Steampunk Mixed Media Piece

Hello, crafty friends!

I have a mixed media piece to share with you today and it's something I wasn't sure of at first but I persevered and once I finished it I was quite pleased with what I achieved!

I've been wanting to make a piece like this for a while - I had a bag of MDF gears from Things To Alter just begging to be used!
Then I saw this video on the Finnabair Art Files channel on Youtube...  (link) and decided to loosely follow along with it. I'm not great at mixed media and I don't have many supplies but it seemed simple enough so I had a go.

You can find out how to make this following the video, but I'll explain the colours I used, etc.

 Once I had applied the (many layers of cheap) gesso (seriously, The Works gesso isn't great..), I used modelling paste to stencil gears. The stencil is by Scrapberry's. I added dylusions spray inks in Fresh Lime and Chopped Pesto, adding water and letting the inks run, until I was happy with the effect. Basically, just play around!

Once this was dry I used a brown watercolour pencil to outline the edges of the gears and then added some water. The darker edges brought more dimension to the gears.

Thanks for stopping by!

Emily xx

Girly MDF Cards!

Hi all,

Some girly cards to share today.

This all started when I was making some steampunk cards and I was colouring in a steampunk stamp. I wanted something a bit different to put behind it and out came my little box of bits from Things To Alter. I found this really cool steampunk piece, a head with gears coming out of the back... I painted it with Distress Paints and stuck the coloured image on top of the head. I used watercolour pencils to colour the image and then went over it with a little water to colour the image. I love how vibrant watercolour pencils are which is why I prefer them over watercolour pens.
The stamp and backing paper are from the Santoro Willow collection by Trimcraft and the sentiment die is by Sizzix.

I used the same watercolour colouring technique with these Belle & Boo stamps (also by Trimcraft, I'm a little addicted to their characters!) This card worked better tiny, it's 4x4" and I would have preferred it on kraft card to match the MDF but I only have white in this size. I layered up the MDF shells, they are the same depth as 3D foam dots so these are perfect to use when you are layering the shapes. 

Thanks for stopping by!

Emily xx

Things To Alter Guest Design Team - Steampunk Pirate Layout!

Hi all,

A new make to share today using some of the MDF shapes by Things To Alter.
I was asked to be on the guest team at the last minute and luckily I had some steampunk bits left over so I was able to make this layout and I am so pleased with it!

Here's what I made.

I created the background by using matte medium with a stencil with gears on it. Once it was dry I went over areas of the layout with watercolour - crimson mixed with a little burnt umber. I also used white acrylic paint and a honeycomb stencil. Around the edge of the paper I used a border punch and then tore around it. Finally I went around the edge using the zigzag setting on my sewing machine. 

The crosshatched MDF pieces are just one larger piece cut up and coloured with metallic Sharpies. I coloured the bird like this too.

The accordion flowers are so simple to make, I just took strips of patterned paper and scored at centimetre intervals and then folded them into a concertina and stuck together with hot glue. There is some sturdy card on the back of them to stop them popping up and then an embellishment glued in the centre. With this one I used an MDF steampunk heart I painted gold. 

This layout features a picture of my dear friend Sam dressed as a steampunk pirate at Comic Con last year. Don't they look so incredibly cool! To keep with the pirate theme I searched for a sea-type quote, printed it out, cut up and stuck down with matte medium (no messing about with fiddly tape or glue) and then drew around with a fine liner.

Thanks for stopping by!

Emily xx

Steampunk Cards using Santoro Willow

Hi all,

Some steampunk cards to share today. 

I made these using the Santoro Willow collection by Trimcraft. I found the collection in The Works really cheap so I bought pretty much everything... these have been on my 'to make' list for a while now and finally I got around to making them and I am so pleased with them. It seems that the best cards are make are always the ones where the images are copyrighted so I can't sell them, which is a shame.

My favourite thing about the collection is actually the packaging... the toppers on both cards are packaging and they are stunning. It's a shame they didn't bring out a few sheets of these toppers or some decoupage - if they exist I haven't seen them and I've run out of packaging now! 

Both cards feature lots of layered papers from the A4 paper pack. I went around the edges of each rectangle with my craft knife to roughen them up and then went around with a brown ink pad to give a more vintage feel. 

On this first one I used glitter glue on the character's dress and some more little dots down the side. It's finished off with some lace, a wooden heart and a metal key. The topper is so beautiful it doesn't need that much else for the card to look stunning. 

