Thursday, March 31, 2011

Hats Off To Grungy Monday

After three very long days spent in overheated rooms, I have been officially released from jury duty.  I'm all for doing my civic duty, but do they really need to have the courtroom thermostats set to 90?

But, more to the point, I once again have the time to indulge in my favorite passtime....getting my hands good and inky.  Like many of you, I participated in all 35 weeks of Linda's Compendium of Curiosities challenge, and was saddened by it's end.  Fortunately, Linda anticipated that and has begun another set of challenges, called Grungy Monday.  Each week Linda will give us a link to one of Tim's videos or blog tutorials, and challenge us to use his techniques to make a piece that is uniquely our own.  Can you see me smiling?  And there even will be guest designers!

For our first project, we're going back to one of Tim's 2008 12 Tags of Christmas.  A great one (weren't they all?) with very doable techniques.  Click on the link to get all the details.  Of course, given the title, Tim's tag is all red and green and features a lovely reindeer.....not what I have in mind as March comes to an end.  This is what I came up with......and coincidentally enough, as it prominently features a hat, I'm also submitting it to Simon Says Stamp and Show.......a hat!

I had GREAT FUN doing this one......I love steampunk and I got to use products from many of my favorites.  The background technique, straight from Tim's tutorial used both his own gears masks plus some I made myself from his Gadget Gears die.  I made the spray with vintage photo reinker and green patina perfect pearls.  I added quite a bit of stamping over that, all from Oxford Impressions.  The torn paper down the middle is from Graphic 45's Steampunk Debutante line.  The bird's body is also an Oxford Impressions stamp, and for the technique I covered the black embossing with a mixture of both blue and green patina perfect pearls and water.  I replaced the bird head with the steampunk man from Wendy Vecchi's Seriously Art set, and he got the same treatment as the bird.

The hat was cut so that a bunch of watch parts (real ones, from my stash) could come pouring out.  I added a bowtie with a little watch part embellishment.   There are some additional touches (the pointing hand, the arrow and the two parentheses) that are actually stickers from Heartwarming Vintage.

I'm sure looking forward to the next set of challenges, and still have one to do for Everything Wendy Vecchi.  I've said it before, but......so many stamps, so little time.....

28 comments:

Tammy D said...

Fun!

Deborah Mahnken said...

Really creative!

Anonymous said...

Oh how FUN FUN FUN this is!!!! Love all the buttons coming out of the hat!!

Jingle said...

This is SUCH a great piece!

Candy C said...

Hey Eileen! Once again...your sense of humor comes through! I love what you did with your HAT!!! Great idea! Thank you for joining us at Simon Says Stamp and Show Challenge! <3 Candy

Marjie Kemper said...

Fantastic tag, Eileen!

Paperfanatic said...

This is great Eileen, I love your blog and have become a follower. I will be checking in regularly. Right off to finish my piece for grungy Monday

SusanK said...

So cool! Glad you're back in the land of ink and paper - lots more fun!

Nancy Lynn said...

Love what you did with this piece of great artwork. Good job as always. Steampunk is so much fun.

Alicia B said...

Super fun and creative Eileen!!! *Hugs*

Bearcrazyman said...

Fantastic as always!!

Silvia(Barnie) said...

That's funny, great steampunk look.

Helen said...

Lovely!! Creating this certainly beats jury service!

Kathy Eddy said...

Loving your steampunk tag. So glad I have never had to do the juery-duty thing! Hope I never do either. LOL

Vic said...

Great tag! Love the watch parts exploding out of his hat!

donna said...

Very very cool and so creative. I love your tag!..Donna

Stamped Impressions said...

Lovely Creation!

Gillian .... said...

Cool idea with the watch parts emerging from the hat:)

Minxy said...

How fun, love all the cogs spilling from the hat

Elaine A said...

Eileen -

Fantastic! It really blows my mind (I'm sorry, couldn't help myself). You always amaze me with the things you create. This is a fabulous piece! WONDERFUL!

Elaine Allen

Lori said...

This is SO cool! I just love the use of the Wendy stamp...just total awesomeness. Yes, I know that's not a word. LOVE it!

Lori said...

p.s. Thanks for joining the Simon Says Stamp and Show Challenge!

Terry said...

Hiya Eileen, thank you for sharing your hat project with the DT from Simon Says Stamp and Show, I love it. Hugs Terry xxxx

Shelly Hickox said...

So glad you got released and could spend some time creating - this is absolutely fantastic!

Linda Ledbetter said...

Congratulations on surviving jury duty! And even bigger congrats on creating one of the coolest and most clever cards EVER! Your Steampunk Bird Man is awesome, Eileen! I love this design. It's a little Monty Python, a little Jules Verne, a lot Tim, and altogether fabulous. The little gears floating our from his hat?! LOVE THEM!

You're so cool.

Jenny Potter said...

Oh wow! So much going on here - just love it!

Unknown said...

This is genius! Fabulous ... love all the details! Thank you for joining the team at Simon Says Stamp and Show this week!

Marjie Kemper said...

Too cool! Love the opened hat and the little bowtie is hilarious. Love your style!