Steampunk Birthday Tag for SanDee&amelie's June 2020 Steampunk Challenge

Hi, servus and welcome to the launch of our June challenge over at SanDee&amelie's Steampunk Challenges! Over at our challenge blog a new challenge and some new inspirational projects by my wonderful design team are awaiting you!

The theme is as always "Anything Goes - Steampunk/Industrial" - so just enjoy some steampunk or industrial style fun the way that makes you feel best and play along! As always we will give away two prizes from our generous sponsors DecoArt and boozybear - so don't miss the chance to win one of these! ;)

My make for June is a birthday tag with loads of delicious crackle and a special mechanical heart!

I had been given a lovely dies set to create a steampunk heart with loads of cogs and gears quite some time ago and now it was finally time to play with it!

A lot of paint layers, dry brushing, toning down and highlighting again went into my steampunk heart and I really loved building my own mechanics by die cutting some of the gears several times and combining the many different parts in a playful way. Next time I use this heart it will for sure have a different mechanism ;)


I started by die cutting the heart's base and all the cogs and gears from heavy black cardstock. To make the heart even more sturdy I cut another heart shape from some cardboard packaging to glue it behind the die cut heart.

I used the "Foundry" 3D embossing folder to add some texture to the die cut heart before I glued the sturdy back to it. Then I started building "clusters" of cogs and gears. As some of the pieces were really tiny, I used diluted DecoArt matte Decou-Page and a detail brush to apply the glue and to fix the small bits to their proper spots.

This is how my finished heart looked once it was ready to get painted:

I started by dry brushing on layers of DecoArt premium Titan Buff and Burnt Sienna acrylic paints.

Then I went for a rusty, brown-ish look and added more dry brushed layers - this time I used Titan Buff, Burnt Sienna, Quinacridone Gold Hue and Transparent Yellow Iron Oxide.

I actually liked that, but I wanted to go for something a bit brighter - so I decided to add a bit of "patina" by dry brushing some spots with Cobalt Teal Hue.

I loved that version too...but for this particular tag I had a background in mind that would need something more contrasting and bright...so I decided to try a third version (isn't it a good thing that you can paint over acrylics again and again?).

I toned everything down with a subtle dry brushed on layer of Carbon Black and then kind of started anew - though the layers that were already there were definitely adding a lot of depth to the end result - so these weren't done in vain.

This time I started by dry brushing the centre of the heart with Titan Buff first, letting the intensity of the layers fade out towards the outer edges. I added about three layers of Titan Buff this way, making sure they all faded out nicely and turned the very centre brighter and brighter. Next I made the centre the brightest spot by adding Titanium White and not spreading that too much. That was the base for the colours to follow: mixes of Titan Buff and Diarylide Yellow, Diarylide Yellow and Vermillion Hue, Vermillion Hue and Pyrrole Red but also the pure colours in between to achieve a kind of blend with the most intense red in the centre.

Yep! I definitely liked that and it was perfect to contrast the background colour I had in mind for my tag. But first I added DecoArt Metallic Lustres Black Shimmer and Radiant Red here and there using my fingertip.

My tag (which was die cut from very thick grey board) first got a thorough layer of DecoArt Americana Lamp Black acrylic paint and one that had dried I applied a generous layer of DecoArt Weathered Wood. I made sure I changed direction while brushing on the crackle medium - this way I would get nice variations of the cracks' directions.

Once the Weathered Wood had dried to the touch I used a very soft wide flat brush to gently apply a layer of DecoArt Chalky Finish paint "vintage". I didn't cover the tag's edges so a black border would remain visible.

The crackling happens so fast that you shouldn't work over the same area twice! 

I definitely liked the result! The very tiny cracks where there is only a very thin layer of paint - and the larger ones where the paint was applied thicker.

To repeat the red from the heart I sprinkled some drops of red DecoArt media Mister to the tag.
I also applied some Black Shimmer Metallic Lustre around the tag's edges.

Next I toned everything down with a very thin wash of Transparent Yellow Iron Oxide media fluid acrylic paint.

The background was still missing some interest - so I added a bit of stencilling  using some of Andy Skinner's DecoArt stencils and DecoArt Americana acrylic paint French Vanilla.

On top of that I added another thin wash - this time of English Red Oxide.
To finish off my tag I added a word sticker that I shaded in using my Stabilo All pencil and a wet brush. The heart was fixed to the tag using very thick sticky foam pads for additional dimension.

Done! 

