Steampunk Sweetheart for Anything But A Card #39

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The whole set

I have had the stamp set I used as a base for this project for years and it turned into one of those sets that you adore, but can't bring yourself to actually use, until that one project comes along and BAM! This entire project was literally built around one stamp from a set called French Laundry #11.  I remember seeing an ad for the sets in a stamping publication and I immediately went to the web site called Character Constructions, made by the talented Catherine Moore, and drooled at them all (and now she even has custom dies to coordinate with some of the sets!).  I don’t remember why I chose this particular set but I have been wanting to use her for the longest time and this seemed like the perfect opportunity to get her inked. I introduce my Steampunk Sweetheart for challenge #39 at Anything But A Card:

My Steampunk Sweetheart

What I Used in My Project:

9 x 12 piece of frame board

Character Constructions Set French Laundry #11

Tea Dyed Coffee Filters (I dyed about 8, I think I used 5 or 6)

Tim Holtz Idea-ology File Tabs w/ gear sticker (on her hat)

Tim Holtz Grungeboard Wings (mine are embossed with the Harlequin design)

Tim Holtz Grungeboard Letters Mixed Minis

Darice Gears Embossing Folder

Brown “velvet” Paper

Brown Cardstock Scrap

Corset Card Cutfile

Silhouette Cameo

White Cardstock

Ranger Archival Ink in Jet Black

Distress Ink in Brushed Corduroy

Distress Paint in Gathered Twigs

Krylon Leafing Pen in Red Shimmer

Butterfly Sticker (stash)

Gesso

Stampin’ Up! Paper for Background (discontinued)

Star Punches (various sizes)

Scraps of Metallic Papers

Stickles in Star Dust

Miscellaneous Embellishments

Crafters’ Pick The Ultimate Glue

First thing I did was dye the coffee filters (the round ones) in tea for 2 full days and dried them.  I have wanted to make a frilly something out of coffee filters ever since I saw some demos online about coffee filter flowers and I felt they’d make a wonderful skirt.  I stamped the woman from the French Laundry #11 set using the Jet Black ink and fussy cut her out, leaving her arms separate.

  I set her and the skirt aside and gessoed the wings.  I was hoping to obscure some of the Harlequin pattern that was embossed in them already; it worked a bit and set the stage for using the gears embossing folder.  A tip: I have a Sizzix Big Shot and I found that the wings (and I figure all Grungeboard) is too thick to run through the machine the way you are supposed to when using an embossing folder, but I found that when I used the 2 clear cutting plates with the thick platform (I think it is called the Universal Platform?), but without the shim, it worked fine.  Took a bit of muscle, but nothing broke. So I ran the wings through and then lightly swept the Distress Ink Pad in Brushed Corduroy on the top and sides just to pop out the gear embossing a bit more.  I covered my board with the decorative paper from Stampin’ Up! like I was wrapping a gift so I wouldn’t have to fuss with trying to cut the paper and then glue it perfectly. 

I knew I wanted my Steampunk Sweetheart to have a corset.  I have a few corset stamps, but none of them fit her the way I wanted, so I went to my Silhouette Cameo and found a corset card.  I choose what pieces of the card I wanted to use and I cut the outer layer using some old brown “velvet” paper I had as well as some brown fiber as the lace up. I also cut out one under layer using white cardstock and that just peeks out the very top of her corset.  The corset it a bit big for her but I think it flows nicely with the skirt.  Her boots are just hand cut. 

I tackled the lettering next.  I used Grungeboard Mixed Mini letters and I painted them all using Distress Paint in Gathered Twigs, I painted all the letters twice to ensure really good coverage.  I liked the matte color of the paint, but I also wanted to jazz the letters up just a bit so I took my seldom used Krylon Leaf Pen in Red Simmer and outlined the letters with that.  Now previous experience has taught me that Grungeboard is flexible, so I knew I’d make some “mistakes” while outlining the letters but that is precisely what I wanted.  I wanted some of the shimmer to show on the top of the letters but I didn’t want it to be overwhelming.  It was nice not having to be careful when doing the outline, especially since I had to make the pen really juicy so the ink would flow into parts of the letters the nib couldn’t reach.

Finally she was ready to be put together.  I wasn’t exactly positive how I was going to pose her, so I attached her arms with 2 small black brads I had.  The arm holding the clock is stationary, but her right arm does move. I hand cut her top hat and attached the Idea-ology File Tab with the gear in it onto her hat.  I colored the cat eye glasses silver with another Krylon Leafing Pen, took some loose gears and attached them to her wings.  I crumpled up the tea dyed coffee filters and arranged them to appear like a layered skirt. 

I attached the body to the skirt, the corset over the skirt and body, glued the wings to the back of that and finished up with all the embellishments, which included stars punched out of various metallic papers and coated with Stickles placed randomly about (oh and I glued her boots to her skirt).  I held her in place with temporary tape and glued all the letters in place, attaching her last. 

Head Shot

And there you have it – my Steampunk Sweetheart wall hanging.  I worked on her for quite a while, once
my initial idea started to become a reality, in between other projects and it was SO much fun! I have admired Steampunk at since it burst on the scene and it was a pleasure to create something I feel is worthy of being called Steampunk.  I hope you enjoyed my long tutorial and perhaps gained a bit of inspiration to get your own Steampunk creation and enter at Anything But A Card ~ Christi

Another View

I would like to enter my Steampunk Sweetheart in the following challenges:
Divas By Design - Anything But a Card
Stamping Sensations - September Challenge, Things with Wings
Inky Chicks - #38, Anything Goes
Ruby's Rainbow - #88, Anything Goes
Papertake Weekly  - Punch it Out (used star punches)