This next card has more of a nature theme. I loved the topper but it took up too much space on the card so I cut off one of the trees... the cut off part just fit behind one of the layers of paper so I'm glad I chopped it up. The A4 paper pack came with a sheet of little bits and bobs to cut out so I cut out a heart and a red flower - the red of the flower with the girl's hair and the fox bring the card together.

I photographed these in front of my bedroom wall - the paper is from B&Q and it's metallic - brilliant for photographing any steampunk projects in front of.

Thanks for stopping by!

Emily xx

Stash Swap Roulette

Hi all

Recently my crafty friends and I have had a stash swap. Here is what Katie sent me:

And here is what I have made (so far!)

A dreamcatcher

And a steampunk card.

 Thanks for stopping by!
Emily xx

A Steampunk Card

Hi all,

I was in The Works recently and they had the Santoro Willow collection at bargain prices... I bought the A4 paper pack and some metal gears. 

The packaging is really nice and that is what the image of the lady and the paper behind it are cut from. I just added some glitter glue to add some dimension, plus die cut some gears to stick behind. 

Thanks for stopping by!

Emily xx

More Than Words Challenge May 2016

Hi all,

A new mixed media layout to share today, for the May More Than Words challenge.

The challenge this month is to use the word 'moment' and to include some form or part of clocks on the layout.

I had this pocket watch Nathan didn't want any more... I recall I bought him a nicer one for an anniversary, so he gave this one to me and it's been sitting in a box for a while... this challenge was the perfect opportunity to use it. I chose a picture of him and our friend Sam in their steampunk costumes I took at the comic con in Manchester a couple years ago.

The background was painted with white paint. I used modelling paste with a gear stencil on three areas of the layout. I cut up a postcard and stuck it down and then cut up a sheet of deco paper that had lots of labels on and stuck each label down individually using gel medium (I hate PVA glue!)

Thanks for stopping by, and why not have a go at the challenge yourself? You can find out more here

Emily xx

Star Wars Layout

Hi all,

On our recent visit to London we went to the Disney store and they had a life size replica of the Speeder from the new Star Wars film that you could climb onto and have your picture taken.
Nathan hates his picture taken but this time he wanted it taken!

I wanted to create a mixed media, grungy look with this layout.
I die cut the title, but it's a bit wonky 'cause when you get the letters perfect... you put the top part of the sandwich down to put it through the machine and it moves the letters! Grrr...
The title is a quote from the new film, I haven't seen it so I had Nathan go through the quotes from the film on IMDb and find me something relevant to the picture...
The background is made by mixing orange and brown acrylic paint and sprinkling cinnamon on top and letting it dry.
(I got the idea from Katie)
I changed the technique a little by adding in copper metallic paint to the top layer of paint, and then when it was all dry I found some teal shimmery eyeshadow and rubbed a little over the textured areas to look like it was oxidized.

For the gears I painted some cardboard copper (I wanted them to stand out) and die cut it. It took a good few runs through my Xpress but I got there in the end...!

Thanks for stopping by!

Emily xx

Stamped Scrapbook Layouts

Hi everyone

Today I'm going to share some scrapbook layouts I made as samples for Docrafts to be shown on the Home Shopping Network in the US  to promote their new 'Creativity Essentials' stamp sets. Exciting stuff!

This first one uses the 'Floral Icons' stamp set, as well as a stamp from the 'Inspirational Sentiments' and title using the folk alphabet.. First I sprayed a small area at the top and a larger area at the bottom with lime green ink and stamped the floral icons on top in purple. I've found the stamps don't stamp as well if you put a few on the clear block to stamp all at once... Oh well!
The photo and sentiment have been layered on Gorjuss paper.
The background is Nature's Gallery, which looks distressed anyway but then I wanted to accentuate this so I added purple paint. Finished off with little butterflies and gems.

The second layout uses the 'Steampunk Icons' set as a background. (Anything to avoid fussy cutting...). I arranged the stamps face down on the page, and the full set took about half the page. I pressed my clear block onto the stamps to pick them up and stamped once in the top left, and then again where the design finished in the middle.

The papers are Gorjuss, as are the embellishments. The colour scheme went so well with the picture I used. 

Thanks for stopping by!

Emily xx

A Steampunky Weekend

Hi all!

Been away this weekend, Manchester again, this time for Comic-Con. Basically - big event centre, people dressed as their favourite pop culture characters, lots of stalls selling memorabilia, art, handmade stuff. This is the third year we've been and it's always fun.

There was a steampunk stand, one part was a shop where they sold goggles, jewellery etc and then behind it they had sculptures and handmade things that you could take pictures of. They did talks as well.
They had a hat stand full of these miniature top hats.