Some detail shots: 

I hope you like my tag! There are a lot of different dies sets out there to create this kind of layered steampunk heart - so I am sure you will find the one you like best. And of course the techniques shown and the design can be used on any other kind of theme.

I hope to see you over at SanDee&amelie's Steampunk Challenges soon! And I promise you will love the team's inspirational projects this month!

Hugs and happy crafting!

Claudia

xxx

Going Industrial over at Calico Craft Parts

Hi, servus and thanks for stopping by today! 

This is just a short invite (and another will follow on my blog tomorrow to my new DecoArt Mixed Media project...so stay tuned) over to the Calico Craft Parts blog, where I am sharing my first make for 2018. 

As you can see it is an industrial style project and I used one of Andy Skinner's cool stamp sets alongside a lot of DecoArt media (and other) goodness. 

To learn more, please, click HERE (or on the link on top of this post). There's a full tutorial waiting for you. Hope to see you over there soon! 

Have a good start into the week!

Claudia

xxx

Fireworks and Sparks at Emerald Creek Dares

Servus to round two of this month's challenge over at Emerald Creek Dares where it is all about

"Fireworks and Sparks"

If you have missed round one at the start of the month I highly recommend you check that out too!
A $50 voucher to spend on the most amazing embossing enamels, stamps and embellishments waits for one lucky winner - so don't miss the chance and play along! ;)

When I read the challenge theme for the first time I immediately thought about the "creative spark" we all love and need so much and feel lost without when it just won't fuel our imagination. So I decided to create a tag-diptych with two opposing tags that show both states: with and without creative spark.

Emerald Creek products used: 

EC St. Paddy's Day embossing powder

EC Easter Parade embossing powder

EC Chinese New Year embossing powder

EC Tangarine Orange Sparkle embossing powder

EC Moss Stone Green embossing powder

EC Mercury Rising embossing powder

EC Burnt Copper Leaves embossing powder

other products used available at EC:

Emboss It - clear embossing pad

Distress Spray Stain - gathered twigs

Distress Crayons - Set #3

I also used Distress Oxide inks to create the tags' backgrounds, a Stampers Anonymous "Classics" stamp set, a spray sealant, an Andy Skinner stencil (the swirls) and the gorgeous clouds stencil by Echo Park and DecoArt matte Decou-Page to create my tags. 

Here's a quick how-to:
(click on the images for a larger view)

Die cut two tags from manila cardstock and use Distress Oxides to create the background. Then stamp the head from the #11 Classics stamp set onto both tags using black archival stamping ink. I added gathered twigs spray stain to the "without spark" tag and created drip lines. Then I sealed both tags with matte clear acrylic varnish to prevent the inks from being re-actived. 

I masked the clouds stencil with masking tape and also fixed it to the tag before I applied clear embossing ink with a piece of cut'n dry foam. I did each cloud separately and heat embossed with the dark embossing enamels like Mercury Rising, Moss Stone Green and Burnt Copper Leaves. Then I painted the eyes white using a white gel pen. I repeated the stencilling and heat embossing process with the other tag too - this time using bright and sparkling (!) embossing powders (Chinese New Year, St. Paddy's Day, Tangarine Orange Sparkle and Easter Parade). The "creatively sparked" head was given some bright shading with the tumbled glass Distress Crayon. 

Whereas the un-sparked head got a shading with walnut stain Distress Crayon. I also used that tone to blend the tags' edges by drawing a thin line and smudging it with my fingertip. I added some "creativity" to the left head and a lot of "questioning blanks" to the right one using black permanent markers. I finished the tags off by adding some word stickers. 

To create my tag-dyptich I die cut two more tags - this time from heavy packaging card. 

I cut two short strips off a spool with grey linen ribbon and glued it in between the tag and the backing card tag using matte Decou-Page. 

I started with the left tag first and once that was dry I repeated that step with the right tag.

Done!

Some close-ups:

(this one showing the embossing enamels' texture and sparkle)

(this one showing a detail from the Distress Oxides I especially like)

(and this one showing a close up of my handwriting and Distress Oxide patterns)

***

I hope you like my "with or without creative spark" - tag-dyptich and leave creatively sparked and ready to create your own! ;) 

Hope to see you play along with us over at Emerald Creek Dares soon! 

Hugs and happy crafting!

Claudia

xxx

Homo hahahbilis

Servus, hi and welcome back to my little creative corner, dear craftin' friends and followers! Thank you so much for stopping by!

Today I want to share with you another project I did as a member of the wonderful DecoArt media Design Team.

