My Heart Runs on Steam - Anything Goes at SanDee&amelie's Steampunk Challenges

Hi and servus and thanks for stopping by!

Time for the second round of our September challenge over at SanDee&amelie's Steampunk Challenges! Round one already saw a lot of incredible projects - and we have also already had some fantastic entries so far - I hope I will find you play along too!

I am still struggling with a nasty virus and more headaches, but it's slowly getting better and so I made it just in time for Team B's turn to share a little steampunk inspiration with you . So this time it's a quick project and I also didn't manage to take images that would show the steps. Sorry, but I was already happy just to be able to create a little happy mess at my desk without having my head explode.

The focal image (a stamp set from Carabelle Studio) was first stamped onto a manila tag and then masked so I could later paint it with transparent DecoArt media fluid acrylics (Quinacridone Red and Violet, Prussian Blue Hue and Yellow Iron Oxide). I painted it AFTER dabbing on the background paints - just in case I wasn't content with the outcome...

I finished the painted image off with a white gel pen and a bit of metallic sheen here and there. You can also see that I painted a bit of a shade around the jar bell to make it visually pop from the background (but it is a single layer tag!).

Instead of using a brush for applying the paints for my background I used a round sponge to dab them on and rather mix them directly wet on wet on the tag than on the palette first. I used DecoArt Americana-,  Student- and media fluid acrylics to create the background.

The sponge created really cool patterns that - for me - match the feel of patina and rust. I simply added layer over layer and went in with colours as I needed until I was content with the look.

The glued on chunky rivets are left overs from a board game my husband got for his birthday (I always keep the left over bits from the chipboard parts that come with most board games...just in case... ;)
I painted them with Raw Umber first and then added some "Vintage Brass" Extreme Sheen with a soft brush. Wow! If you compare the rivets to the little label that was done using DecoArt Metallic Lustre, you can see the difference...I like both to be honest, but if you really want extreme sheen the DecoArt Extreme Sheen paint will do the job. lol

I used one of Andy Skinner's cool industrial texture stamps to add the scratches with black archival stamping ink. Then I masked the image again and sprinkled on some white, black and orange DecoArt media Shimmer Misters and the last bit of (diluted) Extreme Sheen paint from my palette. 

I wasn't able to get a good picture showing both - the stamped text AND the bling from the paints...so here's a detail view so you can see the quote a bit better:

My heart runs on .... steam! What else? 

I hope you like my messy tag! And of course I also hope to see you play along with us over at the SASPC Challenge Blog! I can't wait to see what you will come up with!

Hugs and happy crafting!

Claudia xxx