Eye See Everything

Hi everyone!

      It is a summer challenge over at Sandee and amelies Steampunk Challenge and we are doing-

Steampunk Tic Tac Toe

You all know how to do a Tic Tac Toe challenge - just pick a line horizontal, vertical or diagonal and make something with those items. 

You are, of course, allowed to add some more ingredients from the grid to your three from your chosen line - 

Please point out which line you have chosen when you write up your blog posts for this challenge!


***********************************

Isn't this a gorgeous Tic Tac Toe Challenge? I struggled to decide which line to choose because they were all so appealing....

In the end I opted for Words, Metal and Fabric and here is what I made....

I decided to use the techniques that my wonderful friend Claudia had shown me when she visited in May....I loved the techniques she showed me and I was then on the lookout to make more items like that one...(all will be revealed in a future blog post!)

I made the frame (as always!) I made a simple balsa wood frame and covered it with the German script paper she gave me. I covered it with Mod Podge glue to seal the paper and then covered it with watered down Decoart Transparent Yellow Iron Oxide Media Fluid Acrylic . I then watered down some Decoart Transparent Red iron Oxide Media Fluid Acrylic and dabbed this on too. I then splattered the paint onto the frame to give some added texture splatter.

 I then dabbed some Decoart Raw Umber Media Fluid Acrylic paint along the inner edges of the frame.

When dry I applied some crackle glaze....my preferred method of application with this now is to dab it on with a finger. I just dab a finger into the glaze and then pat it along the surface. I find it crackles really well and I am able to get more of a random crackle effect...using a brush seems to 'neat' to me now and I find myself tempted to over-brush it.

 When the glaze was dry and crackled I brushed on some Decoart Carbon Black Antiquing cream and left it to dry before wiping back with a damp cloth. I then sealed it with some Decoart Media Ultra Matt Varnish before applying some patina Green Antiquing Cream and wiping that away too - leaving behind only some tinges of patina effect.

 For the inside of the frame I glued in some very thin silk material using Matt Medium. I pressed and twisted the silk so it was in folds. I applied the glue very heavily so that the material was saturated with it. When it was dry I dropped some alcohol inks onto the material. I chose Lettuce, Ginger, Espresso and Stream. I then squirted a small amount of blending solution onto the material and began to smoosh it around with my finger until the colours were blended.

I used a brass embellishment as the centrepiece for the decoration with a brass pendant that had some text paper stuck into the centre. A plastic eye was lightly brushed with a very watered down coat of Raw Umber paint to take the brightness away.

I added some watch gears around the pendant 

....and I added the words 'embrace imperfection' from Chit Chat stickers that had been dabbed with Vintage Photo and Evergreen Bough DI.

Around the edges of the frame I applied some Cogs and Gears tissue tape 

 And there is my finished creation - very different to my usual Steampunk creations, but I had a lot of fun making it! Sometimes it is good to try something different...

    

Even if Steampunk isn't your usual style why not give it a go?
 You might just have a lot of fun doing it!

Come and join us at Sandee and amelies Steampunk Challenge....

Happy Crafting
Laura
xxx