L'Ingenieur - for SanDee&amelie's Steampunk Challenges

Hi, servus and thanks so much for stopping by!


As it is the 15th of the month it is time for me to share my make for our April challenge over at SanDee&amelie's Steampunk Challenges.
As always we are having the "Anything Goes - Steampunk/Industrial" theme, so everyone is free to create away and have some steampunk or industrial style mixed media, tag, card,... or journal art fun. And by sharing your makes with us over at the challenge blog you get the chance to win one of our two monthly prize bundles (being sponsored by DecoArt media and boozybear). So don't hesitate - create!

As you can see I am still in love with the small format of ATCs. And as Calico Craft Parts have recently released some really cool new steampunk style ATC wood blanks, I just had to lay hands on them!

I have been hoarding some beautiful vintage portrait photographs of handsome old fashioned gentlemen that I found at the flea market and these steampunk ATC kits were just the perfect size to frame some of them and turn these beautifully bearded guys into savvy steampunk engineers.

The French dictionary definition of an "Ingenieur" (=engineer) reads: "man, who conducts and leads, with the aid of applied mathematics, works of art". That was just too beautiful to not be used on a little work of art!

I used a colour copy of the photograph and not only glued it to the back panel using matte DecoArt Decou-page, but also sealed it with a thorough coat of the same, before I glued the frame on top. Then I used a soft brush to add a thin layer of DecoArt media clear Crackle Glaze to the picture and let that air dry (I found this works really fast when placing my project very close to the light bulb of my work desk lamp).

Once that had dried, I used my fingertip to rub some DecoArt media Texture Sand Paste onto the frame. I put that back to dry for about ten minutes (maybe even less).


The base coat for my faux rust look was done using DecoArt media Paynes Grey fluid acrylic. I made sure I applied that thoroughly to avoid any white spots from the Texture Paste showing through.

DecoArt media Antiquing Creams Carbon Black and Raw Umber were mixed on my palette, being added a bit of water and then brushed onto the dry crackled portrait. I used a heat tool to dry off the mix, before I wiped off the excess with a damp soft cloth.

With a worn bristle brush I stippled on layers of DecoArt media Yellow Oxide, Quinacridone Burnt Orange and English Red Oxide, adding one on top of the other and going back and forth, until I was content with the look.

As it was a bit too bright for a rusty piece, I used the left overs from my Antiquing Creams mix on my palette to tone everything down.

For a bit of colour contrast I dry brushed touches of Cobalt Teal Hue media fluid acrylic onto some spots.

The quote was fussy cut and glued in place using matte Deco-page. To shade in the text strips I used a water soluble black pencil and a wet brush.

Done! 

Isn't that just the perfect frame for my engineer? And sometimes a small project that can be completed in short time is just the perfect and most rewarding thing to do. Of course I often wonder if I shouldn't put on some additional gears and stuff and create a highly textural load of elements for the eye to wander and delight on, but many times I find that this would take away from the main elements and their beauty and the stories they tell.

With this ATC frame I just knew I wanted it to be the second star alongside my engineer - and don't they just make a great couple? The imaginative engineer tapping plans and inspiration from the pipeline system leading to his idea filled inventor's brain.

I hope to see your ATCs, tags, cards, altered objects, art journal spreads and other imaginative projects being shared over at our challenge blog. I can't wait to see what you will come up with! The challenge is still open until the end of the month! Simply click HERE to get taken to the blog and to check out my teamies' wonderful makes as well!

Hugs and happy crafting!

Claudia

xxx