Eclectic Vintage Gentlemen

The title refers to the theme of Stephen's book in the Kindred Souls round robin.  NOT to my social life.  The book was waiting for me when I returned home from Key Largo, and in between posting about the retreat, I worked on my page for him.

The pages that were already done were so interesting and different (eclectic is the right word!).  I had an idea of what I wanted to do, and for a change it didn't take me too long to figure out how to accomplish it.  I wanted a steampunk feel and a bit of humor.  Oh, and it had to be easy to look at too.

So, here are the brothers Boeing, imaginary founders of Boeing aircraft, in the early days of air travel.

The background started with paper from Graphic 45's Steampunk Debutante line.  I liked all the hot air balloons on it, but the paper was very dark.  I lightened it up by scraping some Ranger picket fence distress paint over it with an old credit  card.  It was then light enough to add some stamping, stenciling, paint splattering, embossing, and so on.

The three gents are from a Tim Holtz stamp (embossed with walnut stain distress embossing powder). I did have to cut them apart and squish them together again to fit them into the basket.  Also from Tim is the compass (embossed with black powder), as well as the small images on the bottom right and the two balloons on the upper left. (All from the new Tiny Things stamp set).
The balloon carrying the brothers off is from Oxford Impressions, stamped on glossy paper, embossed with black powder, and colored with a variety of alcohol inks.  There are also some other balloons from Oxford Impressions, but I'm not sure if you can see them.  Both the balloon and basket are raised up off the page; the basket with pop dots and the balloon with a wiggly springy thingy.  It bobbles when you touch it!



The metal scallop border is by 7 Gypsies.  The balloon's basket is from me.  I just cut a shape, covered it with some scraps from my gelli plate print pile, and added some gold embossing.  The ticket on the top is also one of Tim's stamps.  Oh, and there is a tiny compass glued to the center of the compass stamp.  There are also two air travel related charms dangling from the page that you can't see much of in the photo.

The back of the page in this round robin is supposed to be finished, not highly decorated, and contain our information.  On the page Stephen did, he put Laurel and Hardy on the back, and everyone who followed did the same.  Who am I to argue with success?  I found an image from a film in which the funny men flew a plane.  Perfect!  And you can still see most of the Graphic 45 paper I used underneath.

 

 

 

If Stephen likes this even half as much as I enjoyed making it, I'll be satisfied.





Getting Chunky

No, this is NOT a post about diet gone wrong.  It's about a chunky ATC.  If you don't know what that is, it's an ATC made of wood, and it is very dimensional and has not one, but SIX sides to decorate.  The "face" is the standard ATC size of 2 1/2" x 3 1/2", and the depth is 1 1/2", so there are many opportunities to embellish to your heart's content.

I completed mine a while back for a swap in my Kindred Souls group,  and just found out that I'm to send it to my great friend Elena, which is a relief, because the theme I chose, steampunk, is one I know she'll like.  So, Elena, you know the drill....if you'd like to be surprised, look no further!

I began by embossing two of Ranger's foil tape sheets with Tim's industrial look folders: diamond plate and riveted metal.  What's great about the tape is that it has a strong adhesive backing, so adhering it to the wood was easy.  Then I went crazy with the Ranger/Vintaj patinas I have come to love so much.  And then.....the real fun began.....finding just the right steampunkish elements to add to the piece.

Some gears and sprockets from Tim's idea-ology collection, including the newish mini gears, which I just love.  The focal image is from a stamp in his steampunk set.  I cut it and inserted it into whatever that doodad is (a 7 Gypsies doodad), filled the top with glossy accents, and surrounded it with some copper colored ball chain.  On the bottom, also cut from the foil sheet, a bit from Tim's washer border decorative strip.  The sentiment is also Tim...one of the word bands all patinaed (word???) up.

Here's a closer look of the main image:



On the flip side:

More gears, some from 7 Gypsies, and one I'm not sure of.  On the right edge, I used Tim's steampunk on the edge die to cut some real copper sheeting that my darling brother found and presented to me recently.  It's important to train all your non crafty friends and relatives so they know just what sort of junk will make your heart go pitter patter.  When I saw all the copper he'd found I definitely was on the verge of needing CPR.  It too, was altered a bit with the patinas.

Now, for the "sides" of the ATC:

The fellow with the camera is a Wendy Vecchi stamp, colored with distress markers, and enhanced with some glossy accents and a black glaze pen.  Behind him, some more of that washer border, and on top of that, a tiny lightbulb from my stash.  Here is a closer look of how I attached the bulb....wire and tiny copper nails (also courtesy of my bro).  Those nails appear all over this ATC!

