Boy, have we got some inspiration for you this month! ;-) It's time for some
Sweet Inspiration with Challenge #33 over at the Mixed Media Monthly blog. Our sponsor this month is
Stampendous and they very generously sent each team member some goodies to create with. (I also just might happen to have a fair amount of their stuff already. ;-) ) I was excited to get some Andy Skinner stamps and a gear stencil – it was looking like a steampunk project was in order…and it took the form of another ATC binder! Yes, I needed another one. My
addiction fondness for ATC trading continues unabated. (You can see the other binders I've made
here,
here, and
here.)
Feast your eyes on all that grungy gear glory! The focal point is a little "clockwork" bird (a Stampendous stamp.)
I have a little tutorial for you; read on:
1. The front panel I cut out of matboard and glued a couple of pages from old books onto it. I then added some strips of masking tape and misted with Distress Stains to age it all. I also hand cut an arched "birdcage" form out of another piece of matboard.
2. I used the Stampendous gears stencil and Dreamweaver matte black embossing paste to add texture to the arched frame. After it was dry I misted it with Black Soot, Hickory Smoke and Vintage Photo Distress Stains.
3. Before I glued the arch on, I stamped in the background with archival ink and used a stencil and Viva copper crackle paint to add more texture.
4. Next came the fun part of adding in the bird and all the gears. Some I embossed with powders from the Bronze Encrusted Jewel kit, others I colored with metallic Distress Stain.
I also used the encrusted jewel technique (see
this video) to add some more bling and texture. The Jewel kits are a coordinated set of embossing powders, glitter and mica flakes. You can mix them all together, sprinkle them onto your project and heat them from beneath with a heat gun to melt the powders and "glue" everything down. It's pretty cool! It took a while to melt the powder through the thick matboard but patience paid off.
5. While I was working on the front panel, I decided the standard binder I was going to mount it on needed something too. I covered the front and back with Melange Tissue Wrap, adhering it with Glue 'n Seal. When it was dry, I inked all the visible areas with Archival Potting Soil ink.
When I was finished with the front panel, I glued it to the front of the binder. For extra sturdiness, I drilled a small hole in each corner of the panel, all the way through the front of the binder. Long Screws and Hitch Fasteners gave me extra insurance that the panel was never going to pop off.
Whew, that was a long post! Thanks for sticking with me. Be sure to head on over to the
Challenge post and check out all the inspiring projects my teammates and Guest Designer Fran Seiford have created. Many thanks to our sponsor
Stampendous too! Join in our challenge and you could win a $25 gift certificate!
The supplies I used
for this project can be found at
Sizzix or
Simon Says Stamp. Follow the links below and a shopping you may go!
