Recall for Robot BR0730am! - a Tag for SanDee&amelie's Steampunk Challenges

Attention, attention, dear customers!  Robowell are doing a recall for Robot BR0730am due to malfunction and possible danger of fire!!! There seems to be a severe malfunction with the GMS ("Greet the Morning with a Smile") and the FS ("Fried Sausages") modes that in a worst case scenario could even set your home on fire!

Customers have reported several issues of severely burnt sausages and grim looks and also sent image proof:

NOTE: do not try to fix your BR0730am yourself! Instead return the product with bill and - if possible - in original packing to Robowell asap! All electronic shops are advised to accept returned robots of this type and will assist customers with refund procedures! 

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Hi, servus and welcome to today's project for the launch of our March challenge over at SanDee&amelie's Steampunk Challenges! 

I had so much fun creating this little robo chap with an obviously faulty circuit! (and I really would love to be able to get these delicious British breakfast sausages over here in Vienna too...sigh...not burnt ones of course). 

Just look at this cute grim face! giggle

I really adore this dies set from Tim Holtz's latest releases. It's great fun and the possibilities for creating whimsy little robots of all kinds seem almost endless. The idea for my grim little breakfast robot came from the die cut pieces lying on my desk...I suddenly saw the angry "eyes" in the filament...and the grim expression on the "mouth"....and the sausage pan...and there it was....a breakfast robot gone mad! (do I need to mention that I am a huge fan of Nick Park's "Wallace and Gromit" films? ;)

I also enjoyed taking out my alcohol inks again after not having used these for ages...

I used Tim Holtz's "Foundry" 3D embossing folder and silver metallic foil to create the tag's background. The tag itself was cut from really thick greyboard, using the "Tag & Bookplate" die from Tim Holtz. All the layers were glued together using DecoArt matte Decou-Page. 

Then I added a coat of sprayed on matte varnish, so I could paint on the alcohol ink background without having it being reactivated or coming off. 

I painted a background for the lit bulb with DecoArt media Translucent White. 

Black soot Distress Crayon was used to darken the tag's edges and the white one to create a subtle brightness around the bulb.

I had cut out the robot's pieces from black cardstock. To make my filaments shine really bright I needed to first paint these with DecoArt Titanium White media fluid acrylic paint...

...before I could add some bright light in Hansa Yellow Medium.

The robot parts were painted using a huge variety of DecoArt Metallic paints...

Here's an image showing all the different metallic paints (and other DecoArt products) I have used:

DecoArt Metallic Lustre "Radiant Red" was used on the little gauge. And I varied matte and shiny metallic paints for more interest. I used the new and fantastic DecoArt Matte Metallics "Pewter" and "Aged Bronze" alongside the DecoArt Dazzling Metallics "Moss Pearl", "Teal" and "Copper" and DecoArt Extreme Sheen paints "Vintage Brass" and "Bronze".

The gauge window first got a coat of DecoArt Triple Thick. Later I decided to add some DecoArt media Liquid Glass to it for even more dimension.


The burnt sausages were painted using DecoArt Chalky Finish paint "timeless" (as a base layer) alongside DecoArt media fluid acrylics "Transparent Red Iron Oxide" and "Carbon Black".

Then I made a mistake (already half knowing that it might be one...) and tried to use the Liquid Glass to glue the die cut acetate bulb to the finished robo face. 

Uh oh! What I had already feared happened: the Liquid Glass reactivated all the layers underneath and the painted bulb background came off the silver foil...as did the alcohol inks. All the paints and inks mixed with the Liquid Glass and created a brown muddy glue liquid on top of silver foil shining through here and there. Arggghhh! I had hoped that the varnish and the acrylic paints on top would be enough of a barrier but sadly they weren't.

So after waiting for a while (hope fading) and watching disaster grow and take over, I removed the acetate and tried to clean off whatever I could. Gladly the Liquid Glass had at least fixed the top layer of the painted die cut face pieces to the back of the acetate - so didn't have to redo these.

I die cut another bulb background from some beige paper I had at hand and painted a new bulb with DecoArt media fluid acrylics Titanium White and Hansa Yellow Medium again. Then I glued that bulb layer to the tag and fixed the acetate as a top layer to the background by only applying the matte Decou-Page with a detail brush to the backs of the filament and mouth. That's something I will try to remember doing when next trying to fix acetate to a background without wanting any visible traces of glue. ;)

Phew! So rescue was a success! There were still some smudges and stains from the Liquid Glass and the alcohol inks that had been reactivated by it on the acetate, but that actually added beautifully to the worn and grungy look of my tag. 

The other bits and pieces were glued to the tag using the matte Decou-Page and my detail brush again. 

Taking good pictures of shiny projects always is a challenge....sigh...

Some detail shots:

I hope you like my little robot as much as I do! 

My teamies have come up with more steampunk fun and/or goodness to fuel your inspiration! Check out their makes by hopping over to our steampunk challenge blog. I would love to see you play along this month. Remember - we're giving away two fab prizes each month (being donated by our wonderful prize sponsors DecoArt and boozybear)!!! 

Hugs and happy crafting!

Claudia

xxx