Two Cards to Think About with Gina's Designs Lasercuts

Hello everyone!  Barbara here, and I am in a card making mood.  It might be because I have several birthdays on the horizon, and I am in dire need of masculine cards.  My first card is made with the male recipient in mind, while the second card could go either way just by changing the bicycle.  

As you know, we have been featuring papers and embellishments from The Robin's Nest this month.  I love the quality of their products, and I know you will, too.

Directions:

Clockworks Penny Farthing Card

Cover front of 5"x7" kraft card with the brown herringbone print from the Regent Street paper pad.

Cut Graphic 45 paper to 5"x7", distress edges.  Tear a "V" from the top, large enough to fit a gear behind the opening.  Distress edges with paper distressor tool, edge with Vintage Photo distress stain. The stain gives the edges a burnt look.  Mist corners with water and curl around the end of a paint brush.  Let dry.

Stamp sentiment (One Penny for Your Thoughts) onto a fussy cut printed label from the Steampunk Botanica pad with black archival ink.

The Clockworks Penny Farthing was inked with Vintage Photo and Black Soot Distress stains.  The two gears were inked first with Vintage Photo distress stain, then Tarnished Brass and Antique Bronze distress stains.

I could not resist adding a spinner to the center of the Penny Farthing (below). I love the two-toned effect on the chipboard from the two distress stain colors.

In this photo, you can see the gold gear that I slipped behind the torn away paper, and on top, I added the second gear with another tiny spinner.

Before adhering the stamped label with foam dots, I heated a section of film strip to "wrinkle" it.

My next card could be either feminine or masculine, just by changing the bicycle to a boy's bike.

Life is a Beautiful Ride Card

Cover front of 5"x7" kraft card with The Robin's Nest Saffron Honey paper.  Distress the edges with Vintage Photo distress ink.

Use the reverse side of the Saffron Honey paper to punch a decorative strip and adhere along left edge of card.

Use a Versamark pen to color the bike, and heat emboss with Glacier embossing powder.  The tires were heat embossed with Midnight Black embossing powder, while the pedal, handlebar, and seat were heat embossed with Black Puffs embossing powder.

A tiny pieceof olive green paper was glued behind the basket section, while two larger metal gears were glued to the wheels.  A tiny watch part was glued above the pedal.

I cut apart one of the chipboard pieces from the Mixed Media Fragments 2 set and colored the arrow with Vintage Photo distress stain, then dabbed the Peeled Paint Distress Paint randomly over the top.

The other section I cut away from the Mixed Media Fragments 2 set were colored with the Peeled Paint Distress Paint and adhered to the card, as shown.

I cut apart a piece of the chain border and colored with Antique Bronze distress stain.  Then I dabbed the chain randomly with a Versamark pen, and heat embossed with the Glacier embossing powder to give it a patina.

I used Big Chat Stickers and Label Letters to form the sentiment "life is a beautiful ride".

Supplies:

Gina's Designs:
Clockwork Penny Farthing
Steampunk Shape Set
Chain Borders
Mixed Media Fragments 2
Bicycles
The Robin's Nest:  Saffron Honey
Rubber Stamp: One Penny 4 (PaperArtsy)
Kraft 5"x7" pre-folded card stock
Versamark Ink Pen
Black archival ink
Embossing Powders: Glacier (Zing), Black Puffs (Ranger), Midnight Black (Mark Enterprises)
Distress Stains: Vintage Photo, Black Soot, Antique Bronze, Tarnished Brass
Distress Paint: Peeled Paint
Paper:  Steampunk Botanica, Regent Street (Recollections)
Decorative punch (Martha Stewart)
Tim Holtz Ideaology: Film Strip, Spinners, Brads, Label Letters, Big Chat Stickers
Watch parts, metal gears (my stash)
Prismacolor Metallic Silver pen

I hope you enjoyed my cards today and are inspired to make some with chipboard shapes in mind.