Next side:

This side has a strip of metal, attached with more of those copper nails, and over top a piece of idea-ology with some scrap chain attached.

The top:

If you're wondering how I attached the watch key (so it would stay attached), this is what I did.  I first screwed it into the round piece of metal and then attached that metal to the top with a combination of strong glue and more copper nails.  I added the copper ball chain to finish it off.

No photo of the bottom.  Except for the metal it remains unadorned so that the piece will stand up nicely.  But I'm thinking of adding some little feet, if I can find just the right items to use for that purpose.

If you'd like to try your hand at a chunky ATC, all you need is a two by four from the lumber yard.  For some reason unknown to me (maybe it's a guy thing), the actual measurement of a two by four is

1 1/2 by 3 1/2".  So, all you need to do is make cuts on it every 2 1/2" and you have the exact right measurements for a chunky ATC!  Pretty cool, huh?















Toss The Smokes; Alter The Box

The Kindred Souls group is in the midst of a cigar box swap, and I was lucky enough to be paired with Neil, an awesome artist from England.  We briefly communicated and both decided that whatever each of us did would be fine.  I was happy to be making a box for a man, because I don't often get to do that,  and I did what I love to do......a little bit vintage, a little bit steampunk, a little bit grunge, and a whole lot of texture.   I just mailed the completed box the other day, and it will take about two weeks to reach Neil.  So, Neil, if you're reading this and would like to be surprised, step away from the computer or go visit another blog!

Above, a look at the box with the lid partially opened (yes, it closes nicely).  And now for some closer looks.  First, the top.

I took some corrugated cardboard and ripped off the paper covering one side, then cut it into different sized pieces for the mosaic look.  I used inks and stains to color the pieces until I thought they looked suitably grungy, and adhered them with a strong glue.  Then I went through my stash of keys, selected some and glued them down.  I wanted to attach some sort of knob to the top to aid in opening the box, but the craft knobs I had on hand (lots of them!) didn't have a screw long enough to go through the lid, and I had no screws in my junk drawer that would fit, so I wound up using a finial from an old lamp that worked perfectly.  It took a while to get the hole made, but an awl worked fine.

The sides of the box were covered with many scraps of patterned tissue paper and sealed with Ranger's Glue N Seal.  Oh, I used that on the top of the box too, by the way.  The chain goes all the way around the box and the swags were created by attaching the chain with plain old thumb tacks....which I banged up and colored with permanent ink to get a rusty look.

Decorating the inside of the box was optional, but I just couldn't leave it naked.  Here's what it looks like fully opened.  And next, photos of the inside of the box and inside of the lid.

                                         

For the bottom and sides of the inside I took some patterned paper and altered it with stamps and stencils.

The underside of the lid was covered with Tim Holtz's tissue tape, which was then colored with both Golden's fluid acrylics and distress inks.  And yes, everything was sealed and protected with more Glue N Seal.

I think boxes look nicer if they have some lift, so I added feet.....made from bingo markers.  The paper on the bottom of the box is plain old kraft from a disassembled grocery bag.  It was inked, crumbled, inked some more and glued down, without smoothing it too much so some of the wrinkles remained.  It may not look it in the photos, but I think it resembles leather. 

I left this out and opened for DAYS before packing it up (carefully enough, I hope) and sending it across the ocean.  Even though everything seemed dry after a few hours, you really want to make sure of that before shipping something like this.  I wouldn't want Neil to be unable to open it.  Speaking of which, before packing it up I did put a little something inside for Neil to discover.  No photo of that, so even if Neil decided to look, something will still be a surprise.













The 12 Tags of Christmas -- Day 8

Ah, be still my happy heart.....today Tim went all steampunk on us, and I love it!  Not for everyone's taste to be sure, but I have always been drawn to those industrial/sci fi images, and using them on a Christmas tag is just plain fun.

I have a lot of steampunk stamps, dies, embossing folders, and even some stickers and rub-ons.  I have gears, watch parts, all sizes of small light bulbs, springs, and other assorted industrial type metal bits.  Lots to choose from.  So, while I followed the general layout of Tim's tag, and did use his background techniques on the tag, I pretty much went off and used what I had.  And had a blast doing so.

Instead of using the gadget gears die, I chose the steampunk on the edge die and attached it to the right side of the tag.  It was cut from grungeboard, pounced with gold and copper paint, then distressed and sanded and covered with both walnut stain and black soot distress inks.  Some of Tim's idea-ol-ogy pieces were attached to the top.



