Evergreen Steampunk Card using a Phrenology head stamp

This will be my last blog post for Imagine as a member of their design team AIRs.  It has been a delight to work with this company during 2017 and I have always felt their ink products are of superior quality.  Thank you Imagine/Tsukineko for allowing me to represent your products this past year and a huge congratulations to the new team for 2018!

For instructions and additional info please check out the Imagine Blog.

Are you looking forward to 2018?  I am.

Hugs ~ Renee

A Steampunk Style Book Mark for Summer Books

One of our challenges with Imagine for the month of August is to create something with the word “Motion”in mind. I have created a book mark for several reasons. I love the ocean and the constant motion that can be found there, not only with the movement of the water but all the creatures in the sea that seem to be always on the move. The Dog Days of August make me want to head down to the beach with a good, old fashioned paperback novel, for which I need a book mark. This book mark is made with Graphic 45 paper that is called “Voyage Beneath the Sea”; it has a distinctive Steampunk flair to it. There’s a lot of inky goodness on the front of the tag and a surprise appearance of a mermaid on the back. Enjoy your summer reading!

Time: 1 hour

Directions:

Step 1:

Create a master board on Bristol paper that will be the water like background. To make sure that the Glaze doesn’t soak into the paper, apply a thin coat of gesso to the water color paper before beginning.  Make sure the gesso is dry. This master board was created with StazOn Studio Glaze applied with a Smudgees Sponge Mitt and a little water to blend the colors, first Emerald City, then Bahama Blue and then Gold. Each color was applied through a stencil and heat dried in between to set the color.

Cut off the desired portion for the marker.  This one measures 8 ¾” by 3 ¼”. Save the rest of the master board for another project.

Step 2:

Choose a stamp that looks like something under the sea and stamp an image with StazOn Midnight Blue ink at the bottom of the marker.

  

Step 3:

Cut a piece of paper for backing out of sea themed paper, this one is from Graphic 45. This panel measures 3 ½” by 9 ½”. Cut another snippet of paper to glue on the bottom. The seahorse is a die cut from Sizzix that has been colored in with Memento Markers. The stickers match the paper collection.

Step 4:

Adhere the panel to the backing paper; glue some sequins to look like bubbles. Tiny glass beads mimic sand at the bottom of the ocean, On Point Glue is perfect for adhering tiny details like this.

Here is the front side of the finished tag with a tiny bit of glass glitter added to the sand area.

The back is pretty too.

Supply list

Imagine Supplies

Ink- StazOn Midnight Blue

StazOn Studio Glaze-Emerald City, Bahama Blue, Gold

Memento Markers-Tangelo, Dandelion, Tuxedo Black

Tear It! Tape

On Point Glue

Palette knife

Craft mat

Smudgees sponge mitt

Other Supplies

Bristol water color paper

Gesso

Stencil by Artistcellar

Graphic 45 “Voyage to Beneath the Sea” paper collection and stickers

Finnabair Glass Beads-White Gold, Copper, Platinum

Prima Glass Glitter

Sequins

Sizzix Die Cut-Sand and Sea (seahorse)

Spray bottle of water

Paper cutter

Thanks for stopping by!  Hugs ~ Renee

A Steampunk Mirror

I love to recycle or alter items I continue to find in the house that are not really being used.  Some things have just been relegated to the book case, behind books, just barely peeking out.  Sleep often eludes me and I can't stand to just lay in bed, so I sneak into my studio in the wee hours of the morning and use that quiet time to create.  This time I used my new Finnabair Patina Effect Paints in Blue and Red Rust plus a few metal objects to give an old mirror new life.

I won't hide this behind any books now!  Thanks for stopping by-hugs-Renee

Finnabair's new online class - Art Transformations

I thought I'd share a link with you today.  Finnabair is teaching her first online class called "Imagine" and it is as amazing as one would think it would be.  I used an old photograph of myself for this that I've always been fond of and created a self portrait using her techniques.  I cannot share the process with you but you can check out the class and site for yourself, if it interests you.

Most of us have tons of embellishments in our stash and this is a great way to use them up in a good way.  Finnabair recently released some wonderful waxes that can be employed to get an effect of lights and shadows with a blush of color.  It was really fun and I'm happy to learn how she does all those fantastic portraits of herself that I've seen in magazines and online.

There are other classes also offered on this new site that you might want to check out.

Hugs ~ Renee

Getting a Shabby Chic look using a master board in rose

If you have time, check out the Imagine Craft blog to see how you can create different looks with the same master board beginning.

Don't forget to enter the drawing for a Jane Davenport book, the contest ends tomorrow!