Please check out the links to The Robin's Nest Store and Blog.  Don't forget to visit Gina's Store, Blog, and Facebook Group so you will always be privy to all the wonderful happenings  

Thanks for stopping by, and have a wonderful, creative week!!!

Barbara
  

My Art Mouse Trap Note Holder

Hello everyone, and welcome to my first post as a regular design team member for Gina's Designs Lasercut Chipboard.  I am so excited to be here as a regular designer.  I love Gina's chipboard, and the ideas just seem to flow from me whenever I look at her designs.

I was at my stamp club meeting a few weeks ago and we were altering mouse traps.  These make fabulous little note holders.  I had taken some of my Gina's Designs chipboard with me, and I thought, why not share my project with you.  

You can purchase mouse traps quite inexpensively from dollar stores, as well as hardware stores.  The first thing I did was remove the holding bar and the u-clip.  See photo below.

You can paint the base platform or cover it with paper by working around the spring and hammer, you can carefully slide your paper beneath it and glue it down.  Be very careful lifting the hammer so you do not get your finger pinched.  

Sand the platform first.  Then paint it with Broken China, Peeled Paint, and Tarnished Brass distress paints.  I added the ART image to the top section, adding more paint around the image to make it blend into the background.

I used an awl to hold the hammer up while working in that area. I next cut little pieces from the Diamonds Texture Sheet, painting it with the same colors as the platform.  I adhered them, as shown.

I cut away a small piece of the dress form so I can place it around the u-clip that holds the hammer and springs in place, and then I painted it and a key plate with Rusty Hinge distress ink.  I then distressed the edge of the dress form with Gathered Twigs distress ink, and heat embossed the key plate with Versamark ink and rust embossing powder.  

Insert two tiny brads through the key plate holes and adhere both shapes to platform.

Paint small dragonfly with Silks Cool Water, Teal Zircon, and Sunburst Silks Acrylic Glaze.  

Paint small butterfly with Ginger Peach, Sunburst, and edge with Bolivian Blue Silks Acrylic Glaze.  Add Peridot glitter to wings, and Amber glitter to butterfly body.  Adhere each as shown.

Cut two sections from the Border Sticks Lace strip, color with Rusty Hinge, Tarnished Brass,  Broken China, and Peeled Paint distress paint.  Adhere to top of platform.  Add Cream Pearl Pen dots to upper right corner and three in lower portion.

Use an awl to start a hole at the bottom center of the platform, insert a screw eye.  Heat emboss key with Versamark ink and  Rusty Nail embossing powder, then two clock hands with Patina embossing powder.  Hang from screw eye with a jump ring.  

Supplies used:
Gina's Designs:  Dressforms and Wings Shape Set, Keys and Plates Shape Set, Texture Sheet Diamonds, Butterflies and Dragonflies, Border Sticks Lace, Clock Hands Shape Set
ColourArte:  Silks Acrylic Glaze - Ginger Peach, Sunburst, Bolivian Blue, Cool Water, Teal Zircon
I Create, Therefore I Am collage sheet (Altered Pages)
Mouse Trap
Peridot and Amber Glitter Liner, Cream Pearl Pen (VivaDecor)
Ink Pads:  Versamark, Gathered Twigs Distress Stain
Distress Paints: Broken China, Peeled Paint, Rusty Hinge, Tarnished Brass
Embossing Powders: Rust, Patina, Rusty Nail
Mini screw brads, screw eye, jump ring
Beacon Quick Grip Glue

I hope you enjoyed my project and that I have inspired you to create one of these fun little note holders for friends, or keep some for yourself.  Add a magnet to the back to hang it on the fridge to keep your grocery list nearby, or hang it on the wall to keep your notes and reminders.

Thanks for stopping by, and be sure to visit Gina's Designs blog every day for more inspiration from the team, and check out the online store for more great shapes for all of your art projects.    

Have a wonderful and creative weekend!

