My Mate Bert.

Hello, welcome to my blog :)  This is a lovely Steampunk project that I completed several months ago, at the beginning of UK Lockdown during the Covid 19 pandemic.  I needed something to cheer myself up and what better than some Steampunk!  This project was from a kit that I got from Stamps Away (Ali Reeve), which I 'tweeked' a bit, adding a few touches of my own.

The kit is called 'Steampunk Man' and includes a skull and a couple of large cogs made from plaster of paris, some MDF cogs, the elements to create a pair of Steampunk goggles and much more.

                           

 

I put the base and stand together and painted them with black gesso.  I added patina with a mixture of paint and black texture paste.  I then painted the skull with black gesso.  The next step was to create the top hat.  The kit included all the elements to make the basic hat.  The rim is made of MDF, the rest of the hat is made up of strips of black card.  On some narrow strips of the card I squeezed PVA glue in little blobs along the middle of the strips, and left them to dry.  When they were dry the blobs were clear and domed, I then added some of the patina mixture and some gilding wax made the strips looked like rivetted metal.  I wanted to decorate the top of the hat so I put some black card in an embossing folder with a metal tread pattern.  I applied gold, silver and copper gilding waxes to the embossed card, giving it a worn, distressed and rusted appearance.  I cut the card into pieces and attached them to the top of the hat, trimming the edges to fit.  I wanted to create the effect of a patchwork of sheet metal.   

There were MDF cogs in various sizes included in the kit which after painting with black gesso I added some EP, also from the kit, which gave the cogs the appearance of pitted metal.  I then added a little of the patina mixture to each cog.

 

I created some more embellishments using clay with moulds from my stash and painted them with gesso.  I then added some patina mixture as before and then used gilding wax to create a metallic finish.  I also added gilding wax to the sides of the hat and the MDF cogs.  I created several other embellishments and treated them in the same way.  

I attached the strips of 'rivets' and some of the finished cogs to the hat with a mixed media gel.

I  added some clay screw heads to the top of the hat, to create the look of metal sheets that are 'screwed on'.  

I followed the instructions to create the Steampunk goggles, added gilding wax and attached them to the skull, which also has wax on it to bring out the features.  

I then attached the rest of the embellishments to the stand, placing them so that you have something to look at from all sides.

I absolutely love this!  It was a lot of fun to make and I think it looks stunning!  As I've said it was a kit from Stamps Away but I added several of my own embellishments and the patina mixture is mine too.  He stands on the desk in my craft room and keeps me company as I craft!

Thank you for popping in today, I hope you've enjoyed this post.  Please feel free to continue browsing my blog or leave me a comment, and I hope you'll come back soon  :)  

 

The Old Boiler Room

Hello, welcome to my blog  :)  I am sharing a piece of Steampunk home decor today, which in my opinion is a marriage made in heaven lol!  My love of Steampunk and Industrial genres never fail to inspire me and I love creating pieces of artwork in those genres.

For this project I have used an MDF substrate, a shadow box with a border of cogs; I have also used light air dry clay and moulds, Steampunk printed paper, black Gesso, acrylic paints, metalic paste, coloured crackle paste, printed 3D card figures and printed Steampunk die cut pieces, MDF cogs of various sizes, greyboard die cuts, Glossy Accents, Liquid Acrylic Wax, greyboard embellishments and black texture paste.  

 

I assembled the shadow box and added the base frame, then I painted it all with black Gesso.  I also painted the MDF cogs with Gesso.
  

I took some Steampunk themed printed paper and cut it to size to fit inside the frame, then  I distressed the edges of the paper with scissors.  I blended brown ink to enhance the distressed edges.  I used a small cog stencil in one of the top corners and applied some black texture paste.  I then did the same using a stencil of Industrial Lighting.  When the paste was dry I painted the light bulbs with a yellow neon acrylic paint and added some copper paint to the fillaments and also to the cogs.  I applied a coat of wax to the paper before attaching it inside the shadow box.

I created some pipes, cogs, screw heads and 'metal' sheets using air dry clay in moulds.  When dry I painted the clay embellishments with metalic paste.  This gave them a 'pitted' metalic texture and look. 

The next step was to age and distress the 'metal' pieces.  I applied some metalic copper paint by 'splodging' it on with a brush randomly.  I then added a mixture of black sand texture paste and turquoise paint, which gives the effect of Verdigris.  

For the next step I took the frame and applied copper crackle paste then left it to dry naturally, that way it gives better, natural looking crackles.    

It was now time to place all the pieces into position before attaching them with multi purpose media gel.  

I decided to add a couple of inventors.

After attaching all the embellishments inside the the shadow box it was time to attach the ones around the frame.  I had painted and aged the MDF cogs that came with the shadow box so I arranged them around the frame and attached them with the multi purpose media gel.  I also added a few printed die cut embellishments.

This is a project that I have wanted to do for a while, and I'm really pleased with the result.  I am especially happy with the way my hand crafted boiler turned out!  It was a lot of work - definitely not a quick project - but so worth it and I enjoyed every minute of it.  