Tim's steampunk set includes a stamp of three men.  Since I don't have it, I used the stamps I do have, from Oxford Impressions.  I added a little something to one of the guys to put him in the right holiday spirit.

The santa hat was cut freehand from a scrap of grungeboard and covered with.....are you ready?.....flock.  Yep, good old flock.  I'm sure I haven't used any in years, but when it came out and was all the rage, I must have bought it in every color.  The other fella's hat was covered with glossy accents and he has some holly (mini movers and shapers die) and berries (stickles) on it.  Both gents have stickled bowties.  As for what's on the bottom.....I raided my steampunk box (yes, I have one) and came up with some springs and an odd looking piece (in between the two springs) and attached them all together with brads.

Tim's tag has a ticket with a pointing hand, letters made shiny with glossy accents, and one of his miniature lightbulbs as an accent.  Here's how I put some of those elements together:

I used the Merry Christmas ticket stamp from Tim's odds and ends set.  It doesn't show up very well, but the number 25 got the glossy accents treatment.  The bit of chain is held onto the ticket with staples (Tim's tiny attacher), and a miniature (decorative only) light swings from the end of the chain along with one of Tim's lightbulbs.  I used a pointing hand stamp (one of Wendy Vecchi's) a bit differently too.  It is on a memo pin, which was stuck behind the santa hat.

I love Tim's tag, and I'm thrilled with my version.  But if you don't love steampunk you probably won't much like either.  Me, I'm as happy as can be.







Steampunk With A Feminine Touch

Yes, I know I said yesterday that would probably be my last post until after the cruise, but I got an inspiration for another steampunk tag, and had to roll with it.

Usually steampunk, being all about gears and machinery and Victorian images, has a masculine feel to it.  Thanks to Graphic 45's gorgeous Steampunk Debutante line, it can also be soft and lovely.  One of their images was really speaking to me and it wound up on this tag:

For the background I layered two DCWV papers.  I cut out the beautiful debutante and then added my own embellishments.....glossy accents, glaze pens, and a bunch of tiny watch parts from my stash to go with those already part of her hairdo.  I hope you can see all those details, and I also hope if you click on the photo the enlargement isn't a fuzzy mess, which has been happening lately.

And now, I really do have to stop and get packing!



More Steampunk And A Gift

I have two more steampunk tags to share with you; one came out of an Inspiration Showcase technique, the other was just me messing around.

This one used Jennifer's stamping on canvas technique for the background.  The man with the birdcage hat is from Tim's Pen and Pencil set, and he was heat embossed with black powder.  The tiny lightbulb was in my stash and I can't remember where I got it, but it's a size that has come in handy for several projects, so I hope I can recall the source and get some more.  The gears on the right are from Tim's on the edge die.  After cutting them from grungepaper, I ran them through the Cracked embossing folder, then inked them with several brown distress inks (but mostly walnut stain).  The words are rub-ons, found some time ago in Michael's dollar bin.

I admit, I love this one.  I used one of Ranger's new tags....the black one, and it is a great addition to their tag collection.  It went through Tim's Pocketwatch embossing folder, and the raised areas were highlighted with some copper paint.  The bird, standing on an idea-ology timepiece is from Oxford Impressions, as is the hat he's wearing.  Both were stamped with black archival ink, then colored slightly with old paper distress ink.  The bird was completely covered with glossy accents and the hat got the rock candy distress crackle paint treatment.  The words on the bottom are also from Oxford Impressions.  The tiny clocks are 7 Gypsys rub-ons.

As for the gift referred to in the title.  I'm in a yahoo group that has a monthly lottery, and the way it works, the winner (picked from those who participated in the prior month's lottery) gets to choose the theme for the gifts she'll receive.  My friend Angie was the winner for September, and being Angie, all she wanted was for us to "make art."  So, I did a small (5x7) altered canvas, using all of the layering techniques I love so much, and came up with this.

Lots of layers, lots of texture from tissue paper, paint, modeling paste, stencils, and random bits from my scrap pile.  The one really recognizable image, the woman on the right is from Graphic45's Steampunk Debutante set.  The piece on the left is one of Pink Paislee's artisan elements, white rubbery ornamental designs that can be altered in many ways, with ink, paint, stain, etc.  The canvas is already on its way to Angie and I do hope she likes it.

I don't know if I'll have any more blog posts until I return from the cruise.....and then I'll have plenty.  My plan for today is to clean up the studio and put everything away and begin the packing process.  We'll see how that works out.  Yesterday I received the three new limited edition seasonal distress inks, and I'm itching to play with them.  