Barbara

Butterfly Mini Book

Hello everyone!  So glad you stopped by today.  I have a super fun project to share using some of the newest products from Sin City Stamps, and my favorite technique I learned from Finnabair, aka Anna Dabrowski.  As you will see, this technique allows you to use whatever supplies you have on hand, whether or not the colors match.

Supplies Used:

Sin City Stamps:  Butterfly Chipboard Book, Gears Die Cuts, Gears 3 Die Cuts, Animal Print Stencil
Love of Butterflies, Art Journaling with Terri Sproul 2,
Paper flowers and embellishments (Recollections, Prima)
Metal gears (Tim Holtz)
Ink Sprays:  Seven Seas, Chocolate Covered Cherries (Tattered Angels); Cut Grass, Funky Fuchsia (Dylusions)
Ink Pads:  Encore Gold Metallic, Versafine Smokey Gray, Vintage Photo distress,
Metallic Creams:  German Silver (Baroque Art); Olive, Gold, Copper, Black (Craf-T Products)
Glue n Seal (Ranger)
Hard Molding Paste (Golden)
White Gesso (Ranger)

Directions:

Front Cover:

First of all, I want to show you the quality of these laser cut wood book covers.  These are the most sturdy substrates, and you will be able to embellish these with heavy-duty embellishments without losing stability.

Adhere die cut gears and clock hands with glue n seal to front cover.

Apply hard molding paste through animal print stencil and let dry.

Adhere flowers and metal embellishments, as shown, and paint everything with white gesso, let dry.

Spray cover with ink sprays, dabbing some of the colors off, and re-spraying until you like it.

Blend colors a bit with a damp paintbrush and dab off more with a paper towel.

Apply metallic creams to the die cut gears, flowers, and metal embellishments (gold), clock hands (green metallic), stenciled areas (black and gold metallic) and add some gold metallic around the edges.

Cover metal filigree butterfly with German silver metallic cream and adhere to cover, as shown.  Lift wings a bit for dimension.

Glue chain and metal hanger to center of butterfly, as shown.  Add small metal clock face, lightly inked with brown archival ink, and tiny pearl to center of clock hands.

Here are a few more close-ups of the front cover embellishments.

Inside Front Cover:

Stamp large butterfly onto die cut butterfly book page with grey ink.

Color with colored pencils, distress ink, and add a bit of clear Wink of Stella pen to white flower petals and butterflies.

Stamp small swirl design around the edge of the paper with Encore gold metallic ink.  Adhere to inside front cover.

Back Cover:

Adhere ribbon, lace, die cut gears, paper flowers, leaves, and metal embellishments to cover with Glue n Seal.  Let dry.  Trim excess lace and ribbon.

Paint entire piece with white gesso and let dry.

Spray cover with ink sprays, dabbing some of the colors off, and re-spraying until you like it.  Blend colors a bit with a damp paintbrush and dab off more with a paper towel.

Apply metallic creams to the die cut gears, flowers, and metal embellishments (gold), clock hands (green metallic), stenciled areas (black and gold metallic) and add some gold metallic around the edges.

Inside Back Cover:

Paint inside back cover with white gesso while adhering die cut gears.  Allow to dry.

Spray cover with ink sprays, dabbing some of the colors off, and re-spraying until you like it.  Blend colors a bit with a damp paintbrush and dab off more with a paper towel.  Apply metallic creams to the die cut gears.

Add a few metal gears and clock face with brad over die cuts, as shown.

Here you can see the back (left) and the front (right) side by side.  There are several die cut pages inserted in the middle to be decorated as you choose.  

I hope you enjoyed my project this week, and that you will hop on over to the Sin City Stamps store to see all of their new and wonderful products.  They have so many items to go along with your stamping needs and you will fall in love, as I have, with them.  Also, check out the coupon page for their whopping 40% off everything in the store sale, through December 22nd.  And there is also a design team call going on right now.  You can get all the details here.

Have a wonderful weekend,  a very Merry Christmas, and a Happy New Year too!

Barbara