Christmas in July #4 - Steampunk Christmas Tree Card

Lots of people keep asking for Steampunk themed projects

so today I thought I'd toss out a Steampunk Christmas Card...

I started off by making a template out of some scrap paper.

I drew my basic shape

(which will work for any holiday or theme)

And cut it out....

I held the template over my cardstock for approximate placement.

I actually cut my cardstock a bit larger than necessary so I would have room to trim off for minor adjustments.

Then I began inking up the tree.

I went a little darker on the edges and lighter in the center.

I stared off with Peeled Paint then used a touch of Forest Moss along the edges.

Still holding the template in place I stamped gears in the template opening

with more Forest Moss.

I added a touch of Sepia ink for the base of the Christmas Tree...

Then I went ahead and added some details...

a bit of Burgundy Stickles at the center of each gear,

a few outlines and highlights with a white gel pen,

and finally I added a gear to the top of the tree.

I finished off the card with a bit of washi tape

and a little gold star in the center of the tree topper gear.

And there you go...

a very Steampunk Christmas!

Christmas in July #3 - Santa Bingo Plaque

I don't know about you but I find it difficult to find nice gifty ideas for friends far away.

I mean yes, you could buy something but I think a hand-crafted gift is always so much better.

With the price of mailing items sky-rocketing over the last few years it's becoming harder to actually send little "thinking of you" gifts to friends across the miles.

WELL, today's project is fun, easy to replicate (for multiple friends) and it won't break the bank to mail it either....as long as you don't go too overboard on the embellishments that is ;)  LOL!!

So, I like to use vintage Bingo cards for these plaque bases. 

Many of the older cards are printed on a heavy weight chipboard that will take mediums well AND hold up well when shipped.

Besides that, they have a cool personality that you just don't get with new or faux Bingo cards.

I added a layer of Distress Stain...Peeled Paint in this case ~ I know it's one of the first Distress Colors and there are lots of others to choose from but it's still my favorite green Distress Ink Color.

After I had the card covered I flicked on a nice amount of water then dried it quickly.

I then added a couple flourishes in each corner

(sorry, I can't remember who this stamp is from)

and set it aside for now.

Next I stamped one of my favorite Santa images...

He's so cheery and lovable looking isn't he?

(it's from Inkadinkado) and colored it with my Spectrum Noir markers.

It's time to start embellishing the plaque so I found this tissue paper pinwheel I had in my stash and gave it a splash of color with Aged Mahogany Distress Stain.

Now it's time to figure out what you want to add...

I played around with various goodies I had in my bag of Christmas Tricks until I found an arrangement I liked.

If you're making multiples it's easy to find a general lay-out you like then just improvise with the actual embellishments.  For example I used a few chipboard pieces in the upper right corner but you could use stamped images, German Scrap images, collage images, stickers, die-cuts and so much more!

These are a great way to use up those left over bits and bobs you have just waiting for a good home.

Once you're set on your design

glue it all down and add a few finishing touches.

In this case I added some Stickles Glitter glue here and there

to add just that extra little something for some holiday cheer!

as far as the hanger goes you could use a pop tab glued to the back or punch a hole in each of the top corners and tie a ribbon through them or use a chipboard foldable stand for display on a table-top.

These make fun gifts that are sturdy enough to stand up to the postal service

and pretty enough for someone to cherish for years to come!

Merry Christmas Everyone!!

Christmas in July - #2 - Steampunk-ish Vacuum Tube Snowmen Ornaments

Christmas in July #2

Steampunk-ish

Vacuum Tube Snowmen Ornaments

I say "Steampunk - ish" because some Steampunk purists don't think that vacuum tubes were around in the Victorian age (1837-1901) but in all actuality they have been around since BEFORE the Victorian era....

"The earliest forms of such tubes appeared in the late 17th century. However, it was not until the 1850s that sufficient technology existed to produce sophisticated versions of such tubes. This technology included efficient vacuum pumps, advanced glassblowing techniques, and the Ruhmkorff induction coil."    Taken from the History of Vacuum Tubes @ About.com - Inventors

So, I think they more than qualify so I'm calling them Steampunk ;)

Anyway, I started off with a couple different vacuum tubes - a small one and a medium sized one.  The first thing I did with the small one was to bend two of the wires over for hanging purposes later.

I pounced on white paint over the entire small tube and let it dry.

For the larger tube I taped off a section right under the plastic base and near the center of the glass tube it's self.

I then dabbed the ink in the exposed area in the center.

Here's what it looked like after I removed the tape.

