Winner of the Gina's Designs Birthday blog hop

Congratulations to the Winner of the Gina's Designs Birthday blog hop! Robin May won the Peacock Feathers Shape Set that I am giving away here on my blog. Congratulations!!! Please follow the steps below to claim your prize!
The Grand Prize winner has been announced over on the Gina's Designs Blog which you can find here,
 Gina's Designs   
1) Please email Gina at Contest@ginasdesigns.net
2) Place "Birthday Blog Hop Winner" in your email Subject line
3) Please state what blog you won on and the shape set you won
4) Please provide your mailing address

View From Tintagel

Hi everyone! Melissa here with a 12 x 12 layout for Gina's Designs.  I remember when I took this photo I was thinking how beautiful the view was.  This is where,according to legend, King Arthur built his castle. 

There are a lot of stories about mermaids in the ocean around Cornwall,both here on the north shore, and on the southern coast.

Gina's Designs has a variety of pieces you can use in your beachy creations. I thought the shells and mermaid fit the theme of the page.

All the chipboard is coated with gesso. I put on a layer of modeling paste on the mermaid with a palette knife. I smoothed it out with my finger until the paste looked streaky. I wanted it to look as if streams of water were going by. I painted her with a mix of Lindys Stamp Gang,Twinkling H20's, and regular watercolors. I dry brushed on layers of silver, gold, and blue Lumiere acrylic paint to pick up the texture. I patted on perfect pearls.  

The sand dollar on the upper right has on gold mica powder mixed with a drop of water.

The rest of the items have modeling paste on them.

The sand dollar to the left of the photo is painted the same way as the other one. 

The scallop has a mix of  a Lindy's pink and a little yellow color, some blue on top, silver mica powder, and gold embossing powder. The starfish is the same, but I didn't put the gold on.

The background is watercolor over gesso and modeling paste. I tried to show water moving with the curves of the stencils, and  the pearl flourishes. I put on crackle paint, micro beads, dry embossing powders, and distress glitter to add more texture.

Thanks for looking, and have a great day!

Gina's Products Used:

Mermaids Shape Set

Beach Shape Set

Other:

Papers by My Mind's Eye, Prima,and Graphic 45

Luminarte Twinkling H20s

Perfect Pearls

Lindy's Stamp Gang

Winsor and Newton Watercolors

Prima Pearl Flourishes

Distress Crackle Paint

Swarovski crystals

Stampendous Embossing Powder in Jeweled Gold

Distress Glitter

Ranger Distress Embossing Powder in Linen

Blog Hop Post

Welcome to Gina’s Designs 3^rd Birthday Blog Hop!

The Birthday Blog Hop will run from today, May 22, until May 29 at 8pm CST.  You should have just come from Barb - In the Studio With Barb If you didn't, don't worry! Just pop over to Gina's Designs Birthday Blog Hop post and follow all the blogs in order.

We are having two great giveaways associated with this blog hop.

The first one is the Birthday Prize Giveaway!

Barb - In the Studio With Barb 

The Birthday Prize package includes:

Filigree Frames Shape Set , Dressforms 1 Shape Set, Butterflies & Dragonflies,Grape Vines, Feathers Shape Set, Dressforms & Wings Shape Set, Steampunk 2 Shape Set, Clockwork Penny Farthing, Garden Fairies Medium, Garden Fairies Large, Damask Singles, Button Shape Set, Skylines, Landmarks, Collage Border Splash, Mermaids Shape Set, Stackable Labels Shape Set, Steampunk Shape Set, Vintage Ladies Silhouette, Dressforms 2 Miniature Shape Set, Candelabra Set, Dressforms 1 Miniature Shape Set, Barbed Wire Deco Frame Square,Barbed Wire Deco Frame Rectangle, Alarm Clock, Layered Border Victoria Small,Flourish Frame Sienna, Flourish Set Amanda, Wishing Well, Butterfly of Gears,Longstem Rose, Grape Vine Frame, Barbed Wire Frame Circle, and a Brush Caddy !!!!!

To be entered into the Birthday Prize giveaway, you need to:

1. Stop at all 15 designers’ blogs for a secret word.

2. After you collect all of the 15 words, create a sentence.   

3. Email your answer Contest@ginasdesigns.net for a chance to win the

 Birthday Prize!

 This is why you will want to make sure you stop at each blog. That prize package is fantastic! 

Now the second giveaway will be done on EACH of the designers blogs. The shape set I am giving away is Peacock Feathers Shape Set      

 I love the delicacy of the feathers.  

To be entered into my blog's giveaway,

1.  Subscribe to my blog. 

2.  Leave a comment on this blog post.

THAT’S IT! So easy!

So many great ways to win some fabulous chipboard pieces! My word for the Birthday Prize giveaway is LAYOUTS.

The next blog you will want to visit is Mary B - The Damsel of Distress

If you get lost along the way, here is a list of all the blogs you need to visit to collect your word.

Kim - AngelDream Crafts

Angela - A Crafty Blether

Barb - In the Studio With Barb

Melissa - Ribbons, Lace, and Good Intentions

Mary B - The Damsel of Distress

Shanna - Shanna's Designs 
Kathi's Creations 

Amy - Amylove Crafty Kingdom

Kim C - Kreations by Kimber

Lynne - Scrappy Squirrel's Nest

Dianna - Diana's Crafts Blog

Nichola - Pixie Hill

Carla - Carla's Creations

Deann - CraftDee1

Mary - The Craft Hoarder

   

Blue ATC Shrine With Two ATCs

Hi everyone! Melissa here with an  ATC shrine, and two ATCs to go with it, for Gina's Designs.  These little boxes are one of my favorite things to work with. They look great on my kitchen counters, or in my scraproom.

