Red Glimmer Hearts

I came across this wonderful heavy glimmer felt at the store yesterday and I knew exactly what to cut out of it....Hearts of course! All this bling makes my own heart go pitter pat.

They also had a very pretty royal blue too so I have cut snowflakes out of that color. Check out the Etsy shop for more interesting listings this week.

New Birdhouse Gourd

I am really happy with how this birdhouse came out. I decided to make the heart around the entrance and call it a "Love Nest". The bookshelf and all the goodies it displays is on the back side of the gourd. This gourd measures 12" tall and is 9" in diameter. The entire gourd has been softly spatter painted for a country look. This gourd reminds me of a happy spring morning. I think here in Michigan we will need to wait a bit for that season though.

This is a view of the back

A closeup of the cute little rag doll with her her little apron on!

Crocheted Poinsettias

I took a small break from cleaning gourds and crocheted a set of these poinsettias yesterday. They were very quick and easy to make with a warm holiday feel. I hand embroidered the french knots in the center for a realistic look. That really brought me back to the old days when my mother and I sat and did the old fashioned cross stitch (not the counted). After all the gourd cleaning and crocheting my hands are feeling the workout! I need to head outside before the rain hits and finish raking the leaves and cutting back the hostas and then all the perennials are ready for winter. We had some snow the other day but that has now melted. The weather forecast is calling for rain turning into snow by this afternoon and Saturday total snow so I'm heading out now to see what I can accomplish. Have a great day!

Old World Santa

I decided that even though the snow isn't flying here yet in Michigan it's only a matter of time! To get me in the holiday spirit I painted this kettle shaped gourd like an Old World Santa. He's painted with more toned down colors for the Old World look. He has a nice pine needle bottom detail with red berries throughout the garland. I painted his arms and hands at his plump little sides and added a cute detail on his hat with a beautiful gold metallic edge. Santa has a full and curly beard and those rosey chubby cheeks tell you how cold it's been outside! He'll be looking for a home off of my Etsy shop on Monday. You are getting a sneek peek of all the closeups before the listing is up :-)

This gourd would be a great addition to your table as a centerpiece or anywhere else in your home that needs a little Christmas cheer. I have sealed Santa with 3 coats of urethane for indoor, as well as, outdoor use. If you shake him you can hear the gourd seeds inside. Kids love to hear the sound! He's very durable so a few little shakes from the kids won't hurt him at all. Shaking Santa also centers the seeds to the center of the bottom of the gourd so he will sit nice and straight on your table.

Who can resist this cute face?

He measures 9" tall and 7" wide (23" circumference). He reminds me of the roly-poly toys when I was a little girl. TFL!

An Old Find

Now that Halloween is over I started digging through my Thanksgiving decorations and I found this turkey. I had honestly forgotten that I made this little ceramic guy years ago. I had taken ceramic classes (one evening class every week) when my 2 children were little ones. It was my time to get out. interract with other ladies and fulfill my pent up creativity. I loved those classes! I made this turkey when a new technique had come out called "dry brushing" using acrylic paints. This was a great process because I didn't like having to use ceramic glazes and fire the piece in a kiln again. Once I tried this process I was hooked. I always enjoyed the soft look that this painting technique accomplished.

I thought I'd share this funny turkey with you to start off our Thanksgiving season .




I'm currently working on a Santa face gourd and should be sharing him with you soon. I am also planning on painting quite a few snowmen gourds. It's so hard to decide what cute little face to paint first!!!

Have a great week!
Darlene

Ta Da....

He's done and up for sale on http://www.ggam.etsy.com/!

This turkey started out as this plain gourd and grew into this happy turkey.

I really enjoyed painting this little guy. He came to life as soon as I painted his face. I hope you like him. He'll make a great addition to a home as a centerpiece or just an accent.

His tail feathers were so easy to make. I used corn husks and painted them and glued the edges together. I added a piece of braided raffia as an accent.

I did some splatter paint all over him including his front tail feathers. I think he brings a nice fall feeling to this season.

Have a super Fall season everyone!

Turkey Gourd...a sneek peek

Do these look like turkey feathers? Well they are and they are the final step in my Turkey Gourd. I completed my gourd this morning and all I need to do is put the final coat of sealer on and he will be ready to pose for his picture. Please check back tomorrow for his debut. He is very cute and I hope he makes all of you smile!

Have a great day and keep warm if you are in a cold climate.

Darlene

Embossed Leaves

I've been experimenting with my leaf stamps and pretty metallic embossing powders this week. I created a few new designs for the Etsy shop and I thought I'd share them here. Fall is my favorite time of year so it's always fun to create during this season. I plan on using these metallic leaves for my Thanksgiving cards and I bet they would look great on placecards for the holiday Thankgiving table too!

TFL!