I wanted to use a bit of Dresden Trim on the medium size one but I wanted it a bit more Christmas-y than just the plain gold so I used my Spectrum Noir Marker to color it red.

I then drew on the faces, applied the trim and a bit of multi color twine on the small one.

I used a bit of antiqued wire to make hangers for each ~

The larger tube has a round stud in the center about the size of a pencil so I wound some wire around a pencil and formed a loop at the top.  I pulled the spiral loop off the pencil, slid it on the stud and glued it in place.

For the smaller tube I took a piece of wire, made 2 jump rings ~ one for each of the bent loops and then made a connector to bring them both together in the center...the upside down "U" looking thing.

And they're all ready to use!

Where to find VACUUM TUBES?

People often ask where I find these tubes for a reasonable price...

I found mine at a large flea market BUT I had to buy the whole box to get a good deal.

(he was asking 2.00 a piece if you bought them individually)

I have tons of them so I use them a lot for artsy fun because I love the Steampunk look but also because they are so easy to work with and very versatile. 

Now I do sell them in my Etsy store fairly cheap (compared to other places I've seen) but I don't want you to feel like you have to buy them from me...  I'm just puttin' it out there incase you can't find them elsewhere.

Christmas in July - Day 1 - Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer!

Merry Christmas....

in July that is!

I thought it would be fun take a week out of July and post a few inspiring cards and projects to get you in the mood for some holiday crafting!  You do realize that there are only 155 days till Christmas don't you?  I know it SOUNDS like a long time but really when you think of making gifts, baking cookies, making greeting cards, possibly even making some ornaments to give or use yourself it's not that long at all.   It's time to get thinkin' about what you want to make this year.

So I thought I'd start it off with a card I made in honor of Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer....it's one of my favorite holiday programs and makes me cry every time Rudolph runs away to the land of misfit toys. 

Here's what I did....

I started off by stamping the wreath on a sheet of white cardstock and stamped a second wreath on a piece of scrap paper to be used as a mask. 

I cut out the mask and placed it over the wreath and stamped the sheet music stamp several times over the piece of white cardstock. 

I then trimmed the cardstock to the side desired for the card.  I then inked the edges and the background music with a variety of brown distress inks.  I used my Spectrum Noir markers to color in the wreath and I added a few highlights with my white Gelly Roll pen from Sakura and a few bits of Stickles Glitter Glue.  After it was dry I used an exacto knife to cut out the center of the wreath.  I set that paper aside for now.

I stamped Rudolph on a scrap of white cardstock, colored and fussy cut him from the rest of the cardstock.

Next I stamped a green panel of cardstock with the holly sprigs and added Stickles Glitter Glue to the berries.

All Stamps are Stampers Best - Deep Red Stamps

To assemble the card I first added a strip of "Merry Christmas" washi tape to the top of the green card panel and affixed it to the red card base.

Next I determined how much of the wreath I wanted to hang over the edge of the washi tape and drew a pencil line straight across the cardstock on either side of the wreath.  I then cut away the bottom portion of the wreath/music stamped panel....fussy cutting around the wreath and making a straight on the pencil lines.  So now I have a panel that is square at the top but has the wreath hanging down below on the bottom.

I tucked Rudolph in the wreath and added a pop dot near his shoulder and head to help him stand up a bit off of the surface of the card.

I then glued the music/wreath panel to the upper portion of the card.

Here's a close up of Rudolph...

I know it's a lot of work for one card but this could be a special card for that special person on your list.

OR

use a

~ QUICK ALTERNATIVE ~

You could speed the process up a bunch by substituting pattern paper for the sheet music and holly background papers and just stamp the wreath and Rudolph.

Simply stamp the wreath, color and cut ~

stamp Rudolph, color and cut....

tuck Rudolph in the wreath and stick em both on the card!

Quick and Simple!!

Farm Guy Cards

Hi All...

Sorry I missed you yesterday ~ I did have a stamped card about 1/2 way finished but then had some unexpected things come up which prevented me from finishing and sharing.

Today however I have a couple of cards for some "farm guys".  My oldest son is turning 25 today!!!!  I can hardly believe it, I can still remember (most of it) like it was yesterday.  That year ~ 1988 ~ we were also having a heat wave at this time here in Indiana but thankfully that evening it finally started raining...  it was the first real honest to goodness storm/precip we had had in weeks. 

Anyway, I'm getting off track.... I made the following card for his birthday using an old Stampin' Up set of stamps.  There are 7 different John Deere tractors in the set so it was the perfect set as my son is a John Deere guy.  I only used 6 of the tractors on this card ~ the 7th stamp is a bit newer tractor than I wanted for this project.

