Keep Life Simple! - Steampunk Canvas for SanDee&amelie's Steampunk Challenges

Hi and welcome back to another steampunk project for October for my SanDee&amelie's Steampunk Challenge blog! As usual the theme for this month is "Anything Goes - Steampunk/Industrial" and more information is given on the challenge blog (that you get to by clicking HERE or using the other link at the end of this blog post. Oh, and if you scroll down to the previous post you will be taken to the Calico Craft Parts Blog, where another new project of mine has gone live this morning...)

A great part of my wonderful team have come up with projects that combine steampunk with Halloween - and that definitely worked well! And those who have been playing along with us for quite some time now know that we also accept projects that are not mainly steampunk or industrial style (even thought they obviously have to feature steampunk or industrial elements!)...so if you are already in full Halloween crafting swing you can still play along this month without having to interrupt the eerie flow - just give your Halloween project a visible steampunk/industrial twist so your entries get eligible for our Top5 and prize wins!

I have already done several Halloween projects this year - which is quite unusual for me - but for my challenge blog project I decided to stick to pure steampunk and mixed media. I have still challenged myself though by trying to come up with a project that was mainly done with bits and pieces that I have been hoarding in a tiny tin and a papier machée bowl on my craft desk - snippets and left overs from previous projects and other tiny bits 'n bobs ...

You can spot a watch makers tin to the bottom left next to an old bottle cap and some MDF laser cut cogs, some frozen charlottes, a piece of coral from a walk at the beach, in the centre there are some die cut and alcohol inked gears pieces and some animal horn pendants. There are also a rusty little metal house and a metal heart, left overs from some of my Bubbalux experiments (the blue stuff),  results from first attempts at using the new Tim Holtz 3D embosslits, some copper brads, a piece of linen ribbon,....oh, well...a mix of stuff that I couldn't throw away and stuff that I like to have in sight so it sparks inspiration at the right time...

I have played around with most of the pieces on a 6'' x 6'' chunky burlap canvas from Canvas Corp Brands and came up with an arrangement that I liked. I took a picture of it before I took it apart again, so I could turn to it for reference in case I forgot about the exact design details...

The piece to the bottom right was one of my very first die cutting and alcohol experiments ever - so it must have been in my stash for at least five years! 

The cogs and gears and the metal fence piece are from Calico Craft Parts, the big star is from That Craft Place I guess. The gorgeous rusty metal house is from Red Lead. Oh, and I have used up the last bit of Dresden paper trim that I was given by lovely Candy Colwell during a swap we made several years ago ;) 

With the right background, the right mixed media products and some textural media added I turned all of these into this: 

It definitely was great fun to create this piece and to see all the parts and sections finally fuse into a little work of steampunk mixed media art during the process. AND I have also used up some of my long hoarded scrap...erm...treasures! I really like that.

On this occasion I also tried to use up some of my oldest spray paints from when I started this hobby. So I threw some Maya Mist and Mr. Huey's on without aiming for a special design. I just made sure that coverage wasn't too even. Then I used the heat tool to dry the spray inks and paints.

I also brushed on a coat of matte DecoArt Decou-Page to prevent any of the inks to re-react with additional media and paints added. It was also necessary to create a base layer for some loosely scraped on white DecoArt media Crackle Paint.

The DecoArt media Heavy Gel Medium was used to fix all the chosen pieces to the canvas and to adhere some micro beads in some spots.

Stampendous Fran-Tage Texture Flakes were added as well. I simply brushed on some matte Decou-Page in the spots where I wanted them and sprinkled them on.

DecoArt Dazzling Metallic paints Venetian Gold, Pearl Moss and Worn Penny were used to paint the MDF pieces.

Once everything was dry, I mixed my own spray paints from water and DecoArt media Transparent Yellow Iron Oxide and another from Raw Umber to tone down certain areas on the canvas. The frozen charlotte had gotten a coat of matte Decou-Page before, so the paint would stick to that as well.

DecoArt media Misters Carbon Black, White and Turquoise Shimmer Mister paints were loosely sprinkled on for a worn look.

The rusty house and some word stickers were given a thorough coat of DecoArt media Liquid Glass for some shiny slick surfaces to contrast the worn and rough look of the rest of the canvas.

I also added bits of Seth Apter's fab Ancient Amber Baked Texture embossing powder here and there...

...as well as some sprinkles of Vintage Beeswax Baked Texture to the frozen charlotte.

I love how the Liquid Glass has created lovely inclusions of the micro beads!

At the end my craft desk looked like this...so many different products on such a small format! 

But they were all necessary to create my rich and detailed textured canvas and I had a wonderful time using them all - seeing the different beautiful effects they gave!

Some close ups to finish off my post:

Thank you for stopping by! I hope to see you play along with us at SanDee&amelie's Steampunk Challenges this month! Our sponsors DecoArt and boozybear will be giving away a prize package again to two randomly drawn winners from all proper entries. So don't miss the chance and share some steampunk or industrial style fun with us!

Hugs and happy crafting!

Claudia

xxx

More Forest Love with Calico Craft Parts

Oh, well....another two weeks have just flown by and it is time again for a short invitation to come over to my second "home" - the Calico Craft Parts Blog, where I am sharing a new project today.
(and if you come back a little later today, I will also be sharing my latest project for the new SanDee&amelie October Steampunk challenge).

