Tumbling Cogs

I love mixed media art and I love Steampunk too, so I decided to mix the two and create a canvass.  It also gave me an excuse to use some new stamps and some old favourites!  I decided to make this canvass to compliment another one that I made recently (Lady Steampunk) using similar products.
I have used a new Sheena Douglass stamp 'Cogs' from her Torn collection plus stamps from her 'High Voltage' set; Pebeo Dyna Paints; H2o paints; Versafine black onyx ink; gold and silver gilding wax; dies; MDF and metal embellishments; a light bulb and acetate.  The Dyna paints are iridescent, so I have included photos taken in different light settings to try and show this.   I took a square canvass and gave it a coat of black gesso.  When that was dry I sponged the Dyna paints randomly all over and set the canvass aside.   I painted some MDF cogs, then die cut some cogs in various sizes out of scrap card, painted some and gilded others with the waxes.  I added some gold, silver and copper paints to all the embellishments to give them a rusted distressed look.  I also die cut a Steampunk butterfly and added gold and silver waxes.  Next I stamped several images onto acetate in black ink and heat embossed them with black powder.  Then I cut them out and painted them on the reverse side, except for the torn cogs image which I left clear.  I painted the coil image with copper Dyna paint to resemble copper wire, and the anchor points at each end were coloured with gilding wax giving them a brassy look.  The stamped light bulbs were painted with a bright yellow and the bases with copper.  When the paint was all dry I painted over everything with white gesso to make the colours show through.  One of the cogs that I die cut has four holes in the middle, which meant that I had four embossed discs of card.  I added gilding wax  and used them as faux rivets at each corner of the canvass.  I also used a couple of washers 'borrowed' from Hubby's shed, adding paint as before.  Next I stamped the torn image again and a 'High Voltage' sign onto Kraft card in black ink and heat embossed with black powder.  I cut the sign out and painted it, then I cut just  the torn edges from the main image and painted them to match the background.  I then added silver and gold gilding wax to a small metal clock embellishment and attached it to one of the cogs.  Time to assemble all the pieces.  I put some crumpled tissue onto the canvass in the place I wanted the clear acetate cogs to go, and applied Decopatch to the canvass, attached the tissue and coated it on top with Decopatch again.  This will enable the colours of the canvass to show through the tissue in a diffused way, and to make the clear cogs pop.  I attached the acetate image with dimensional glue, then shaped the card torn edges and attached them over the acetate ones to create the effect of the actual canvass being torn.  Once that image was in place I could build the artwork around it.  I wanted it to look like the cogs were falling through the tear so I arranged them  starting with the smallest cogs first, using various sizes of die cut and MDF cogs to add interest and texture.  I love using 3D elements in my work, and different textures.  Once I had arranged and attached all the cogs I added the acetate coil, putting the anchor points a little closer together so that the coil is raised.  I attached the two stamped light bulbs either side of the coil to create the effect that they were lit up by the current  and placed the sign underneath the coil.  To complete the piece I attached the butterfly and a real light bulb.   I'm really pleased with the result, and it looks great with the 'Lady Steampunk' canvass.