 I assembled the shrine and glued it with glossy accents. I painted it with gesso, then Lindy's Stamp Gang. The color was too dark, so I took most of it off with a brush and water. I put on a coat of  pearl Precious Metal Effect paint. The result is a pale aqua, instead of teal.

 The frame of the door has a coat of gold leaf paint, and one side has a little crackle paint on it.

 I first painted the leaves with Lindy's, then put on a thick layer of crackle.  It came out too dark, so I painted on Twinkle H2Os in bright green, brushed on a little gold mica powder, then put on another thick layer of crackle. I put on some pearls with a little gold leaf applied over Glossy Accents. I put some gold leaf on the dragonfly.

 I used watercolor paper for the ATCs.  I painted them with Lindys, Twinkling H20s, and blue Windsor and Newton.  I used gel pens and watercolors on the peacock.

Thanks for looking!

Gina's Products Used:

ATC Shrine - Leaves

Other:

Splash of Color - Viva Colour - Precious Metal Effect Paint - Pearl

Lindy's Stamp Gang in Tibetan Poppy Teal and Hydrangea Blue mixed together.  I keep the paints in powder form and just use a little at a time. If you do use it like this, if you put crackle paint on top, the result will come out almost black.  So, I don't put crackle on it,although I did in this project. I had to cover it up with more paint.

Luminarte Twinkling H20s

Perfect Pearls

Winsor and Newton Watercolors,Cobalt Blue

Prima Pearls on ATC

Petaloo aqua feathers
Plaid Liquid Leaf Gold Paint
Distress Crackle Paint
Sizzix Tattered Flower Garland
Swarovski flatback crystals in peridot and tanzanite,and a few bicones.

Northport Summer Vacation

         Hi everyone! Melissa here with a layout for Gina's Designs.     

 This photo was taken at my in-laws house. It's great going there to see family, and to enjoy the cooler temperatures.Where I live in Houston, Texas, it's very hot and muggy in the summer. 

I painted these fun Japanese lanterns first with gesso, then oilpaints.

 I decorated the rest of the page to fit around them.

I stitched a border on the edges of the bg paper, and on the paper for under the photo.

I sponged gesso on Nature Garden paper by Prima. I did that so the design on the paper didn't compete with the items I put on it. I wanted the pattern to show through a little but wound up putting too much gesso on.

 I painted on some pale yellow and green watercolors. It was too dark,and I didn't really like all the green, so I covered it up with more gesso. 

I used a stencil and put on some modeling paste.

 My husband likes gnomes and frogs, so I stamped and painted some. My father-in-law liked moose, so I put one next to the frog.

 I fussy cut images from several lines of paper.

 I punched a border, and put beads,liquid pearls, and watercolors on.

 There is a piece of watercolor paper under the top piece. I painted a yellow border on it,so it would show through the punched areas.

 I brushed on some grey pearlex powder under the lanterns to make more of a contrast. I brushed and rubbed on  white pearlex all over the page, because I like the way it softens the look of the matte white color of the gesso.

I painted the sunburst with gold paint.

I painted crackle accent on in a thick layer on the sun, and thinner layers on the outside edges of the page. I brushed on blue chalk to emphasize the crackle, and then painted with Viva Decor Inka Gold.

I applied glossy accents on areas of the sunburst, and sprinkled on gold embossing powder.

Thanks for looking! Have a great weekend, and I hope you can find a little time to make something for yourself.

Gina's Products Used:

Oriental Shape Set

Other:

Prima paper for bg and Prima green rose

Small images fussy cut from Prima, Bo bunny, and Graphic 45 papers

Tiny yellow flowers made with Sizzix Tattered Flower Garland

Twinkling H20s

Winsor and Newton Watercolors and Oil Paints

Perfect Pearls

Ranger Crackle Paint

Viva Decor Inka Gold

Martha Stewart punch

The stamps include some from Hampton Arts, Tim Holtz, and Prima

Swarovski Crystals 

The Crafter's Workshop 6 x 6 Doodling Template, Sunburst

Kimberly Watercolor Pencils

Stampendous Embossing Powder in Jeweled Gold

Glitter glue

Liquid Pearls

In the sun you can see the sparkle on the page.

Every Picture Tells A Story

Hi everyone! Melissa here with a 12 x 12 mixed media layout for Gina's Designs.
It was such a pleasure working with this chipboard. They are both elegant, and delicately cut. I prepped both with gesso.  I painted the title piece with oil paint, and topped it with crackle accents. I brushed on blue chalk to emphasize the cracks. On the damask design I added a few crystals, and that's all I felt it needed.
This photo was taken in a small house my husband and I rented in Northport,NY.

 We had been in Southern California for two and a half years, and had missed our family. It was great having them nearby again.

Using a wide paint brush I brushed water on the edges of the paper, then crumpled and ripped them.I let the paper dry,then stitched a border on.
I brushed water on a piece of watercolor paper, then painted on a mixture of Twinkling H20s and watercolors. I stitched a border, then put the photo on top.I put some foam core board under the photo to give some added dimension to the page.
I sponged gesso on the background paper, and when dry, I brushed on Perfect Pearls powder.

 I painted the edges with the same mix of paint I used on the piece under the photo.

Thanks for looking, and have a great day!

Gina's Products Used:

Words and Phrases 2

Damask Singles

Other:

The background paper is by Prima. Watercolor paper is behind the photo.

There are also small pieces of Bo Bunny, Prima, and Graphic 45 papers.

Petaloo and Prima Flowers

Handmade purple ribbon flower at upper right of photo made with Glubers

Twinkling H20s

Winsor and Newton Oil Paints and Watercolors

Ranger Crackle Accent

Perfect Pearls

Sizzix Tattered Flower Garland

Martha Stewart Punch

Swarovski Crystals

Prima bling