SanDee&amelie's Summer Special 2016 - Altered Steampunk Notebook

Hi, servus and I hope you have all been enjoying a lovely summer so far!

As every year we are doing the two months long challenge for July and August over at SanDee&amelie's Steampunk Challenges so you can all enjoy the sun and a great time outside without having to worry about missing our challenge or the chance to win one of our prizes or make our Top5.

Team B (including humble me) are sharing their projects today to remind you of our challenge and provide you with additional inspiration. If you haven't checked out the makes of Team A at the start of July and our additional Extra Steam Power posts, I highly recommend you do so too! Just hop over to our challenge blog and get yourself a good dose of steampunk mojo!

We have three instead of two prizes to give away this time as lovely Glenda from boozybear steampunk chipboard pieces is generously donating another surprise package for a lucky winner!

I have altered a little notebook I have been given by my lovely friends who collect alterable stuff for me!

This is the little notebook in its humble beginnings:

I had a happy, messy play with shrink foil (not sure if this is the proper translation - maybe it is "shrink plastic" in English, but it says "Folie" (=foil) in German), some of my favourite steampunk stamps, DecoArt Dazzling Metallics, black Gesso and modelling paste, the new Tim Holtz Sizzix BigZ "Mosaic" die and a TCW gears stencil.

And this is the result:

Sizzix dies work great on shrink foil! As you can see I also die cut the rectangle ornate frame which I used for another project I am going to share with you over at the SASPC challenge blog later this month.


I used black archival stamping ink to stamp my images onto the frosted side of the cut out shrink foil pieces.

This image shows the rubber stamp and the already shrunk panel to its right so you can see how small shrink foil pieces get (about the third of the original size).

I have to admit that I stopped taking images a little later during the process as I got completely carried away while drybrushing....but I will try to explain everything in detail!

The book was covered with a coat of black Gesso first. Once that had dried I added black modelling paste through a gears stencil and let that dry naturally.

To make the stencilled texture visible I dry brushed the cover with different tones of DecoArt Dazzling Metallics (starting with Copper, then adding Moss Pearl and Teal in some spots). I also lightly dry brushed the cover with a mix of Light Buttermilk and Navy Blue Americana acrylic paints to tone down the metallic sheen a bit.

Sorry that there are no images of the single stages...I mainly dry brushed the cover with different metallic and matte paints and followed my guts until I was content with the look.

The good thing with acrylic paints is: you can go in and add and cover up and add until you like what you see. Acrylic paints are very forgiving as they dry pretty quick...so new layers can be added almost instantly to change the tones and looks.


This image of the finished book shows the different paints and tones I used - you can spot the Copper, the Moss Pearl, the Teal and the Orange Flicker Metallic Lustre:

I also used the Orange Flicker Metallic Lustre to stencil on the "Dream" word.

The edges of the shrink foil tiles were treated with Orange Flicker too. I used my fingertip to apply the metallic Lustre. Then the tiles were flipped over and given a thorough coat of heavy white Gesso at the backs before I glued them to the cover using matte Decou-Page.

I also painted the rubber band that keeps the book closed with Orange Flicker so it would match the design.

The back and spine of the notebook were painted with black Gesso too and then given light strokes of Orange Flicker and Cosmic Blue Metallic Lustres. Et voilá!

The advantage of using black Gesso as a base coat is that you can directly add the black modelling paste to it and that they form a great base for adding on paints (without the use of having to paint a base layer of a darker tone first). I also sprinkled on some gold and dark brown spray paints and stamped on a crackle pattern here and there for more texture:

And that pretty much sums up the whole process. I hope you like my little steampunk notebook and leave inspired!

There is time until the end of August to enter up to 5 projects (instead of the usual 3 projects per player limit) to our summer special challenge! So I hope to see you over there and play along soon!

Hugs and happy summer crafting!

Claudia

xxx

Old Journal Spread Revisited

Browsing my image archives today I found a journal spread I did for DecoArt for CHA 2014.
I haven't shared it so far because first of all I simply forgot about it and secondly its content is about a personal issue I had been struggling with for a long time back then...and I know not everyone wants to to be confronted with more earnest or sad topics being displayed in art.

But hard times go by and we learn and move on and get better with each crises. And also fortunately the human brain is programmed to forget about how hard it really was "back then". So we can look back at our lives without feeling that same pain again.

For those who don't want to read any sad or earnest stuff - please, move directly on to the images section with the how-tos. I am not offended if you do so (and I won't know anyway...lol).

