, then a little Lindy's, watercolors, and Twinkling H20s. I prepped all the chipboard with gesso. I drew some detail on the seahorse with a pencil, then painted it with brown watercolor. I added some gold perfect pearls. I took off some of the brown later with a wet brush, to give it a little more dimension, and put some more paint on different areas. On the gears on the upper right,and the flourish at the right of the photo I poured gold embossing powder on wet gesso, then heated it. The gesso made it bubble up for some extra texture.I dry brushed some Vintaj patina paint on top. I painted the gears at the bottom right and center of the photo with brown watercolor, I applied a layer of glossy accents and put the items on a pile of crushed up mica flakes. I topped them with some patina paint. For the title work I painted with twinkling H20s, then put on some Versamark embossing ink. I poured on chunky clear embossing powder and heated it. 

Thanks for looking, and I hope you find some scrappy time for yourself today!

Gina's Designs products used:

Texture Sheet Diamonds

Gears Borders and Corners Miniatures

Steampunk Frame

Curly Word: Remember

Sea Horse Shapes

Layered Flourish Renata Small



Other Products:

Paper by My Mind's Eye

Prima flowers

 Twinkling H20's

Viva Colour Modeling Cream

Lindys Stamp Gang

Perfect Pearls

Windsor and Newton Watercolors

Tsukineko Chalk Ink

Sizzix Tattered Florals

Liquitex Texture Paste

Sizzlits Spring Greenery

Vintaj Patina Paint

Stampendous Mica Flakes

Martha Stewart Silicone Mold

Melta Art Ultra Thick Embossing Enamel

Shabby Steampunk Tag by Kim

 Happy Friday Friends! Today I would like to share with you my shabby steampunk tag. I used the Extra Large Tag from Gina's for my base. These tags are very cool and measure 8 inches high by 4 inches wide!   I started off by mod podging a lovely napkin with a vintage girl image on top, then layered some gorgeous laces and trims on the top and bottom.

I cut up my Gears Borders and Corners set and layered them in her hair.  I embossed them in various colors of embossing powders, but keeping them in the vintage metal tones I wanted to achieve.  I then added some fun metal pieces like a hot air balloon on top of the gears, and some chipboard clock hands and a flower from Craftsupplies1.

 Here you can see one of Gina's chipboard pocket watches which I covered with some Prima Chalk Inks and surrounded with a metal clock hand, cameo and more beautiful flowers from Craftsupplies1.

 I also used some of the numbers from the Chunky Borders Set, cutting them up and placing them on the tag after embossing them and adding some copper Gilder's Paste.

I love the shabby and vintage feel of this tag, and the gears that surround this lovely little lady!

Thanks so much for stopping by today!

Gina's Designs Items Used

Chipboard Decorative Tags X Large

Gears Borders and Corners Miniatures

Pocket Watch Assorted Sizes

Numbers from Chunky Borders

Other Items Used

Vintage Girl Napkin and Resin Eiffel Tower from stash

Flowers, Lace and Metal from stash

Cameo, Music Ribbon, Metal Clock Hand from My Stash

Art Is Stencil From Crafter's Workshop

Prima Chalk Inks

Mod Podge

Copper Gilders Paste

Imagine Crafts Embossing Powders

Stampendous Shabby White Embossing Powder

Family Photo Cube by Kim

Hi everyone and happy Friday! For me weekends are all about family, so today I would like to share with you my Family Photo Cube I have created featuring photos of my Grandson Brayden.  I used some of the Prima Cartographer paper on this cube, and there are lots of images of hot air balloons on the paper, so it worked out great with Gina's Net Style Hot Air Balloons which I have used on the top of the cube.  I also used some of the Border & Corner Gear Miniatures along the side of the balloon, and a wooden sentiment from my stash that says Our Family.

Above here you can also see the photo on the front and I have used some of the Art Deco Corners, embossed in black, for photo corners. I finished it off with some flowers and a metal zipper.

 Below here you can see some photos of my beautiful Grandson Brayden.  I have placed his photo inside some of the new Word Frames.  The first one says "moment", and on the opposite side of the cube, I have one which says "family". I used another of the Border & Corner Gear Miniatures, a metal arrow and flower in the corner of the frame. I wanted to keep it simple, to make the photo the star of the show.

 

Here is the reverse side of the photo cube. You can see I have used one of the new Photo Reels, embossed it in black, and then used a metal flower on top of it. I then used one of the words from the Word & Phrases 1 set "love", and topped it off with another flower. Below the back of the hot air balloon, I used a metal butterfly and cameo. On the base you can see I placed a vintage doily, some more flowers and some of Gina's Feathery Flourishes to complete the look. 

 Below here is a close up of the Deco corners, they make perfect photo corners for projects, I just love how they turned out and they hold the photo perfectly!

I hope you will try making your own family photo cube, this was a lot of fun to create!

Thanks for stopping by today.

Gina's Designs Products Used
Art Deco Border and Corners
Word Frames - Moment
Hot Air Balloons Net Style
Photo Reel Standard
Words & Phrases 1
Feathery Flourishes Set
Gears Borders and Corners Miniatures

Lots of Fun Projects to Share From Gina's Designs and the Team at Craft Supplies1

Hello Again everyone! Today we wanted to share more of the amazing projects that have been created by the Craftsupplies1 Design Team. They have really made our products shine and below here you will find some beautiful samples of their work.

First up is Kim who has created these unique vintage looking luggage pieces from our book boxes.

Here is the link to Kim's Video with more details about her project: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tvjruiHCv7k

Next up we have Marla H. She has created some lovely little Chipboard Clipboards from our shop.

Here is the link to Marla's video explain how she created them. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mMgk7_C2_AI

This is a beautiful Fairy Box created by Kristina. She has featured our Fairy Shapes in her shadowbox and done a wonderful job!

Here is the link to Kristina's Video:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U-vWdTBEizY&list=UUQTdDSesvhnejmvu526xO1Q

Next up we have Becky up with a gorgeous card she has created featuring several of our pieces

Here is the link to Becky's Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hYZ9LNpURdg

Last up we have here a very fun project by Ashley who created a beautiful Shabby Frame

Here is the link to Ashley's video explaining her design:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5_7sVTaxQhQ

Next up is Shanna with her take on our March Layout Challenge.

Hey everyone. Shanna here. Have you stopped by to check out the challenge? You can do whatever you would like with the challenge. You can create a home decor piece, make some altered art, and you can do a layout too.

I chose to play along with a layout. I am not going to lie I told the girl what the heck am I suppose to do.... I had some ideas and lots of stuff all over the floor trying to see it in my head. Finally this is what I came up with!

Items Used:

Small Fence and Gate Set

Words & Phrases 1

For more photos and info check it out on my blog here!

Next up "Take A Balloon Ride" with Heidi!

Hello everyone, Heidi here.  I just adore these large size chipboard tags so much, giving you lots of space to decorate and make a statement.

I started this tag by taking a piece of kraft cardstock, crimping it and then tore a couple of spots in the top paper so that the "corrugated" paper shows through. I like doing this because then you can tear your paper and either stamp on that back piece or in this case, I put in a gear and then layered another layer of gears/buttons on top of it.

Then at the top of the tag I added a few more gears and tied them together.  My thought in my head is that the gears are turning and the balloon is rising.  

Products used:

Gears Borders and Corners Miniatures

Gear Shape Set

Clock Hands Shape Set

Hot Air Balloons Net Style