I stamped several of the tractors repeatedly on an angle to create the background paper and I used the last tractor for the main image which I colored with Spectrum Noir markers.  I stamped Happy Birthday inside.

The next card is for a family friend who unexpectedly went in for kidney stone surgery yesterday...I think he had like 4-5 and his kidneys had all but shut down.

Anyway, he's a JD guy too so I thought I'd use this set of stamps from TAC (it's old as well and probably retired).  I added the sunflowers and chicken to add a little cheer cause I'm sure he's not feelin' too well today.

 

I also added a little tractor to the inside of the card just for a little surprise for him.

 

So there you go...

a couple of farm - tractor related card ideas

for any farm boys in your life!

Graphic 45 Bohemian Bazaar Tri Fold Card

Today I wanted to share a fun folded card I made using Graphic 45's new Bohemian Bazaar line of paper. 

Girls Night....

Cut the cardstock 6x12".

Score at  1.5"; 3"; 5.5"; 8".

Fold and crease with a bone folder.

Cut panels for each section of the card.

I inked the edges with Cobalt Blue ink.

I then stamped my "girlfriend" birds on the inside panel so you could only see one of the birds when the card is closed.  I stamped and cut the sentiment on white cardstock; cut it apart; inked the edges and glued it to the inside of the card.

(all stamps are Just For Fun Rubber Stamps)

I used one of the little postcards from the BB line of paper to make the final sentiment ~ wish you were here.  I also fussy cut several flowers from another sheet of the cardstock and glued them around the card.  Finally I added a crystal gemstone to each of the flower centers.

This is a top view of the opened card.

Now it's your turn to get inky!

Frozen Charlotte Watchmaker Vial Charm

I'm so excited...this is one of those things on my "I have to make this" list.  I saw something similar quite a long time ago but only that one was just parts ~ a leg, an arm, part of a torso...  a bit too gruesome for me unless it's Halloween. 

Anyway, I started off by taking one of the tiny Frozen Charlottes and I painted her with gesso then inked her up a bit with some Distress Stain.  After she had dried I covered her with a layer of Crystal Lacquer.

The center doll was painted with gesso then completely covered with Distress Stain.  After that had dried I rubbed on more gesso here and there and finally covered it with Crystal Lacquer. 

The third doll is just the paper clay casting to be used for comparison.

Once she had completely dried I added a small amount of German Glass Glitter to the bottom of the vial, popped in my little doll and glued the cork to the vial.  I then screwed in an eye screw finding and tied a little pink bow to the finding.  That was the hardest part - LOL!!

I thought these would make awesome charms for a Steampunk or Vintage Girly-Girl necklace.

What do you think?

Amazing how the paper clay looks like cast porcelain after it has been covered with the Crystal Lacquer huh?

Frozen Charlotte Doll - Fun Alternative!

I was in search of a couple Frozen Charlotte Dolls last week - trying to find a reasonable price (doll + shipping) and man I tell you they are frickin EXPENSIVE.... Anywhere from 8.00 up...and I really mean UP (25-37.00 each).  Shoot, even the cheap plastic ones aren't that cheap - 4.00 for 2 tiny dolls. 

Yes, I'm cheap and don't like spending 50.00's on a single project but that doesn't mean I don't want to use some of these neat embellishments.  Well, the Art Gods were looking down on me and smiled.  I stumbled onto this awesome Frozen Charlotte Mold at Articus Studio Design.  It's only 11.95 plus shipping.  That's about the price of 2 dolls!!!  I had purchased things from Corrine before but it had been a long time since I visited the web-site so I knew it was someplace I could order from with confidence.

The description of the mold says you can use polymer clay, paper clay, metal clays, craft soap, waxes, Ultra thick Embossing Enamel (UTEE), and more.

I ordered it right then and there and it arrived on Saturday (she's in Ohio so it only took 2 days to arrive) and I started playing right away.  So, this is the package it comes in....  The circles gives you an approximate sized ball that you will need for each size doll.  I didn't fuss with that, I just guessed and it worked out fine.

The dolls measure as follows:

Tiny - 1 1/8" tall

2nd Smallest - 1.5" tall

Medium - 2.25" tall

Large - 3 1/8" tall

Tall - 3.5" tall

I am using air dry clay.  I originally bought the stuff thinking it would be an o.k. alternative to paper clay because that's all the store had.  I'm not thrilled with it but it does work.  I wanted to use it with my MS molds but everything I made was so brittle I ended up tossing them all.  BUT I figured I've got a big tub of it I might as well use it.