Thank you for popping in today, I hope that you have enjoyed this post.  Feel free to browse further on my blog or drop in again soon  :)  

Secret Garden

Hello and welcome to my blog  :)  I have a piece of home decor/mixed media to share with you today.  A friend of mine gave me a couple of MDF watering cans that she had got from Dreamees   https://www.dreamees.org.uk/  and I immediately thought 'Vintage' and 'Secret Garden' theme.  I have recently aquired some new silicone moulds which I use with air dry clay that I knew would be great for this project.    

So, I have used acrylic paint and mat arylic paint from my stash, air dry clay, moulds from Prima and La Blanche, Little Birdie paper flowers, La Blanche paper ephemera,die cuts from my stash, That's Crafty crackle gel, La Blanche antiqueing laquer, 13 Arts grit, Distress Inks, a little garden twine and gold gilding wax.

I  began by painting all surfaces with a terracotta acrylic, letting it dry then painted on a coat of crackle gel.  When that was dry I painted all the surfaces with a mat acrylic paint and watched the cracks appear, giving the effect of old, cracked paint.  

I added antiqueing laquer using a dry brush to age everything a bit more.  I wanted to include a brick wall in my design and some texture.  I have a brick wall stencil in my stash but it's too big for this project so I made one myself.  I took some clear packaging, which is usually very strong, and I used a die from my stash of a small brick wall.  I then mixed some sand texture paste and terracotta paint, and stencilled it onto the body of the watering can.  When that was dry I took the air dry clay pieces that I had prepared earlier; a bird bath, a figureen head, a bird house on a post and some tiny birds.  I painted the birds and the bird house but left the other pieces white so they looked like marble.  I attached them all to the watering can with multi purpose gel medium.  I added some die cut Ivy leaves, which I had edged with white gesso, to replicate creeping Ivy growing on the wall.  I then attached some white paper flowers, a couple of painted clay flowers, some die cut trellis and added some garden twine on the handle.  

I took some La Blanche paper ephemera sheets and cut out a dragonfly, a small photo and a tag.  I tore the edges of the photo and added some DI to them.  I then added ink to the edges of the tag and the Dragonfly before attaching all the pieces to the spout of the watering can.  

    

Next it was time to decorate the other side, I wanted to create a secret entrance to the garden.  I took another of my clay pieces, this time an old wooden door, and I painted it with mat acrylic paint.  I used gold gilding wax on the hinges and door handle, then added antiqueing laquer to knock them back a bit.  I dry brushed a light colour over the door to accentuate the grain then decorated the doorstep in the same way.   

I wanted to create the effect that the door to the secret garden was a bit hidden by lots of overgrown foliage, so I added various die cuts from my stash in different shades of green card.  I then added DIs to the edges of the leaves.

The next stage was to add the old brick wall, using the same products and techniqes as before.  When the 'bricks' were dry I attached the door and doorstep with multi-purpose gel.  

I then attached all the die cut foliage including the creeping Ivy across the top of the door.  I wanted to create some scruffy grounding for the piece so I took some fine grit and attached it on both sides, at the bottom of the watering can and over the base.  I then painted the grit with a mat acrylic in a tonal colour.   I attached a small white flower as a little tease of what might be behind the door.  

I added gold gilding wax to all the edges of the watering can and base, then cut out a butterfly and attached it to the spout to complete the design.

I had so much fun creating this piece!  I used around 8 different techniques and lots of products, in other words I had a wonderful playtime lol!  I am so pleased with the results too, it looks just as it did in my head when I was thinking about how I wanted to decorate my MDF watering can.

Thanks so much for dropping into my blog today, I hope you've enjoyed this post.  Feel free to browse further and I hope to see you here again soon!  :)

My Rusty Bulb Project from CCA

Hello and welcome to my blog  :)  Today I'm sharing a lovely little mixed media project I've recently completed that I got from the Creative Craft Acadamy, it's a design by Aida Domisiewicz.  I bought a kit with everything I needed to create this artwork, including an online workshop with the artist.  

  

This project is based on an inverted canvas design.  The first step was to tear up some Tim Holtz designer tissue paper and cover the edges of the canvas.   I painted over the tissue with the same medium I  had used to attach it then painted over the whole thing with brown and blue translucent paints from the kit.  This gave the project an aged rustic look whilst being able to see the patterns of the tissue.  

The next step was to fill the light bulb with copper glitter, tiny glass beads and some copper sparkles.  The plastic bulb is very static so the glitter sticks to the inside giving a nice covering.  I then took a piece of thin wire and rolled it around a paint brush handle to create a coil for the filament that goes inside the bulb.  I kept one end of the wire long enough to thread up through the top of the bulb and attach it.  It was then time to attach the bulb to the substrate which I did with some multi purpose gel medium.  

Now it was time to start attaching the embellishments, which is always fun!  I began by attaching the metal embellishments, some of which I had added the paints and some gilding wax to.  I also added some sparkles, micro beads and glitter to the dragonfly as well.  

The original project wasn't as 'blingy' as mine, I have used more of the glass beads, glitter and sparkles, putting my own spin on it.

I had a real blast creating this project!  I learnt a few new techniques as well as using some old favourites.  It now hangs in my kitchen where it looks good with my industrial lighting.
Thanks for dropping in today, I hope that you've enjoyed this post and that you'll visit again soon  :)