In my life there had been deaths and deadly or serious illnesses of family members from the time when I was six until my late thirties and even though my mom tried her best and did an outstanding job raising her two daughters as a widow (and loosing her mother only three years after loosing her husband), I know now (as a grown up) that she lost her trust in fate back then and part of her simply gave up on trying to be happy again. I never felt that I didn't have a good childhood though...but my heart (or inner child or however you like to call it) never learned "happiness" and to trust in fate. And sadly this is something that cannot be fully caught up on once you are a grown up.

That doesn't mean I am sad all the time. I am not. On the contrary - I laugh a lot. I smile a lot. I like to tell funny stories. I know what makes me happy and how to enjoy good times. And I am very aware and thankful of the many everyday life things that can make us happy - and there are a lot if you are on the lookout. I enjoy and treasure all of it - but it will never become a "natural feeling" for me. It always takes a conscious "act of will" for me to be happy (or at least close to) - if you know what I mean.

But enough of that. I really do have a good life. I am loved and have wonderful precious people I can love back. And I am constantly working on adapting to my "new life with chronic illness". It isn't as dramatic as it may sound, but it also isn't easy and honestly there comes quite a learning curve with it - and a lot of ups and downs.  Which brings me to my journal spread that was made after one of those downs:

Looking at this spread almost two years later, I recognise that my "sunlight" that I recommend trusting in, still looks a bit scary with all the zig-zag-ish and pointy "sunbeams". I don't think that I did the sun (to the right...just in case you struggle with spotting it) like this intentionally - it just happend to come out like it did and I totally blame it on my subconscious. But honestly I smiled today when I saw how it made me do the sun...a sun that was meant to be warm and gentle. Which it definitely isn't on my journal spread.

But hey - it perfectly represents my feelings...the ones I obviously don't have as much control over as I would like to. ;)

I have left those dark times behind. I know that and I can feel that.
But sunlight is happiness - and part of it will always scare me. At least a bit. So my sun is more that of a desert, burning trees instead of making them grow if I look at it closely...(the longer I look at it the more it makes me smile and chuckle honestly).

But on my journal page the person is reaching out - and I am sure he or she can already feel the warmth (even though it feels still a bit scary)...and that it is a good and healing kind of warmth.

But even though I wasn't very content with the shape of my cut out figure back when I made this spread, I now think it perfectly shows this timid approach in all its attitude. Not running at full speed towards the lighter times. But its back is definitely turned on darkness - so someone is on his or her way. And we all know it's small steps when recovering from hurt- and stressful times. So the words "explore" and "journey" are there and exactly where they should be.

I started my spread with a sketch.

Then I added some black acrylic paint to the left as a background and glued on some chipboard arrows and cogs and rough ribbon.

The sun was done scraping on white modelling paste and scratching lines into it with the side of the palette knife.

These were painted with black acrylic paint too so I could dry brush them later.

I worked with a reduced colour scheme and fused the right yellow side with the black left hand side via a grey section. This picture shows all the colour tones and media used on my journal spread:

The paints were  blended directly on the pages while still wet to create a soft blending effect from the black left to the light yellow side. But I also made sure there were visible brush strokes as well.

I stamped on some crackles with black archival ink to add a bit of detail to the background. Then I dry brushed the black glued on pieces with shades of orange and yellow to make all the texture pop.

The bird, tree and lamp post were stamped in place and the stamped and cut out quotes and figure were glued in place too.

The edges of the single quote tiles were shaded using a back watersoluble pencil and a wet brush.

 A bit of white Gesso was scraped on the background and the sun for more detail. The figure's edges were outlined with a black and brown watersoluble pencil and blended. Voilá!
Sadly this piece got lost after CHA, so I never got it back. But here it is now (at least virtually) ;)

Thanks for stopping by! 

Hugs and happy (and I mean it) crafting,

Claudia 

xxx

Hoot Hoot!

Servus and "Hoot hoot!"

I would like to share a project with you today that emerged from this compilation of hoarded treasures that I randomly spread on my desk while browsing my stash:

The home decor house shaped wooden panel on the left was a find from a dollar store. The lovely owl stamp at the top was a gift from my wonderful sister and all the other items are long hoarded finds at home decor shops or the dollar store. Then there are scraps from old books, found objects from hikes in the forest...even the packaging of the chopsticks from our traditional Sushi-TV-Friday family evenings made it into my stash...paper scraps, emptied and dried tea bags, ribbons, thread...you know I really can't throw away things and I love all those odds and ends that visually attract my attention and "talk to me" (and have a real or imaginable "history").

