A Steampunk Challenge

Hi everyone!

    This is my first creation for Sandee and amelie's Steampunk Challenge.

    I am so proud to be there! - Thanks so much to Claudia for welcoming me onto her team! I look forward to experimenting with adding Steampunk twists to my usual shabbychic vintagey style.....it will be interesting to see where adding bits of industrial grunge will take me!

      The first challenge is 'Grey, Blue and Rust' and I loved working on this challenge! I decided to go with a canvas and see what happens - no plans, just fun! - which is the best way to work!

      I started by applying a bit of German text paper with matte multi medium over the canvas (lovely gift from Claudia!).

 I then dabbed some London Night, Lake Wanaka and Stone Fresco paint onto the craft mat and spritzed with water. I was applying with a sponge and didn't want it to apply too heavily, so diluting the paint slightly allowed me the freedom to build up the colour in layers.

     Soon the canvas was a grey/blue marbled effect and I made sure the text paper was still visible (it is all too easy to lose the text when applying paint layers).

    I then began stamping using some Artistic Outpost stamps - text and gears. I used Frayed Burlap DP, Chocolate Pudding Fresco paint, Cornflower Blue, Potting Soil and Watering Can Archival ink.

   I then dry brushed some Chocolate Pudding Fresco paint around the edges of the canvas along with blending some Vintage Photo DI. I sanded sown the canvas a little all over with a sanding block to reveal some of the canvas texture through the layers of paint.

 

Some bronze metal flowers were added

 A rusty heart was stuck onto the canvas. A chit chat sticker was dabbed with Faded Jeans DI and edged with Vintage Photo DI and applied to the heart.

     It looked a bit empty still, so I got some rusty wire and twisted it into a heart shape with random swirls and twists. A bronze gear was added to this mini heart wire sculpture.

   

   So there is my 'Grey, Blue and Rust' creation - I look forward to sharing many more Steampunk creations with you in the future! I hope you enjoyed it! Why not pop over to Sandee and Amelie's Steampunk challenges to see what the rest of the team have made and have a go yourself!
      

A Country Garden

Hi everyone!

    Welcome to a summery creation! I was having some fun with some Artistic Outpost stamps here and messing around with some Distress paints and inks....when I began this I didn't really have any ideas at all - I just was having some paint/ink/stamping fun.....

     First I covered the tag with bundled Sage DI. Then I stencilled some Tattered Rose DP through a harlequin stencil.

A brick stencil was used on the other side of the tag using Pumice stone DI. I also used a doily and honeycomb stencil...

Then I began stamping with a mix of archival and distress inks - I used Fern Green and Potting Soil Archival ink and Bundled Sage and Frayed Burlap Distress inks

   The quote was stamped with Potting Soil Archival ink onto card that was coloured with Tattered Rose and Bundled Sage Distress ink.

A die cut flower was attached having been inked with Frayed Burlap DI and had a bronze brad attached

 

    I used some butterfly tissue tape and added some crochet lace to the bottom of the tag

   

A rusty heart was added

 A piece of twine was used to make a loop for the top of the tag and a piece of crochet lace added for decoration

     Hope you like my 'Country Garden Tag'! Thanks so much for being here - hope to see you again soon!
 

Painting the roses red

Hi everyone!

       I am so pleased to share with you today a creation I made with the Alice in Wonderland stamps from Artistic Outpost.

 My beginning point was to make a frame. I love making frames for my work and it is so nice to make your own. I used balsa wood and cut four pieces to form a frame. I use a strong wood glue to stick it together and after sanding down any untidy edges I applied texture paste through a damask stencil.

When the texture paste was dry I covered it with Antique Bronze DP. When this was dry I applied French Roast Fresco Paint and wiped it with a baby wipe. This paint is my favourite one for antiquing and distressing painted surfaces.

  I got several sheets of white card and applied some distress inks to the craft mat - Frayed Burlap, Vintage Photo and Gathered Twigs. I added a few dabs of Picket Fence DP and spritzed it all with water. I swirled lots of white card through the ink and paint puddles, dabbing and dying until I liked the effect. Afterwards I inked them with more of the same shades of ink and then began stamping with Potting Soil Archival ink.

