Make My Monday week 17

This is the last week on Make My Monday challenge for the steampunk theme and I'm way outside my comfort zone with this one which was 'anything but a card' because I rarely venture into this sort of work much as admire what other people achieve.. I've been mulling this over since I read the post and eventually decided on altering a picture frame.  I called into our local shop where everything is one economical price and fortunately they had this square frame with a wide area to decorate.  I sanded the surface slightly and applied some gesso and then a coat of acrylic paint, finally sponging with Distress ink.  The image of the penny farthing was a free digital download from BTFC, distressed with dusty concorde  ink.  Various stamps from Kanban, 7 Gypsies, Paper Artsy and Chocolate Baroque were used (the flower is from CB Steampunk Christmas set). I also cut out some cogs using a Sizzix die and embossed them with more cogs using a Cuttlebug folder, again using Distress ink.  I can see that I could have made this much more elaborate, especially if I had a handy supply of watch parts and other bits and pieces which are on my ever growing wish list, but at least I had a go.

Make My Monday Week 15

The theme at Make My Monday is still steampunk and this week they are asking for monochromatic designs. I just had to use one of the' fashionista'  images from the steampunk set by Kanban which arrived on my doormat very recently!! I'm not totally happy with the result here because I think a large image like this should be on a larger card but at the moment I don't have any without going out shopping and visits to craft shops always end up costing me more than I think they will so I used what I had.  Background stamps are mostly from the 7 gypsies set I used last week apart from the cogs (they actually don't show much) which are from the Chocolate Baroque steampunk Christmas set. The background was sponged with Peeled Paint distress ink with the addition of a little Adirondack pesto. I also used some Tim Holtz tissue tape and a little piece of lace which I coloured with the distress ink  - not really happy with this either but it was far too white without colouring.  I might have another go later on when I've caught up with myself after last weekend - being out of the house for three days takes me ages to get back to normal (whatever that is).

Make My Monday Challenge 14

The folks over on the Make My Monday blog have a new theme for the month of September - steampunk and for this first week they are asking for an ATC which something I've not made for simply ages as I find the small size a bit restrictive. However I decided to have a go and have actually come up with two - couldn't decide between them so they are both here (sorry I put one a bit crooked in the scanner). The one on the left has a sponged background with some overstamping using stamps from 7 Gypsies and the lettering in the top corner is a stamp from a teeny tiny set by Chocolate Baroque. The butterfly has been cut out and layered.  For the card on the right I first stamped part of a Christmas tree from Chocolate Baroque Steampunk Christmas using Versamark ink and embossed with clear powder before sponging and a bit more overstamping.  A Tim Holtz die was used to cut out a cog shape which was then run through a Cuttlebug embossing folder, sponged with colour and layered.  The hot air balloon from 7 Gypsies was stamped and cut out also.  I might say that this set of clear stamps from 7 Gypsies caused me a problem in that they were so difficult to remove from the carrier sheet I felt I was in danger of actually ripping them as they stretched to an alarming degree - thankfully no damage was done and they stamped nicely.