Sunday 15 December 2013

Steampunk Christmas Tree

Hi everyone!

    Here is the last of my 'Tree Trilogy'!

Warning - Heavy picture post here!

   Saving the best for last? I will leave that up to you to judge! This one was certainly the most difficult and was very time consuming...the others were very easy craft projects - this one however.....well, I wasn't sad to see it finally finished!!!


     It all started with seeing a wire tree on Pinterest!...the picture showed wire twisted around a polystyrene cone...and I loved the idea...and from there it evolved into a Steampunk Grunge tree...

     I had bought some rusting powder and had left it aside - I was too nervous to try it. Now I wanted rust items so I had to take the plunge. I gathered various bits and pieces and smothered them in the powder and vinegar...I am not sure if I did it right - but I got some very nice rusted pieces from it.

     I bought some thick 2mm copper wire and twisted rusty wire around it.


     I wound it around the polystyrene cone (which was then used for the patchwork tree) I made the bottom into three strands and secured these with the rusty wire so that it had a very secure base - otherwise it wouldn't have been able to stand up. So I had the basic Christmas tree spiral shape....Looking at it now I wish I had taken some 'progress' shots! At this point it needed some major 'Grunge' work...it was bright clean copper (you will see some traces of that gleaming copper wire here and there - see below!).


   I dabbed the tree with Bora Bora and Chocolate Pudding Fresco paint. I then dabbed some matte multi medium onto the tree and 'threw' some rusting powder at it and then sprayed it all with vinegar.

    I left it alone, hoping that the rusting powder would work it's magic - and I was very impressed! It had been a very shiny copper tree - and now it looked amazingly grungy - with a liberal coat of rust and tinges of green patina everywhere, occasionally the original copper is peeking out...lovely! I did just finish it off by lightly dabbing some more Bora Bora Fresco paint over some of the rust to highlight the texture......

.....I also adding some sprinkles of Copper and Verdigris embossing powder to add to the texture....


     At times I was worried I was heading into too much grunge and even now I look at it and think "was it too much?"....But I was really trying to get heavily into 'Steampunk Grunge' thoughts at the time - which is usually a real struggle for me - and for once I managed to go totally over the top as being neat and tidy didn't even enter my head! I do look at it now and think "Arrrghhh - it is sooo messy" and I have to tell myself that that is the way it was meant to be!!!

      Then onto the fun of constructing the decorations....



Some of the rusted embellishments had rusty wire added as hooks and some were glued directly onto the metal....



I had selected some typical steampunk style embellishments such as gears and keys,




















 I also added things that were not exactly steampunk themed because I wanted to have some variety


       There had to be an angel at the top of the tree! So I used a wooden angel decoration and it got the rust treatment.


I used a bookplate sign and covered it in rusting powder. It flaked off slightly as I was preparing it but I think that just adds to the rather intense grunge look going on here! An organza bow stained with Walnut Stain DS was added here.....


        Another rusted key


A metal Fleur-de-lys was covered in rusting powder and vinegar


I used a brass metal brooch embellishment and cut some patterned paper to stick inside. A rose shaped bead was painted with Bora Bora Fresco Paint and sprinkled with Verdigris embossing powder


        A die cut holly leaf was sprinkled with Copper embossing powder with a tiny added sprinkle of Verdigris embossing powder. I over-heated the embossing powder to create the extra texture.


        I used some white organza ribbon that was stained with Evergreen Bough Distress Stain and tied into bows

  A wooden Christmas tree decoration got the rust treatment


As did the gears.....




and the heart.....


The flowers were covered in Bora Bora Fresco paint and sprinkled with Copper and Verdigris embossing powder. A copper screw shaped brad was used as the center of the flower and a brass leaf completed the decoration.


Another metal decoration got the rust works


and I had to have another heart on there....the rust looks gorgeous here


I had a bird embellishment and I painted it with Bora Bora paint and dabbed it with copper and brown paint too...adding some sprinkles of copper and Verdigris embossing powder


 A button got thrown in the rust mix too....and came out gorgeously eroded with rust..so I added some brown hemp string and that got put on the tree...


    So there it is - My Steampunk Christmas Tree! I hope you have enjoyed my 'Tree Trilogy' - Thanks so much for being here to take a peek....




















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17 comments:

  1. I do love all the trees, but, yes, I love this one best
    Rosie x

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  2. An absolute beauty Laura. Jenny x

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  3. You did an amazing job with the rusting powder Laura, it worked very well indeed. Love all the elements you added too. This is a wonderful creation! Anne x

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  4. I LOVE LOVE LOVE your grunge steampunk X-mas tree, Laura!

    It is definitely one of the most beautiful rusted creations I have seen in a long time! You did an awesome job in rusting all the lovely elements you added and your wire work is excellently done! There's real X-mas tree envy over here right now!!! Oh.... ok, now I know what you had written to me about...it's December 15th, isn't it? ....and someone told me not to look at your blog if I wanted to get a surprise....lol....slow thinking today....no, you are kidding, right? Don't tell me that this wonderful wonderful make will make its way over to Vienna soon.... *gasp! Lucky, lucky me!!! I almost can't believe it!

    You (and the tree) are so fantastic!
    (Now I sit and wait if there's another post coming up today...until I dare finally believe this *giggle)

    Big hug!
    Claudia xxxx

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  5. Stunning and só creative!
    kind regards, Alie

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  6. Oh my word this is amazing!! I LOVE IT! this is stunning love it xx hugs trace x

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  7. Talk about saving the best til last... magnificent!
    Alison xx

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  8. Utterly fabulous, all that rusting I love it.
    Love
    Amanda x

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  9. This tree is absolutely beautiful. I am so inspired to give these techniques a try! Thank you for sharing
    Lynda B X

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  10. Absolutely fantastic, love all the rusty details. Definitely this would be my favorite tree.
    Yvonne

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  11. Fantastic tree Laura ! I love the idea and all the decorations are just wonderful ! Sue C x

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  12. WOW! Just WOW! You took rust to a whole new level of beauty! nise

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  13. Stunning creation Laura, what amazing rusting effects!!! My favourite bit is the angel at the top, but the whole thing looks fantastic!!

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  14. Wonderful Laura - absolutely amazing -- really a splendid make!!!!
    Happy holidays to you and your sweet family!
    sandy

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  15. This is absolutely wonderful! What a treasure.

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  16. This is absolutely wonderful! What a treasure.

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  17. So love this! amazing project :)

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