Busy time of year

I've been creating a few fall scrapbook items for my Etsy shop but mainly painting. I have almost completed a Turkey gourd. He's a real cutie and I will be posting his little face here soon....hopefully by this weekend. I have a few more small touches to add to his tail feathers and his special 3 coats of urethane and he'll be off to add a smile to my table. It's hard to believe that October is almost over and November is around the corner. That means I need to get to painting some snowmen to share with all of you. I have plan to make a few penguins too so please check back soon :-)

Settling Down

Things are getting back to normal here after I completed the Michigan Breast Cancer 3-Day. I can now concentrate on some items for the shop. Here are a few things I have completed but I will be doing quite a bit of painting this week instead of making scrapbook embellishments. Before you know it the snow will be flying and fall will be over. I better begin painting some Santa and Snowmen gourds soon. It's going to be the season!

Have a super week :-)

Darlene

Crocheted Pumpkins

I decided I wanted to make crocheted pumpkins this fall so I created a pattern for them. I'd like to use them on a few fall scrapbook pages. This is what I came up with. I think they are pretty cute. I'm going to make a few more sets and I think I will add some small orange seed beads within the stitches for some texture. I have also been making a few journaling blocks for some Halloween pages and have listed those in the Etsy shop as well. Fall is a great time of year and I just love creating decor for this season.

TFL!

Introducing ..... PATCHES

Well I decided this gourd looked like a Patches so that is his name. He was fun to make and I hope you enjoyed watching the journey. I just listed him on my Etsy shop so I'm off the make the next project. Have a wonderful weekend everyone and I'll be back soon.

The Making of a Scarecrow - Part 4

Well I'm almost finished with this project. He's just received his 2 coats of spar urethane and I also drilled small holes around the areas that I am inserting the raffia.

Small holes are drilled for the straw effect.

Some of the raffia that has been glued into place.

A front view of the "straw".

The final reveal will be tomorrow. I've decided to name him PATCHES and I will list him on the etsy shop.

TFL!

The Making of a Scarecrow - Part 3

This scarecrow is finally looking like himself now.....he's getting his personality. I sketched a few details on lightly with a pencil and then base coated the shapes with acrylic paint. I chose bright happy colors for this scarecrow. I shade and highlight each area for dimension. I have also used a liner brush to do the outlines on certain areas such as around the pockets, patches and stitches on the overalls.

Now it's time to give him a personality! I made sure he has that little twinkle in his eye for the final accent. A little drybrushing for the cheeks gives him that cute ruddy appearance.

I added a nice accent patch to his hat. This hat will have raffia inserted later around the edges of the brim for a straw effect. I felt I needed a bit of color to bring it all together.

I added some fun stripes for his plaid shirt and the button of course. Any colors could be used for the shirt. I just like the burgundy/red/orange combination for a fall feel.

My last post on this scarecrow will include the finishing gloss coat and the raffia accents. Hmmm....I will also need a name for this guy. Any suggestions please comment :-)

Thanks for taking a peeek!

Halloween is going to be here soon!

Oh my goodness.....it's almost September already. I couldn't believe that there were Halloween AND Christmas decorations set up at Costco this past week. I think I have lost a part of the summer somehow. Oh well.....since I heard all the scary sounds coming from the Halloween displays there I decided to come home and make a few fun embellishments for the Etsy shop. This is what I created. They were really fun to make and fall is the best time of the year for me so I just loved dry embossing these pumpkins.




A new update to the scarecrow gourd is also coming this week. It's turning out really cute. I'm adding raffia for the "straw" accents!

TFL!

The Making of a Scarecrow - Part 2

Happy Tuesday everyone!
Oh my...our new little puppy has been keeping me QUITE busy the past 2 weeks. She's a sweetie but very active! I have managed to base coat the scarecrow and do some shading and highlighting. Here are a few examples so you can see the progress. I hope to accomplish a bit more in the next few days. It still doesn't look too much like a scarecrow but soon it will begin getting a personality.

I first begin by sketching, with a pencil, the basic shape of the hat, face, shirt and overalls. I then basecoated (3 total coats) all the appropriate areas with my acrylic paints.

There will be a happy little face here soon :-)

I then begin deciding where I want my shading to be. I float different values of paint colors on those areas. This gives the piece definition and dimension.

A close up of the shading around the shirt and overall strap at the shoulder area.

A bit of drybrushing on the areas where the light would hit helps make the piece come alive. In person the denim is beginning to look real.

The next steps in Part 3 will be to draw on more details such as: facial features, collar, arms, pockets on the overalls, and stitching. I'll post some photos when they are completed. Thanks so much for looking.

Have a great day!

Please support Darlene's Breast Cancer 3-day Walk @ http://08.the3day.org/goto/DarlenePlotinski
Take a peak at our Etsy Shop too @ www.ggam.etsy.com