More Inspiration Showcase AND Another Wendified Steampunk Tag

Another early morning with Jennifer McGuire's wonderful Inspiration Showcase online class.  The last time I was so eager to see the new project and get going was during Tim Holtz's 12 Tags of Christmas, 2010.  Yep, I'm liking this THAT much.

Today Jennifer focused on stamping with other than ink and/or stamping on other than paper.  Here are my samples.

 stamping with markers

 stamping on canvas and stamping on vellum (wing)

 stamping with paint and paint texture (wing)

 painting with markers (my favorite, I think)

stamping on acetate and bonus rolled canvas rose technique

Meanwhile, I'm not neglecting my other favorite places to hang out online.  Over at the EWV (Everything Wendy Vecchi) yahoo group, list mom Lori announced the latest Making Art! challenge.  Well, she announced it last week, but I completed my piece yesterday.  The challenge is based on the project on page 27 of Wendy's second book, but if you don't have it, all you need to know is that you should include a face and polka dots.  Since I'm in the steampunk tag swap over at ATT, I fulfilled this challenge with just that.  I think it's a fun piece.

They're subtle, but there are polka dots in the background, achieved with one of the techniques from the Inspiration Showcase classes. And the dots came from a Wendy stamp.   The gears on the left are on an Oxford Impressions stamp, and (mostly hidden) is a very cool stamp I bought at Absolutely Everything last year, but sadly, I have no idea who makes it.  The gears are both grungepaper, cut with Tim's mini mover and shaper dies and from the idea-ology line.  More polka dots made with glaze pens.

But the star of this show has got to be art chick from Wendy's Art Rules set.  I did alter her up a bit.  First of all I gave her a big hat, which is often seen in steampunk images.  I just cut it freehand from some scrapbook paper, my intention being to use it as is.  It is a great paper with embossed gears from DCWV, but it didn't pop with the background, so I covered it with clear embossing ink and black embossing powder and that did the trick.  I also enhanced parts of her face with glaze pens.    More polka dots on the hat, and another of those birds I did yesterday when following along with Tim's technique on the Inspiration Showcase class.

More Inspiration, A Wonderful Guest Teacher, And Another Steampunk Tag

Today's in depth review of some of yesterday's techniques from Jennifer McGuire's online class was fun, and I'm already thinking about how to use a few of them on this year's holiday cards. 

But, I have to tell you, (no surprise here), the biggest thrill was a bonus technique from Tim Holtz.  It involves grungepaper, distress stains and distress crackle paint, and it got me so excited I started cutting shapes at 5:00am!

I hope you can see the awesome texture on these pieces....click on the photo for a closer view.  BTW, if you have a base tray you can fit an awful lot of the mini movers and shapers on it to cut at one time with very little waste of the grungepaper.  I just had the most fun all morning, making these, and now I'll have plenty of embellishments on hand for future projects.

Yesterday I did another steampunk tag for the upcoming swap on ATT.

The background paper is from a stack my friend (and ATT list mom) Gloria sent me a while back.  I believe it is DCWV.  I punched some holes along the right side so that's another paper peeking through.  The lovely lady is one of Graphic45's Steampunk Debutantes....at least from the waist up.  I combined her with the bottom part of Tim's dressform stamp. 

The gears are a mix of idea-ology pieces and die cuts (those mini movers and shapers again), which were colored with black paint and then dabbed with copper.  Recognize that bird on her mechanical arm?  Yes, it's one from today's online class, and I couldn't resist adding it to this tag.

Oh, and I just have to say......one week from today I'll be winging it to Florida for the Tim Holtz cruise to the Caribbean.  Can't wait to take the classes and see all my crafty friends.  ONE WEEK!!!!





Getting Distressed on Inspiration Showcase

No, not distressed as in annoyed, but you knew that.  Today's video is all about distress inks and stains, and the techniques are fantastic.  Just when you thought you knew them all.....along comes Jennifer McGuire.   But before I get to that.....

The way Jennifer has the class organized, one day she presents five techniques and we do our samples, and the next day she goes into greater detail about one or two of them and shows ways to use them in cards and other projects.  Yesterday, she focused on embossing on acetate and ways to alter rosettes.  I put the two together in one tag, with a steampunk theme.  There is a method to my madness.  I signed up for a steampunk tag swap on ATT and I'm getting a head start.

