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)

Design Team Call at Anything But A Card Challenges!!

                               

You can find all the details at

Anything But A Card Challenges

IF 

YOU love Creating?

YOU enjoy exploring many types of media and projects.

YOU want to create with NO limits.

YOU enjoy all aspects of blogging. YOU want to grow with us!

THEN

Why not have a look at what we are looking for?

Variety is the spice of LIFE 

That's what there is at 

Anything But A Card

We Want YOU!

 

We have a fabulous team and we'd love to have you join us! 

 

(thanks to Julie Short who I shamelessly copied from)

Shades of Blue at Anything But a Card

Challenge #38 at Anything But a Card is the theme of  Repeating Motifs and/or Patterns. I had just been going through some of my stamps (which I confess are in boxes right now) and I came across some of the more "artsy" stamps that I have.  I had forgotten how beautiful they were, and how perfect some of them would be for the theme.  So, along with my favorite color palette, I chose my stamp and away I went! Let me share my Shades of Blue wall hanging with with you.

What I Used to Make this Project:
Limited Edition Rubber Stamp, # 8779K (I think this stamp is discontinued)
White Cardstock
Blue Ink - I used every blue ink I had: StazOn Azure, Distress Tumbled Glass & Faded Jeans, Brilliance Ink Mediterranean Blue, Pearlescent Ice Blue and Pearlescent Sky Blue, Memento Ink Bahama Blue & Danube Blue, Wendy Vecchi Cornflower Blue, Adirondack Denim Blue & Stream.
12 x 12 Piece of Navy Blue Card
Piece of Mat Board, approximately 9 x 9

This stamp worked perfect for this wall hanging.  Since it had 3 "lines", I decided I'd use 9 squares.  First, I stamped the image in the various blue inks on the white card stock.

Stamped Many Times

I cut apart the images just so I could get a better sense of which ones I actually wanted to use in the project.  

Trimmed Squares & Strips

Once I had chosen the final 9, the next step was to trim them so they'd be close to the same size and then I cut each square stamped with the stamp into three strips.  After that I fooled at bit with the placement of strips, using three strips at a time to reconstruct the stamp.  I had found an old piece of mat board and I trimmed it to 9" x 9", and then covered it with navy blue cardstock which was also trimmed to size.  After deciding the placement of the reconstructed squares

Restructured Squares (color is off, sorry!)

- I didn't want to have 2 strips of the same color next to each other - I glued them all down and there you have it ~ Shades of Blue! 









 

Another View

I do have to put some sort of protective coating on it - if you have any ideas of what I should use, please share - but after that I plan to hang it in my kitchen where my colors are green, blue and white (although it's hard to tell <grin>). I hope you enjoyed my tutorial and my final project.  There is still plenty of time to join in on the challenge at Anything But a Card and I hope to see you there.  Thanks so much for stopping by and I hope you have an artful week! Christi

I would like to enter my Shades of Blue project in the following challenges:
The Squirrel & The Fox - #75, Anything Goes
Stamping Sensations - August Challenge, Anything Goes
613 Avenue - #85, Anything Goes 
Marks Finest Papers - #225, Nine Squares
Crafts for Eternity - #189, Something Old (the stamp I used is at least 10 years old)
Simply Create Too - #68, Monochromatic (Shades of Blue) 
The Artistic Stamper - August Challenge, Anything Goes

Where did I find these fabulous challenges to enter? Check out Challenges for Days and find some challenges that inspire YOU!  

Warm Winter Wishes with Globecraft & Piccolo!

When I got my Design Team goodies from Globecraft & Piccolo the very first thing I noticed that one of the embossing enamels, called Mardi Gras, looked like it matched one of the designer cardstocks I had recently used on some holiday cards.  Funny how that happens!  The colors of the Enamels are breathtaking!! After I thoroughly pawed through my goodies (and set aside some items that were a bit too cold to use – the 3D Enamel Gels were almost frozen solid!) I pulled out a scrap piece of the Basic Grey cardstock called Figaro.  Sure enough, even under my Ott light, the enamel looked to be a complimentary color.  And although the holidays are over, winter certainly isn’t, and that is what prompted this card.

Here is the finished card.  I love the colors!!

 What I used to make the card:

• Mardi Gras Embossing Enamel from Globecraft & Piccolo 
• Enamel Powder Adhesive Fluid from Globecraft & Piccolo
• Small Snow Pine stamp from Just For Fun 
• Warm Winter Wishes stamp from Quietfire
• Piece of Basic Grey Figaro cardstock
• Distress Markers in Frayed Burlap & Forest Moss
• Embossing ink refill (used to paint tree)
• Small Paint Brush
• Kraft cardstock base
• White cardstock
• Ranger Archival Ink in Jet Black
• Heat Gun

First thing I did was stamp the “Warm Winter Wishes” stamp on some white cardstock using the Enamel Powder Adhesive Fluid. I was a bit skeptical about this delivery system but I found it much easier to use than an embossing ink pad & it delivers the perfect amount of embossing ink – just don’t squeeze the bottle!  I sprinkled the Mardi Gras Embossing Enamel onto the sentiment and heated until it was embossed.  The Embossing Enamel is a fairly thick powder and I wanted to ensure that it was able to catch the beautiful calligraphy that Quietfire stamps are known for.  I think it came out perfect.  Then I stamped the Small Snow Pine stamp, using the Jet Black ink, on another piece of white cardstock and added some color to the tree with Distress Markers in Frayed Burlap & Forest Moss.  I wanted to emboss on the tree only where the snow would be, so I used a small paint brush and painted the embossing ink onto the areas of the tree where I wanted the enamel to stick. Once that was done, I poured the Mardi Gras Embossing Enamel onto the tree, tapped off the excess and embossed.  I cut the tree out kind of loosely – I don’t think I would have been able to fussy cut this image – and attached it to the Basic Grey paper.  Then I adhered my sentiment and finally, all that went onto the card base.  It’s difficult to get a good picture of how the colors match due to the shininess of the Enamel, but I hope you can see how well this card coordinates.

Here is a close up of that luscious Mardi Gras Embossing Enamel

Look for more wintry posts in the coming weeks!

I would like to enter my card in the following challenges:

Kaboodle Doodles Challenge - Winter Wonderland

Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge - Anything Goes

Card Mania - Anything Goes

Love to Scrap! Challenges - Anything Goes

Sparkle N Sprinkle Creative Challenges - Anything Goes with glitter, embossing powder and/or flock

Stamp and Create Challenge - Winter Wonderland 
Aud Sentiments Challenge - Use Any Sentiment 

Thank you & I'll see you soon - I have a bunch of different creations cooking right now :)  Christi