The main images of the Rabbit and Alice I decided to turn into playing cards. 

 Adding some Fired Brick DI to part of one of the brown toned wrinkle free distress cards, I then punched out some red hearts.

 I glued them to the corners of the cards and stamped a 'Q' and 'K' in Potting Soil Archival ink next to them.

I blended some Walnut Stain DI around the edge of the cards to add to the vintage look

     I stamped the 'Curiouser and Curiouser' and cut around it and added it to the frame.

 I decided to add the labels of 'Alice' and 'I'm Late' to the playing cards. I also added the 'Alice in Wonderland' and a quote to the Alice card

 I stamped the clock with the crown placed in the center of it and added a metal spinner to it.

 The background was a sheet of the wrinkle free distress card that was stamped with my favourite Paperartsy scrip stamp.

  I cut out some hearts with a punch from the brown coloured card and added them to the frame.

 I wanted to add more colour to this creation so I decided, rather than bring in a new colour, I would feature more red to go with the hearts...and then the song 'Painting the roses red' came into my head from Disney's Alice in Wonderland.

I got two white roses and dabbed Festive Berries DS so that they were half painted.....

 I swiped some of the same stain over some card and when dry I applied some Decoart Liquid Glass, forming it into drop shapes. Then I cut them out and stuck them onto one of the roses as wet paint falling off the rose.

 A leaf branch die cut was dabbed with Walnut Stain DI and then sprayed with Roasted Coffee Dylusions spray.

 Two bronze button style decorations were added.

I used twine to hang the frame up. I attached it to the corners of the frame by tying the twine around a brad, making a hole in the top corners with a skewer and dropping a small amount of glue into the hole. Then I pushed the brad into the wood.

        Thank you so much for being here to see this - Hope you liked it!
     

I am entering this at the following challenge

Artistic Stamper - Colour it red

Flaming June

Hello everyone!

Here we are halfway through the year already! Where does the time go?!

   It isn't exactly summer yet - while I type this it is raining outside, yet again!....but never mind! - over at Our Creative Corner we are in a 'Flaming' mood....taking inspiration from the painting 'Flaming June' and our thoughts are on the bright warm orange tones used in this wonderful painting.....

         Julia chose this challenge for us and she would like you to use the picture as inspiration and create a project which features rich orange tones as the main colour of your work. You may use other details from the image if you wish.

      I don't use the colour orange much in my work - not that I don't like it - I love using orange inks for the Autumn and Halloween work, but it isn't my colour of choice usually - so it was a treat to be encouraged by our lovely Julia to go out of my comfort zone and work with a brighter colour than usual.

     This month I decided to make a tag - one of my favourite things to make. And I began by stencilling some leaves with Picket Fence DP.

I then did some wrinkle free distress using Tea Dye, Spiced Marmalade and Scattered Straw DI's.


  After drying this I stenciled using Rusty Hinge DI - using a letters stencil and a splatter stencil

Then I stamped some script and flourish stamps with Potting Soil Archival ink.

The frame was covered in crackle paste and when dry it was dabbed with Chocolate Pudding and French Roast Fresco Paint before having some White fire treasure gold rubbed over it.

The flowers were originally painted turquoise which I thought would give a nice contrast to the orange, but instead it became too much of a distraction, so I covered the flowers with gesso and then when that was dry I covered them with Spiced Marmalade DS.

While wet I sprinkled them with clear embossing powder and melted it giving the flowers an enameled effect.

The center of the frame was covered in a mix of Spiced Marmalade and Rusty Hinge DI and stamped with a script stamp in Potting Soil Archival ink

A photo was cut into a matching oval and attached to the center of the frame

 A quote from an Artistic Outpost set was used on an extra piece of card used to mop up the original wrinkle free distress ink leftovers.

I attached it to the tag so it didn't lay flat.

An ornate brass button is attached to the top of the tag along with was curled rusty wire

        We would love to see your orange themed creations over at Our Creative Corner this month! Come along and dive in!....You could be our winner and find yourself in the warmth of the Top Talent Spotlight! You could be one of our wonderful Top 3 and even find yourself the lucky winner of a prize donated by Tando Creative who are kindly sponsoring us this month!

Thank you so much for being here!