Steampunk Stylie

Good morning,

I have had a really tough week, this week with my problematic old back! I am trying to manage the pain, but on occasions it has got the better of me this week. My working week from Monday to Thursday has been a challenge, to say the least.

Over at my challenge blog, FANTASY STAMPERS, we have a brand new challenge starting today with the theme of 'STEAMPUNK'. Now I know this can sometimes be a daunting one, and the design team found it a challenge too, but we would love you to experiment and come and play along.

Here's what I came up with for my DT inspiration ...

This all began as a piece of white cardstock, which I covered with distress inks in 'Scattered Straw, Rusty Hinge, Aged Mahogany, a little Crushed Olive and some Gathered Twigs'.

I used my Papermania cogs stamp to add some detail down the right hand side, and then ran the piece through an embossing folder to add a little interest to the left. The quote was printed on my pc and mounted on brown cardstock. The butterfly and cogs are chipboard pieces that I covered with gold embossing powder and then I added a key to the centre of the butterfly. There are a few other stamps from my stash in the design too.

I hope you will come and play along with us, with your own projects.

Hugz, Jan xx

Steampunk Tag

Hi there crafty friends and followers,

I'm back today with news of our next challenge over at Cardz 4 Guyz and this week it's my turn to choose the theme. I decided on one of my favourites for male themed cards

'STEAMPUNK'

So, interpret as you wish - there are hundreds of possibilities for this one. Here's what I came up with for my DT inspiration ...

I decided on a tag, rather than a card - gives me a little more freedom. Believe it or not, this started out as a basic white tag! Then I gave it everything I had! 

First I inked the background using three different distress inks - Scattered Straw, Dried Marigold and Fired Brick. Then I added some Walnut Stain around the edges for definition - no project seems complete without some Walnut Stain!

Next I inked up part of one of my stencils with Versamark and positioned it over one side of the tag, before passing it through my Calibur. I added some copper embossing powder to highlight. Then I used my Clarity brick stencil and covered a portion of it with Walnut Stain ink, positioned it on the other side of the tag and passed that through the Calibur again (transferring the ink onto my tag). Finally I put the whole tag through an embossing folder and highlighted the results with a little blue gilding wax.

I stamped out several elements to use on the tag and coloured them with the same ink - those three fellows have been stuck to my noticeboard forever (can't even remember where they came from), but they seemed to fit today. A few stamped cogs, some black ink splats and some brass embellishments to finish off and voila!

I can't wait to see your Steampunk projects - I shall look forward to visiting your blogs this week.

Hugz, Jan xx

Steampunk Style

Good morning,

Well, today is the first day of my half term break from school and it's going to be a tough one! I have taken my little fur baby to the vets this morning to have his teeth cleaned and some taken out. For those of you who know me, my little doggies are my world and I will be a nervous wreck until we bring him back home later today and I know he will need lots of cuddles.

Anyway, on with business and it is time for our next challenge over at Make My Monday and this week Suzi has chosen the theme of 'STEAMPUNK'. I have never found this an easy one, but here's what I came up with for your inspiration ...

It all started out as a piece of milk cardstock which I have stencilled on, stamped on and added my Steampunk design.  I used Gathered Twigs distress ink for all of this project - first dusting over the stencil with my ink dusters, then I added some stamped cogs around the edges for more definition.  I stamped the wings and crown, cut them out, inked them and added them to the design before securing the brass clockface in position.  I produced the lettering on my pc, cut them out, inked them and added them to the bottom of the project - adding a little stamped top hat for fun.  I also sprinkled on some frantage powder to add a little texture.

Hope you like it - I shall look forward to seeing your interpretations of our theme this week.

Hugz, Jan xx

K for KEYS

Good morning crafters,

Hehe! I always want to type 'Good morning campers!!' Lol

Hope everyone is having a great week and as it's Friday again it's time for another challenge over at the Alphabet Challenge Blog. This week it's my turn to host the challenge and we are up to the letter 'K'. I chose the theme 'KEYS' for this one and would love to see your projects using a 'key' in some way, whether it's a focal point or used in a background -I can't wait to see all your interpretations of the theme. Here's what I made for my DT inspiration ...

I loved designing this piece, which is made from an old tag covered with brown cardstock which I embossed with a steampunk style mask. I added a little copper gilding wax to highlight the embossed areas to make my background. 

The heart is cut from card, covered with metal tape and also passed through a script embossing folder, then coloured with alcohol ink.  I added a strip of book paper behind the heart, just to lift it from the embossed background. The edges are inked with 'Vintage Photo distress ink.

I used one of my precious 'Tim Holtz' keys for this project - it has the word 'heart' written on the head of the key, which seemed an appropriate choice. I have wound some wire around the length of the key and added some tiny seed beads. Behind the key are a couple of die-cut leaves, which I hope look like wings and a couple of little tiny brass wings.

The wording is printed on cream cardstock from my pc. I chopped it into pieces and inked with the same distess ink, before adding them to the card.

The tag is embellished with some extra bits from my stash, including three metal finish eyelets, a metal look brad, a little metal safety pin (which is also threaded with tiny seed beads) and a little metal cog.

I was aiming for a 'steampunk' look - what do you think?

I would like to enter this project into the challenge over at Fussy and Fancy which is 'Steampunk'.

Hugz, Jan xx

It's all about the Texture

Hi there,

I hope everyone is enjoying their weekend - we have had quite a bit of rain here.  I have been playing a continuous game of washing out/washing in all weekend! In between my crafting, of course! Lol.

I have gone all 'Steampunk' today making a special card for a design team call.  The theme is 'Texture' and I have tried to show this in several ways.  Here's what I made ...

The background paper is from the TH 'Lost and Found' paper stack and I distressed the edges with my scissors, before inking them with Walnut Stain distress ink.  I then inked through the clock mask and heat embossed some little cogs and gears down the right hand side with gold detail embossing powder.  I stamped some wings, gears and paint splodges onto the background paper and added some little torn pieces of text from an old book.

The main image is a Kanban stamp - partly coloured with Promarkers and the jacket is paper pieced. The image is backed with brown coredinations cardstock cut using a Spellbinders Labels Seventeen die.  It has been dry embossed with an embossing folder and then sanded back to show the core.

The 'Steampunk' lettering was mainly created on my pc, apart from the letter 'S' which was cut from a piece of card covered in metal tape, embossed and coloured with alcohol inks.  The flower was made in the same way.

Additional embellishments include a heart cut from corrugated card and inked with distress ink together with an additional brass-coloured wirework heart, a little brass clockface (which I added some chain to), some metal washers and a 'Dare to Create' sentiment.  I also treat some parts of the card to a sprinkling of gold Frantage embossing powder.

I think I managed to get some texture in there - hope I didn't overdo it! Lol.  I am off to submit it now and should find out at the beginning of September if I have been successful.  I hope so - wish me luck.

Hugz, Jan xx