You know of my love for the forest and all the creatures in it and maybe you also remember this project that I started out with on the Calico Craft Parts Blog (over HERE ) - as a guest designer back then. I still love this particular project a lot and have it on display on one of my crammed shelves ;)

Autumn is my favourite time of the year. I love the warm colours of the fallen leaves, the acorns on the ground, the mix of fading greens and warm red, brown and orange tones and all the tiny creeping insects who hide underneath the leaves or in the bark of old rotten trees, some already searching for a place to spend the winter in.
 There's always a lot to discover when you look closely and to me insects are one of the most fascinating species. So small, but so cleverly designed by nature - and so beautiful and/or alien-like at times. ;)

So, if you think this picture shows part of something that might be of ...

for you too..., simply click HERE to get taken to the finished project, detailed tutorial and blog post ;)
See you over there! And if you stop by again a little later today, you will also find a new project for our monthly steampunk challenges over at SanDee&amelie's Steampunk Challenges.

Hugs and happy crafting!

Claudia

xxx

Rest in Peace, Myrtle Mulgrave! - Halloween Fun with Tim Holtz Dies and Bubbalux Craft Board

Hi, servus and welcome to another fun Halloween project today! It seems I am on a real roll this year with Halloween projects. Obviously reducing my design team commitments has been the right thing to do. With more time for projects that are just for fun (and just for me. myself and I) inspiration finds me more often and faster. And with all the awesome Halloween projects out there you just can't help being infected with the Halloween crafting virus, can you?

I have once more used the cool Bubbalux Craft Board (as in this project over HERE) - the white and yellow one this time - and once more I just loved the many different possibilities being given by this product and especially its sturdiness - it's perfect to create 3D projects that stay in shape AND are light weight at the same time.

I was inspired by some fabulous projects from some talented ladies that I recently saw (on the inspiring Tim Holtz Addicts facebook group), on which they were using the new Tim Holtz Tombstone Overlays (for the Etcetera Tags) to create the most fantastic tombstone projects.
Being in Austria, getting one of these is not only a matter of good luck but also of a long waiting time (due to shipping times from outside of Austria) - so mostly I am late to the party with latest releases...so I decided to find a way around that and create my own "tombstone overlays" using some of Tim's fab products from my stash - mainly his Alterations Halloween dies. That was great fun! And using his dies to cut the shapes from Bubbalux Craft Board just worked wonderfully!

So I have come up with this own version of a Tim Holtz Tombstone project. I hope you like it!

I have also done a how-to for you.

And here's the list of Tim dies and die sets I have used:

- Headstone (Alterations)
- Iron Gate (On the Edge Alterations)
- Pediments (Alterations)
- Trophy Antlers (Alterations)
- Labels (Thinlits)
- Garden Greens (Thinlits)
- Feather & Ravens (Thinlits)


I started with cutting out the needed pieces from white Bubbalux. As you can see I cut out some more pieces so I could try out different designs.

I removed the protective foil AFTER die cutting the Bubbalux pieces. This way any black foam residue from the dies was removed as well.

Then I sanded all the edges and cut off the top of the headstone shape (as that was going to be replaced by a pediment piece). I also die cut another bottom part of the Headstone shape so I could layer pieces to create the impression of the tombstone sitting on a wider stone base.

I added some lines and other detail to the pieces with hand embossing.

To bend the iron gate shape to create a little fence for the grave, I heated the Bubbalux with my heat tool and quickly bent it into shape around a jar. I held the piece in place with my fingers until it had cooled down.

Then I placed the shaped fence piece onto a flat piece of yellow Bubbalux and traced along the curved outside with a ball point pen. Using large scissors I cut out the drawn shape to create my base. I left an overlap at the back for the tombstone to sit on and even added another half inch to the base's depth for a better stand.

Using some of the lovely Tim Holtz Thinlits dies sets I die cut some twigs from sturdy white cardstock to decorate the tombstone with.

The little plate shape from the Trophy Antlers die was the perfect shape to put the portrait of Myrtle Mulgrave on. (May she rest in peace!)

I used black DecoArt media Gesso to prime all the die cut pieces. I stippled the Gesso on with an old and worn bristle brush. This way I already created some rough texture with my base layer. I let everything dry naturally (as heating the Bubbalux will make the pieces warp a little).

Once dry I stippled on some DecoArt media Texture Sand Paste and let that dry naturally as well.

In the meantime I heat embossed my smaller cardstock shapes and the Bubbalux base plate using Emerald Creek embossing powders Hammered Metal, Moss Stone Green, Clear Chunk Gloss and Vintage Ivy.

The hand punched portrait got three layers of the Clear Chunk Gloss embossing powder for a dimensional look.

Using a wide soft flat brush I dry brushed DecoArt premium Warm Grey acrylic paint onto the tombstone pieces. First I had glued the pieces together using superglue.

I also used superglue to assemble all the finished pieces.

The iron fence was loosely painted using DecoArt media Silver Metallic paint and Lamp Black Americana paint. I also added touches of the Silver Metallic paint to other parts of the tombstone to visually fuse all the elements. Et voilá!

Some detail shots:

...and once more the finished piece:

Thanks for stopping by, dear crafty friends! I hope you like my self made "Tombstone Overlay". ;)

And thank you, Floortex, for generously letting me have some Bubbalux to play with for free! 

Hugs and happy crafting! 

Claudia

xxx