Hugs~ Renee

AIRs Challenge: Steampunk Wall Hanging

The AIRs theme for the month of January is "New Beginnings".  Having just moved into a new home, and a new studio, I really could relate to that theme.  I made a wall hanging to put on my studio door, it's a little bit steampunk, which I adore.  This is a sneak peek, the step by step can be seen on the Imagine blog.

February is right around the corner and is full of new challenges from Imagine.

Thanks for stopping by, I really appreciate your visits!  Hugs ~ Renee

Sacred Hearts Stencil Canvas Series~Spirit

I am continuing to work on my heart stenciled canvases.  This one is called "Spirit".  This collection of heart stencils is made by Artistcellar and has a Steampunk flavor to it so it lends itself well to this project.  This is the finished canvas, there is a tutorial following if you would like to see how it was made.

To begin I have cut a piece of 6" by 6" watercolor paper, applied a thin layer of gesso to it and allowed it to dry.  When the paper is dry I applied Distress Inks in Scattered Straw, Vintage Photo and Broken China to the panel and blended the colors with a baby wipe.

I laid the stencil called "Spirit" on top of the panel and started making an outline of the parts of the stencil with a Stabilo All pencil, this will provide shading later.

Now that my pencil marks are in place I began applying the Broken China DI with an applicator through the stencil.  This activates the Stabilo pencil and changes the color to a gray blue shade.

I sewed a little here and there around the edges of the canvas, leaving the threads long for now, I'll trim them later.

I added some stamping with Memento London Fog ink and StazOn Jet Black ink.  I applied water to the edges of the panel to break them down and age them.  Then I used a distressing tool to tear the edges and then inked them with the StazOn Black ink.

I wanted to have a small punch of red on this canvas, like the others.  With that in mind I drizzled Lady Bug red "irRESISTibles" across the top and let it dry.  I glued the gears and cogs on with a strong adhesive then added Distress Stickles into the open areas of the cogs.  A tiny rhinestone was glued onto the dove.

The finished canvas is now ready to be adhered to the burlap canvas.  I trimmed the threads to the desired length and it is done.  Three canvases down and one to go!

Thanks for joining me today, I have had a lot of fun working on this series.   I hope to see you next Tuesday when I will share more stenciling ideas with Artistcellar stencils. .  Talk to you soon ~ Renee xx

Artistcellar Sacred Heart Series Stencils on canvas

Today I am using the Sacred Heart Series of Artistcellar stencils again.  I have decided to do a series of canvases on water color paper and then attach each of  the panels onto a small 6" by 6" burlap canvas.  There are four stencils in the Sacred Hearts Series, the one I'm using today is called "Sacred".  This is the finished canvas, if you would like to see how I made it I've included a tutorial.  It might be a good time for you to grab an appropriate beverage and get comfy there are quite a few photos in this process.

To begin with I cut a piece of 6" by 6" water color paper from a piece that had been stamped off on previously and applied a light coat of gesso to the paper.  Next I applied Distress Inks in Scattered Straw and Tumbled Glass colors and wiped them with a baby wipe until the colors were blended.  When the ink was dry I laid the stencil on top of the paper and outlined the stencil with my Stabilo All pencil.  This creates shading when it reacts with the Distress Inks.  Using an applicator I applied Tumbled Glass ink to emphasize the heart and the rays.

I decided to use Delicata gold for the crown.  The stamp shown here is from IndigoBlu, it is a crackle design that I rolled in Vintage Photo Distress Ink and applied randomly to the canvas.  When all the inks were dry I sewed the edges on my sewing machine using a straight stitch and a zig zag stitch.  The edges of the panel were inked with Vintage Photo Distress Ink.

I wanted the edges of the panel to be more pliable so I used my water brush on the back of the canvas to soften the edges of the paper.  To distress them further I used Tim Holtz's distress tool which breaks the paper down even further.  I inked the ragged edges with Water Can Archival Ink.

Now I wanted a little color so I brought in my "irRESISTible" Pico marker in Morocco which I applied to the crown.  I used my Pico marker in Silver to outline the heart and give it a melted metal look.  The three heart shaped rhinestones were glued on with 3-in-1 adhesive as were the Sprocket Gears.  I felt like the gears gave it almost a Steampunk flavor.

At this point I glued the panel to the burlap canvas but I felt it needed a few more embellishments.

I added a few more gears, stamped a few more times and it was finished!

Thanks so much for stopping by today, I hope to see you again next Tuesday for stenciling ideas.  Take care~  Hugs, Renee xx

Aristcellar Sacred Hearts Stencil Series

It's Tuesday again, which means I will be sharing a project created with Artistcellar Sacred Hearts stencils.  I thought it would be fun to do a wall hanging with a flying heart, something with a Steampunk flavor to it.  Here is the finished project and I will follow that with a short tutorial if you are interested in seeing the process behind it.