And other things like this metal spider and crocheted cakes

And a customized frame. I love this piece!

Continuing the steampunk theme, I did another photoshoot of Nathan and Sam in their steampunk gear. This time, Sam was a pirate and he looked SO COOL.

I also attempted to be a pirate but I think I'm too little...

Until next time...!

Steampunk Anniversary Card

Hi all

I'm back to share the anniversary card I've made for my boyfriend - we have been together 5 years! He likes steampunk so I incorporated that theme into my card with black and gold embellishments for a classy feel.

To celebrate we spent a couple days in Manchester - went out for dinner, saw Jurassic World (fantastic!), and explored. Would have explored more if the rain wasn't so bad! Also because of the rain there are a grand total of four pictures on my camera and they're all silly ones of Nathan. I took a few more on my phone, think I can manage one layout from this.. haha.

Here we are all dressed up for our meal at Wagamama!

Alice In Wonderland Blog Hop

Hi all
I'm taking part in the Alice In Wonderland Blog Hop today - and I've made a brand new layout for the occasion!

I asked Nathan (arm candy, bringer of plushies, looker-afterer) to bring round his steampunk hat so I could dress him up as the Mad Hatter. We did an Alice photoshoot a few years ago but I wanted some new pictures to work with. Yes, those are flowers on his hat, yes, they were his doing. The gloves were my idea, I wanted some interest on his arm.  I think a good photo makes for a good layout!

I also recorded making this video in time lapse. 

Today we are celebrating the 150th Anniversary of Alice in Wonderland, and what better way to do that, than to share lots of creative projects inspired by this wonderful story.

Not only will you see lots of amazing artwork today, but you can also win prizes from the following amazing companies;

The Stamping Boutique

Rick St Dennis MFA

Faery Ink

That Craft Place

Ike's Art

Delicious Doodles

Sweet Pea Stamps

Sassy Studio Designs

Vera Lane Studio Digital Stamps

Prize winners will be selected from Random blogs throughout the hop using Random.org to select each winner.  In order to be eligible for a prize you must visit all stops on the hop and leave a comment. The prize draws will be open until July 18th, with winners announced on July 20th.

Blog Hop List

Suzi

Alison

Trudie

Sharon

Milo

Donna

Leigh

Claudia

Leadonna

Nan

Jenn

Nikki

Black Dragon

Teresa

Ike

Creepy Glowbugg

Shelley

Alana

Harp

Lori

Monica

Kemly

Margaret

Julie

Katie

Julie W S

Kathi
Karen
Corrie
Emily
Geraldine
Carol
Avril
Lisa
Kim
Mo
Lorraine

Thanks for hopping by!

Manchester MCM scrapbook pages!

So a few weeks ago we went to Manchester for Comic-Con.

I kept the first page much brighter than the second, though they share a lovely balloon theme.

The first page features one of my favourite pictures ever. A professional photographer asked to take some photos of Sam and Nathan in their steampunk attire and then offered to take one of the three of us together using my camera. 

I wanted to keep this page fun because of how much we enjoyed the weekend. Put the train tickets there too because the conductor was cool and punched our tickets with a teddy-bear punch... made me smile!

I cut out bits of the balloon paper so it overlaps the photo a bit to bring the page together.

Papers: Webster's pages (balloons) and Grace Taylor 'Parisian Chic' scrapbook kit (embellishments are from this too)

Gorjuss memory pockets

This second page features the best photo I took from the weekend and my steampunk shoot with the guys. (Sam had made steampunk guns by painting Nerf guns and they looked really cool!)

I wanted to use just one photo here because often I use three or four and I want to start focusing more on layouts. On that trip I went to Fred Aldhous and picked up some K&Co goodies and told myself I'd use the clock hands for this page... and I remembered!

Papers: Curiousity Corner/Gorjuss

Black lace

Papermania Chronology papers cut with hexagon die, plus Chronology decoupage and embellishments and Madame Payraud sticker

K&Co clock hands (from Flora & Fauna borders set)

Other embellishments from The Works

Hope everyone's having a good weekend!

Experimenting...

Hello! Hope everyone's having a good weekend.

Seeing as the memory pockets I made sold on eBay, I wanted to make some more.. but I didn't have enough twine... so I had to order more. Not come yet, though!

I also had the idea of making tags. So I ordered a set of Tim Holtz tag dies and seeing as they arrived yesterday, I had a play and came up with this. 

Gonna make a set of different steampunky designs and put them on ebay and see how it goes :D