Gothic Arches

I have never created a Gothic arch before, so when Annie, aka EraserQueen, decided to host this swap on The Marie Antoinette Mail Art Group, I had to give it a go. I was very intimidated at first. If you check out Annie's demonstration here, you will see her create the most beautiful Gothic Marie arch from start to finish. I became obsessed with watching this demonstration and would watch in awe as the music and her paintbrush continued as if performing the greatest symphony of all time. I just had to give it a try myself after watching.

I never would have considered painting over images that I had, but after practicing on about 1000, I finally started to become one with the paper and the paintbrush. I really enjoyed creating these arches. I love it when I am stuck on a project and keep looking at it, searching in my mind for answers when finally one pops into my head. I love it when I have a challenge and complete the task and am happy with the final product and can look at them with a smile upon my face. I hope they put one on yours as well.

All of the images of Marie came from the talented Cassandra from Cassi's Creations. I love her collage sheets and used several of her Marie designs with these arches. The above image came from the sheet Rosie Marie 7. I also used some of my own vintage ledger pages and painted the keys that were already on this page as well.

I really love the way this one came out. It is from the sheet Rosey Marie Antoinette which started out pink and ended up being a Halloween treat.

Haunted Masquerade Large Mixed Media is where this image came from. I didn't have to do much to her. I just accented it with some gold Smooch pearlized accent ink. I also added a velvet trim to the top and painted in the area with some gold and copper acrylic paints and added black paint to the very top to frame it off.

What is an image of Marie without a little vintage lace? This image came from the sheet
Rosie Marie 2.

Who would have thought that even Marie can go goth!

I had to make an extra one just for me and this image of Marie came from the sheet Haunted Masquerade Large Mixed Media. The black cat, oh how I love my black cats, came from the sheet Haunted, Halloween, Witch as well as the castle in the background. I am especially proud of how it turned out. I painted it with Smooch inks as well in gold this fab green color.

I can never leave the back of a piece plain. I just applied some more vintage ledger pages and then stamped it with this image of Marie from Oxford Impressions. Their stamps are one of my favorites! I used some Pearlescent Chalks to give Marie her Gothic shimmer.

This was such a fun swap and a huge thanks to Annie for her inspiration and for hosting this swap, and of course to Cassandra as well, my constant mentor and creator of our Marie group and design team.

The next pieces I design for Cassi's Creations Design Team will have nothing at all to do with Marie Antoinette, GASP! Cassandra has so many wonderful designs in just about any theme you can imagine. I am currently hosting an Itty Bitty Vintage Circus book and am using many of Cassandra's designs. I also have some more items that I want to use in my art and have been inspired by some of her newest designs including paper doll dresses, a variety of heads, arms and legs. Stay tuned, take care, and thanks for stopping by!