I pushed the clay into each of the cavities and let them dry for about an hour or two.  I then removed them so they could finish drying.

When they were about 50-60% dry I took my exacto knife and scraped away the excess clay from the edges.  Again, this stuff is pretty brittle so I ended off breaking a couple feet and a head off...which is o.k. because real Frozen Charlotte Dolls have all sorts of body parts missing ;)

Here they are cleaned up...

When they were completely dry I painted them with various mediums just to see how they would turn out.  I have to say I am really tickled with them.

I used the following mediums left to right:

Large Doll (L) - Bisque Liquid Pearls w/ touches of Dark Brown Liquid Pearls

Smallest Doll (top) - Left Plain for comparisons sake

2nd Smallest Doll (below smallest doll) - Black Acrylic Paint with touches of Gesso over top.

Medium Doll - Painted w/gesso, smudged on Distress Ink then covered w/Crystal Lacquer (gives an authentic porcelain look!!!)

Tall Doll (right) - Painted w/ white acrylic paint then Copper Distress Paint over top.

Different angle...

I am sooooo excited!

I LOVE how these things turned out.

Next I'm going to try some paper clay in the molds.  Paper clay holds up better and is more durable than the air dry clay.  It will allow more handling and less breaking ~ making it possible to paint them with more detail.

I can think of all sorts of projects that I can use these little devils.

So, while I'm not a salesperson or spokesperson or anything else for Articus Studio Design I HIGHLY recommend this mold.

Would you like to win a set of these fun little dolls to incorporate into your art?

All you have to do is post a comment telling us how you'd use one of these little gems and you'll be entered to win!

You have until 7-24 to comment to be entered to win!

Magazines to go Digital Only....

I wasn't surprised to read that Northridge Publishing is going to shift their magazines to all digital starting with their August 2013 issues.  They are the folks who put out Cards, Scrapbook Trends, Cricut Magazine, Cricut Magazine Idea Books, Create: Idea Books, Signature Series, and Creative Retailer. 

They also publish Bead Trends and Simply Handmade, which sadly are going away.  I really liked Bead Trends...while I'm not a beader per say I got lots of inspiration from that magazine by taking bits and pieces I liked and turning them into my style.

You can read the full article about this transition on Scrapbook Update.

I think with the sky rocketing price of printing and mailing you'll see more and more of this.  I suppose it's my age (45) showing but I'm not a fan of digital magazines or even books for that matter.  I'm a tactile person, I like to have a book in my hands or a magazine I can make notations on, dog ear the pages and well, you get the picture.  Also, I don't want to have to rely on an energy company for my reading enjoyment.

I don't want to have to drag around an electronic device that I have to worry about charging, leaving behind, spilling something on, dropping, being stolen, etc.  If I forget where I set down a 4.99 book or magazine it's no big deal...if I forget where I put an ipad, lap-top, phone or reader we're talking about some serious $'s.  

I had planned on tearing up my magazines...keeping the pages/articles I liked and tossing the rest but I guess I'll just keep them now.  Shoot, they might be an antique before too long....just like me - LOL!!

Oh well...can't go back now.

More fun with the Inky Frame Technique

Last night for some reason all night long I was dreaming of different ways to ink the frame for the Inky Frame Technique so I just had to give them a try today....

The first one I thought of and really wanted to try was a make-up sponge or in this case a Blusher Sponge from Tsukineko and some Distress Inks.   I love how vibrant the colors look.. 

The second idea I had was to use a damp sea sponge.  I pounced the sponge right on the ink pad then applied it to the cardstock ~ some areas heavier than others.

I did have an interesting thing happen...

I was in such a frenzy to try it I didn't let the frame dry completely so I did have some ink transfer from the first attempt to this one.  I sort of like the effect...

Then I tried the stipple brush...

Gotta love that brush!

Again I applied more ink in some areas and less in others for a fun effect.

As I was posting this I also had the thought that after you ink the frame you could also stamp over the frame too!  Wouldn't that be a nifty look...

Or you could overlay a stencil and ink it a second time in a darker ink/paint...

Or you could even apply a bit of paint or gesso over the ink layer THEN stamp over that layer.

Gosh, the possibilities are just endless...

I'm thinkin' there is going to be some more fun with frame cards coming up very soon.

There are just too many fun alternatives you could do to really jazz this sucker up!

Do you have any ideas you'd like to try?