 I started with a 6" by 6" piece of 140# watercolor paper.  Then I taped the stencil down on top of the paper on my craft sheet.  The outline was done with a magic pencil, an Aquarellable Stabilo pencil that can be activated with water.  After I laid down the dark lines I applied Pan Pastels to the heart and around the edges of the paper.  Leaving the stencil in place I stamped the new LUV heart from Stampendous through the stencil onto the heart.

I used StazOn Jet Black permanent ink to stamp a "stitched" border around the edges using an old Stampers Anonymous stamp that I picked up for $1 somewhere.  That didn't seem like enough stitching so I used my sewing machine to stitch around the borders and around the heart too.  Some of the threads were left hanging to give it a grunge feel.  I gave it a little pop of color with Smooch inks using the Berry Punch color.

I dipped the edges of the watercolor paper in water to make them more pliable, then I inked them with Vintage Photo Distress Ink and blended the ink to distress it.  I rolled and folded the edges of the paper to make it more interesting.  At this point I glued the canvas to the burlap covered 6" by 6" canvas that I got on sale at Michael's last week.  Red line tape works the best for this, I tried other glues but the tape really holds it in place.  I have a drawer full of knobs that I have purchased over the years so I attached a brushed bronze one to the top with a screw, that way I have something to attach ribbons to.

To bring in the Steampunk look I decided to glue on some Idea-ology metal cogs.  I had some lovely wings in my stash that my daughter made for me with clay.  She was going to throw them out because she burned them a little but I told her I liked the burn marks.  It saves me time so I don't have to ink the to simulate burned wings.  The red line tape holds the wings perfectly in place on either side of the heart.

I tied some ribbons on the top and Voila!  Fini!  I can use this as a wall hanging or set it on a stack of books on my bookshelf.  Either way it was fun to make, wouldn't it be a cute series of hearts using all four heart stencils?  There were four burlap covered canvases in that pack.......we'll see.

Thanks so much for stopping by today, I love it when you leave a comment.  Talk to you soon~Renee

Craft Stamper~Take It, Make It Challenge~Halfway Reminder

The tag created for today is for the Craft Stamper blog challenge.  The theme of the challenge is Monoprints created with acrylic blocks.  We are at the halfway point of the challenge so there's a little reminder on the blog.  For more details about the March challenge and to enter one of your amazing creations just pop over to the Craft Stamper blog.

I started this large, Ranger 5 1/8" by 10 1/2" manila tag, by creating the background.  I wanted a steampunk style tag using the colors of aqua green, deep yellow and light magenta.  Artist's Loft acrylic paints were perfect for this and I used a large acrylic block along with a few stencils to get the different patterns with the paints.  I will share a few photos showing the process.

A stencil and some scraps of paper cut to make more patterns are laid on the acrylic block before applying the paint.

Carefully lift off the stencils

Press the tag firmly into the paint on the acrylic block, you can get several pulls off of this large block.

This is the initial first layer of colors

I added more color and texture to the tag using the same acrylic block

After each color of paint was applied I allowed some drying time.  I wanted the colors to maintain their integrity and not blend all together.  It is messy but really fun!  When the paint dries it is time to add the details like outline the figure with a Fude Ball 1.5 black pen, some stamping with StazOn Jet Black ink and Tim Holtz's Remnant Rubs, metal gears and tickets.

For the ribbons at the top of the tag I used Dylusions spray inks to get colors that coordinated with the tag.  A little white gesso pushed through a stencil to tone it all down a notch and pull the colors together.  The edges were distressed with Ranger's Vintage Photo ink as a finishing touch.

Thanks for stopping by today.  I hope that you feel inspired to try this technique and link your creation for all of us to see at the Craft Stamper's blog.  Have a great day, talk to you soon ~ Renee

Just Steampunk Magazine Vol. 4 is here!

I received my complimentary issue of "Just Steampunk" magazine vol. 4 today and I am thrilled to be published in it for the first time!  WooHoo!!  In case you aren't acquainted with the magazine it is full of Steampunk projects from clothing to home decor.  They usually have it at Barnes & Noble bookstores or it is available online from Scott Publications.

Here are a few of the items that I sent them photos of for publication.  I sent in the first batch of photos then the editor sent an email asking if I had more...... I went a little nuts sending them photos of objects I had made.  My daughter compared it to a dump truck dinging as it backs up.  She said when it comes to me and my projects you should never ask for more unless you mean it.  I always have more.  :-)

The beauty of this publication is that you don't have to physically mail in the items, just photographs.  If you love Steampunk this is a great magazine to take a look at!  Better yet, if you love Steampunk and want to try and get published, answer the challenge for Vol. 5!   You can get a copy of the editorial calendar by emailing kherrold@scottpublications.com. Thanks for stopping by, take care~ Renee