And while browsing my stash I just grabbed what "spoke to me" most at that moment and piled it on my desk. With no precise idea for a project at all in my head. Honestly...if I had just sat and touched and "admired" all of it and then put it back into their boxes and drawers I would have felt satisfied too. I call that "visual bathing"...almost a bit like Uncle Scrooge (="Dagobert Duck" as he is called in German) who loves to take a swim in all his hoarded money. It makes me feel good. I love to look at all the various patterns and shapes and touch the different textures.

You will also find that I didn't use all of the stuff on my desk. One of the really hard parts of creating good artwork is to know what to add and what to leave aside. There is an easy way to find out if you are looking at a well done piece of art: if there are things you can take off without them leaving an unfinished looking space they are "too much". If some spaces look unfinished, these lack interest and you should add something (painted detail, texture or something like that). This way you will always make sure that your focal points aren't drowned by too much "visual activity" around them. And you also make sure that your pieces never look unfinished. Finding the right balance is the hardest part, if you ask me. ;)


As I wanted to get my hands sticky and dirty I started with glueing some of the scraps to the house shaped panel. Creating random backgrounds from scrap often is a good start as most of the times once you have started to fuse items to create something new, new ideas evolve during the process and take you on a creative journey.

I prefer to use matte Decou-Page from DecoArt for this as it dries really fast and also gives tooth to acrylic paints once dry.

I was quite sure that I wanted to make the wonderful owl image my focal centre piece...and that I wanted to combine it with some highly textural items too. So I played around with an arrangement first before I stamped the image in place.

Then I added the piece of rough ribbon, some thread (that I formed some kind of "frame" with) and a small piece of bark, using DecoArt Matte Medium. The Matte Medium is a touch smoother and less sticky than the Decou-Page - which makes it perfect for fixing thread to a substrate.

The eye, knothole, button and some gold sequins found their way onto my project too...quite spontaneaously.

Next I spread some DecoArt Media clear Crackle Glaze with a palette knife in random spots and let that dry. Then I repeated this step with some DecoArt Media white Crackle Paint, so I would have areas with crackle where the patterns underneath would still be visible while with others they would be covered by the white of the crackle paint.

The area inside the "thread frame" was left untreated so I could paint it with DecoArt Media fluid acrylics later.

To highlight the cracks I painted a mix of DecoArt Media Antiquing Creams Raw Umber and Carbon Black over the crackled areas. After the Antqiuing Creams had dried I wiped back any excess until content using a damp soft cloth.

I started with highlighting the owl's shape by painting around it using Titan Buff and a fine tip brush.

Then I painted an outer frame using Quinacridone Gold. Prussian Blue was used to paint some of the owl's feathers and some of the spaces created by the thread.

I also painted a subtle border around the panel's edges using Quinacridone Gold. It is always good to keep the amount of different colours rather small - so they will unify easily and form a harmonical whole. Never use more than one contrasting colour (and their "colour family members") - otherwise "holding" it all together visually will become almost impossible and the focal points will get lost.

Once I was done painting my owl it was toned down using a mix of Raw Umber and English Red Oxide Antiquing Cream. The cool thing about the Antiquing Creams is that you can always wipe back as much of them as you want or need to! To make their effect permanent you should seal your artwork with a varnish. This is also a good thing to do if you want to paint over your piece again afterwards without changing the antiquing effect.

The glued on thread frame was highlighted dry brushing DecoArt Media fluid acrylics Titan Buff and Cobalt Teal Hue on with a dry stipple brush.

Using an embossing tool I added some small dots of Titan Buff here and there and then toned them down with a wash of Quinacridone Gold.

Some details:

...and here's the finished project. I hope you like Mathilda!

And before I forget: I want to thank all of you deeply who took the time to reflect and write a lot of thoughtful and personal comments on my blog post about "personal style in our artwork" (over HERE) !!! Your willingness to take the time to read and also answer so openly and thoroughly touched me deeply and also showed me that I may have touched a nerve there and that there are many of us out there who constantly question themselves and their artwork. Which is good! Because with content comes comfort. And once we do not leave our comfort zones anymore our artistic journey comes to an end (or halt at least). Right?

So thank you all so much for taking part in the discussion. There is still time and opportunity to join in and also share some or your own art too. Click HERE to get to the post. I will try to answer all your comments individually as quickly as time allows!

Hugs from me and a happy "hoot hoot!" from Mathilda for now! xxx