At times DecoArt team up with other manufacturers and this time it is Stampendous and their team whom the DecoArt media DT will do a blog hop with to celebrate the new Andy Skinner stamps! So look out carefully this March and visit the Stampendous and DecoArt media blog and their other social media platforms to not miss the kick off of a fantastic blog hop!

Three of my wonderful teamies will be part of this event and some more team members - including myself - will be featuring projects on their blogs during the next days and be showing off with Andy Skinner's new Stampendous stamps and the fab products from the DecoArt media line. So loads of inspiration are about to fuel your creative mojo! Here's my share - enjoy!

This skull of "Homo hahahbilis" as he has been named by its discoverer, Dr. Rufus Bellows, has only recently been excavated and forces anthropologists all over the world to accept that there has been another, much earlier and totally different human species that had the most amazing qualities and seems to have developped in a totally different direction than its later "colleagues".

So far scientists who have carefully examined the specimen dare assume that this much older species had its own means of protecting themselves against predators like the giant sabre-toothed tiger. They believe that these early humans could squeeze their own noses to have some acid liquid squirt from the inner corners of their eyes that would harm the attacker's eyes and thus win them enough time to escape.
They also have come to believe that the ostentatious red tufts of hair on the back and sides of the head were a kind of visual warning sign for predators to indicate that they were inedible, maybe even poisonous (like you still see it with certain caterpillars today for example).

***

The title "homo hahahbilis" was suggested by my son and I love it!!!! He also came up with "hoho erectus" which is just as genius, but I think we will have to wait until Christmas to meet this guy. lol

To create my mixed media foam board panel I used Andy Skinner's new "Skuldoggery", "Unexplained" and "Handle With Care" Stampendous stamp sets alongside the cracke stamp from his older "Industrial" set and of course a lot of DecoArt media fluid acrylics, Misters and Gesso.

I started with covering up a sheet of heavy mixed media paper with torn scraps of old magazines and dictionary pages. This time I used DecoArt's "Antique" Decou-Page as it already has a slight brownish tint to it and I thought that would add beautifully to the grunge look I was aiming for.

Once that was dry, I applied two thin coats of heavily diluted white Gesso to tone everything down a little. 

I stamped the clown skull image onto some heavy cardstock and cut out the skull shape with a precision knife so I could use both - the stencil and the mask. Then I placed my stencil onto the prepared substrate and thinly stippled on some white Gesso using one of DecoArt's Dual Sided Paint Pouncers. 

Next I stamped the skull image onto the dry shape using black archival stamping ink. As the surface was a bit uneven because of the glued and layered on paper scraps the image didn't come out too crisp - but I was expecting that and there is an easy way to fix that.
Of course I could have stamped the image onto a separate piece of paper and glued it on but I wanted to create a single layer piece this time and doing it this way it also fused the image with the textural background.

Then I stamped on the words and the barb wire and let everything dry thoroughly. 

I started adding washes of Transparent Yellow Iron Oxide, Quinacridone Gold and Phtalo Green-Blue. To make the skull pop from the background I painted a shading around it with Quin Gold. 

I placed the cut out skull mask on top of the stamped skull and scraped on some white Gesso as well as some Green Gold and Quinacridone Gold using a palette knife. I let the Gesso and each paint dry before I added the next one.

Then I toned down the skull with a light wash of Yellow Oxide.

The black areas that had gone missing because of stamping onto an uneven surface were painted back in with Carbon Black using a small soft brush. 

Then I started shading my skull image by adding Yellow Oxide to those areas that were in the shade. 

The light areas (that would be hit by the light of a punctual source like the sun) were highlighted with Titanium White as well as the teeth. 

This way the skull pops even more from the flat looking background. 

Time to paint the nose and shade it as well. 

The red hair was stamped on using True Red DecoArt Americana acrylic paint and the chin-beard stamp from Andy Skinner's Skuldoggery set. 

I covered the skull with the cut out mask again and added Red and Black sprinkles using the DecoArt media Misters. I also sprinkled on some white and turquoise Shimmer Mister paint. 

For a finish I stamped on a lot of scratch patterns with black archival stamping ink and mounted my finished painting to a piece of cut to size foam board using matte Decou-Page and four metal brads. 

I wrote the name onto the label and fixed the label holder to the foam board with two thin brads. 

I painted and doodled some structure in black to the red tufts of hair. 

This image shows how the layered on paper scraps create beautiful texture that shows through (see black areas):

And once more the finished piece:

Homo hahahbilis will probably remain a great mystery to the science world, but maybe there will be some more finds that will help reveal the secrets of this wondrous species. 

Hugs and happy crafting!

Claudia

xxx