I used Tim's Steampunk embossing folder on the acetate, and it is backed with some brownish cardstock.  The lovely lady is from Graphic45's Steampunk Debutante line, and I altered her in two ways.  First of all, I replaced the hot air balloon that is her skirt with the very layered and altered rosette I made, and secondly (and I don't know how well this shows up in the photo),  I added lots of lines on her with a copper colored glitter pen.  I topped the tag with a bit of a zipper to continue the steampunk industrial look.

Now, onto today's samples.  Again, sorry I can't go into details but once the class is over you will be able to get the PDFs.  The link to get more information is on my last Inspiration Showcase post.

 pearlized distress resist

 distress stamping

 stamping with water and metallic paper wing

 color blend stamping with distress dots wing

fingerinking (as much fun as it sounds) with distress ink watercoloring wing

Can you believe the amount of information so far?  And this is a two week class!  And, it was only $19.  Maybe the best bargain I've ever gotten.

Steampunk, Wendified

I can picture anyone new to this blog going, "huh?"  Well, in my world, Wendifying a theme just means using Wendy Vecchi's stamps to execute it.  It took me almost a week to create something for the current Making Art! challenge at EWV, but as it turns out, the delay worked in my favor, because the piece I did works perfectly with the new Simon Says Stamp and Show challenge.

The challenges:  at EWV, Lori says, make a tag and use stamps from no more than two of Wendy's sets; and Simon Says, show us some steampunk.

And here is my piece:

For the background, I ran one of Ranger's new (and fabulous) kraft tags through my Vagabond in Tim's steampunk embossing folder, and hit the high points with several distress inks....rusty hinge, vintage photo, and black soot.

The gears on the side were cut with Tim's on-the-edge die from grungepaper.  I painted it black, and when that was dry I dabbed it with brown and copper acrylic paint, very randomly so it looked like bits of rust.  And when that was dry, I covered the whole thing with a thick coat of rock candy crackle paint.  It is attached to the tag with glossy accents, applied only to the edge, so the gears sort of stand away from the tag and have a lot of dimension. (Especially since impatiently blasting the poor sucker with my heat gun made it kind of wonky.....sort of adds to the vintage charm, I think.  Well, that's my story and I'm stickin' to it.)

The steampunkish man and the words are all from Wendy's set Seriously Art, stamped on plain old white cardstock with black archival ink, then lightly colored with distress inks.  Mr. Serious got some enhancement (the shiny parts) with a black Sakura glaze pen....one of my most favorite art supplies, by the way.

The pointing hand (stamped on grungepaper with clear ink and embossed with black powder) is from another Wendy set, Mail Art.

By the way, the word seriously is actually part of the stamp of the man.....it appears right below the image.  I cut it off so it would fit on the brim of his hat instead.  It's always good to find variations when it comes to using your stamps.

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.....

Hello 2011

I'm greeting the new year with some photos from a journal I signed up for back in the fall.  It's the Sketchbook Project (see the logo link on my sidebar), and I have to have it postmarked and in the mail by January 15.  I'm just about finished, and as journaling more often is one of my goals for the new year, I thought this was a good way to start 2011 off.

Everyone who signed up received a blank journal and a theme.  Mine is Dirigibles and Submersibles.  I didn't select it (though I could have); instead I let the organizers give me a theme, and I was very pleased with the one I was given.  It seems very steampunky to me, and that's more than OK.

I created a fictional character, one Harrison Maxwell Adams (known to his friends as Max), inventor, explorer, and all around great guy.

My pages are meant to be the ramblings and random notes and pictures of Max's would be biographer (in other words, me). 
I've done some drawing, lots of collage work, rubber stamping, and different backgrounds.  Graphic 45 lovers will recognize papers from their Steampunk Debutante collection, and my fellow Tim fans will notice I've used some of his idea-ology pieces.  Most of the rubber stamps I used are from Oxford Impressions.  (Though I did manage to get my favorite Wendy Vecchi stamp -- the art chick -- in there, as well as a Tim stamp or two).  None of the pages have a really finished look, and I used my own handwriting much more than I normally do.  I took the word "sketchbook" to heart, and wanted my book to feel like quickly done sketches of a life, even if the pages actually weren't all that quickly done.

For shipping and storage reasons,  all journals had to retain their original outside measurements, so I had to resist the temptation of having any doo dads dangling off the sides.

My journal, and the journals of the some 28,000 others who signed up, will be traveling around the country, with a starting point in my "home town" of Brooklyn, NY.  Just click on the sidebar logo for more information and to see if the sketchbooks will be visiting your home town.

It feels good to start the new year with a project I committed to, and saw through to completion.  Here we go: