Today, I am filled with awe and joy!

I am still pinching myself!! Am I dreaming? Is this an alternate reality? I am truly honored and excited to be part of this amazing team of talented artists and looking forward to working with each of you this year. Thank you so much DecoArt for this honor!!

Here is the link introducing this amazing team!

The Ravages of Time

Old ruins are interesting, ancient ruins, ravaged by time, are fascinating! This month's challenge at SanDee and amelie's Steampunk Challenges is "The Ravages of Time". Think peeling wallpaper, patina, rust, peeled paint...think old! Be sure to check out all of the wonderful projects the team has created. The first and fifteenth of the month will showcase the team's creative ideas. We hope you will play along with us here! Our challenges are for all to participate in, whether it is your first steampunk creation or your hundredth!

Time to make birthday cards for my adult sons. As they get older, they might be feeling some of "the ravages of time" so this seemed like a good theme for their cards. Time to think about old things and steampunk...

 

I am working on some heavy watercolor paper to give the cards support. I started by adding some time themed remnant rubs by Tim Holtz. These are fun and easy to work with.

Next I wiped three distress ink colors on my mat, spritzed them and wiped the paper through. I took the brown ink, did the same step and placed my paper down on it to get the little speckles. Be sure to wipe off the remnant rub areas after you ink it to keep it white.

 

Next step, I used the brown distress ink and the blending tool and went over everything to give it an aged look.

 

These are the colors I used, a mix of new and old.

 

Ok, next up stamping! These are the stamps I chose: Time-Stampers Anonymous, Flying Man-Deep Red, Compass-Lazerstudiowerx, Stonehenge-Rubber Stamps of America, Rome-Tim Holtz, Stampers Anonymous, inside saying-Stampin Up. I used my go to ink with these, my Ranger Archival black.

 

 

I stamped Rome and Stonehenge on cork, distressed it a bit with ink. Ancient ruins, ravaged by time, how fascinating! I have been to Stonehenge years ago, and totally awed by this magnificent structure. My imagination ran wild thinking about what it would have been like to be here thousands of years ago. I would still love to get here for the solstice!

Distressed up the edges, and time to add metal! Rusty keys, gears, watches, spinners, oh yeah!

Layered them up onto the cards.

I can't wait for their birthdays to see what they think. I will probably not tell them about the ravages of time, I don't want to make them feel too old! LOL!

I hope this inspires you to join us in our challenge! You can make a tag, ATC, card, collage, art journal page, alter something...the choice is totally up to you! Be sure to check out the awesome projects from my teamies!! Have a creative month, and see you soon for our summer challenge.

 

Eyes Tested!

 

It's challenge time at SanDee and Amelie's Steampunk Challenges, so be sure to head over to see all of the fantastic projects by the design team, ready to awe and inspire you! It's all about goggles, glasses, monocles and eye charts, so please join in the fun with us! It's a great way to use your imagination, be recognized, and the Retro Kraft Shop is generously donating a prize!

I am excited about this challenge, because it is perfect for me to take these black plastic goggles, and transform them.

First step, paint them up! I used Dina Wakely's Umber (undercoat) and Penny (sponged on top) paints.

Next, I sponged on the DW Gilt paint, and I am loving how metallic these are starting to look! I find my pieces look best when I use several paints.

Working on my metallic look, I dabbed in some metallic green Lumiere paint, and Stream and Wild Plum Adirondack paints. Once again, I find I have reached for my go to colors of green, blue and purple.

Goop on some of Finnabair's Copper Crackle with a palette knife, in just a a few places, and time to let it dry overnight. I went over these areas with dark brown ink to bring out the crackle.

Working with the Eyes Tested theme, my Tim Holtz stencil is perfect to stencil in some parts of the eye chart with black ink.

Here's some of the stenciling detail...

At this point, my goggle base is done, and now it is playtime in Steampunk land. I dug through my stash and added pieces as I worked. I decided to use Rhino Glue to attach the pieces, as it has a very strong bond. (You just have to be really careful, because it instantly bonds your skin too)

In all its finished glory, from many angles...

 

I talked my son into modeling them, so you can see them in action. He mentioned one of the guys he downhill bike races with has some goggles like these...perhaps there will be two this season?

Put the goggles on and let your imagination fly...perhaps you are an airship captain of a pirate ship, or racing down the road on your velocycle, or building a small automaton in the laboratory...these Steampunk goggles will transport you into another world!

I hope the DT has inspired you to join us for the Eyes Tested challenge, I'll have my goggles on looking for your take!

 

Raise the Curtains! The Mesmerist!

It's April Fools Day here in the USA, and unwittingly, my art journal pages embrace this holiday!

What would happen if the rabbit escaped from the hat and took over the show? Well, you are about to see for yourself! Trust the magic of the Mesmerist, even when of the hare variety. Little Miss Hare has mesmerized Lady Violet, and is raising her up to the curtains! What else could be in that rolling cart of tricks? Or maybe that is where Miss Hare has stashed the Mesmerist!

It all started with a couple of art journal pages I had sprayed long ago with some Dylusions inks.

This turned out to be the perfect project to use some of my new goodies on! Cracked Pistachio Distress paint, and a Tim Holtz Flourish stencil to create the background. I just flipped the stencil over and laid it down on the left...plenty of paint on it to get the design.

 

I am liking how the Pistachio looks against the reds and oranges. Another new item I found, Gelatos in Steampunk colors...I mean, who could resist these!

Steampunk Gelatos and new distress markers to color some images I'd stamped long ago with Character Construct stamps. As you can see I really didn't worry about coloring in the lines, since I was going to fussy cut these.

More new playthings I had to try! Copper crackle, Zinc glass beads and Henna mica flakes from Finnabair, I used at the bottom of the pages to add some lovely texture. I was wiping the crackle on the page with a "credit card" and happened to pull it up. I noticed it was making these vein like designs, which I thought was cool, so I did it to the rest.

Next up, some background stamping with my new Finnabair stamps, oh I do love these!! Stamps are from Rust and Dust and Trust the Magic. Can you tell the delivery van has been stopping by my house a lot lately?

Next up, some details of the pages... My curtains are made of tulle from Stampin Up, with some hand dyed ribbon and metal. I could not resist stamping "move me" under Lady Violet!

Miss Hare trusting the magic and wielding the magic umbrella. She has hidden the Mesmerist somewhere, perhaps in the cart of tricks. Not even the strong fellows holding the curtains back have found him yet.

Always, always, trust in the magic! Especially on April Fools Day!

I hope you will join us at SanDee and amelie's Steampunk Challenges! Be sure to check out all of the wonderful inspiration from the design team this month, and we have a great sponsor too, Inspiration Emporium! Now, it is your turn to Raise the Curtains!! I can't wait to see what you create.

 

Gear It Up!

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Welcome one and all! I am truly honored and excited to be sharing my very first Steampunk Challenge as a new member of the Design Team...WooHoo!! Gears, gears, gears, gotta love them, and I do love to add them into my work, but what to do when that is the challenge focus? I will share I had a short creative block on coming up with my idea, maybe because I was now going to be one of the team inspiring you. I'll start by sharing my finished project, then take you though the steps and details..grab your cup of coffee or tea, here we go. Hope this inspires you to join us in the challenge!

You never know what will pour out of a bottle in the Steampunk world!

Canvas and acrylics to begin the project. I chose some of my favorite colors, purple, blue and green, and of course some metallic paint, and watered them down to a thin consistency.

Wet the canvas, painted on my colors all over the place, spritzed a bit more water as needed to make the surface nice and wet.

What do you do with all of those plastic bags you bring home? Well, they work really well to add some great design texture into your background. Just smooth it down over the wet paint, the more wrinkles, the better. Next step is the hardest..patience...let it sit for 6-10 minutes.

I rolled my paper towel roll over it and picked up some of the paint. If you want richer color, let it dry completely. Doesn't it make a cool design?

Next, some acrylic color wash over the background.

Time for a cup of coffee while I wait for things to dry, and start some of the other parts.

Stamped the flying man image by Deep Red and the bottles by Hampton Art/Graphic 45 on watercolor paper. Painted them with my watercolors, not too worried about staying in the lines, as I was detail cutting them.

Paint up the ripped cardboard, seal all of my stamped images with Ranger's Glue and Seal. I am envisioning this as a shelf.

Add the branch, and it is starting to look like a shelf.

I decided I wanted more texture in the background, so laid on a thick layer of Finnabair's clear crackle Texture Paste. I learned a thick layer takes a long time to dry. Rubbed brown ink over the surface to bring out the crackles. It's starting to come together.

Ok, let's start to lay it out. I wanted it to look like the overturned bottle was pouring out all the machine parts to make the flying men. I had previously made my first acrylic skin, and this seemed like the perfect time to use some of it.

 

 

I need some big gears on this collage! Love these wood gears from EKsupplies!

Of course, I need metal gears and cogs too! Love how it all layers up.

Shelf and bottle details, a few gears...

Imagining this was in a laboratory, so had to have some tools hanging from the shelf.

Had so much fun gearing up my flying men! I can imagine I am up there in the aether flying right beside them.

 

And, now everything is geared up and complete

I had so much fun creating my "Gear it Up" collage for Steampunk challenges. I love steampunk and hope I have inspired you to join us. Thanks for stopping by for a visit!