JAI 546: Just Add Steampunk

 Hi!

Thanks for joining me for the new Just Add Ink challenge. This week Chantelle is daring us to make a card or project in the Steampunk style. It had quite a lot of the Design Team wondering what is Steampunk?

To me Steampunk is the blend of mechanical/industrial and arty/fantasy elements. Sort of the Industrial Revolution meets Alice In Wonderland, I guess! Either way, it was out of my comfort zone but I was bound to have a bit of fun with it. 

Cogs are a bit of a no-brainer for Steampunk, so I added a good handful to my background. I layered them over and under some DSP and a Memories and More card from the World Of Good Suite. The words are also from a M&M card. Texture is often used in Steampunk cards, especially corrugated card, which I used to layer under my main sentiment.

Let's talk about my butterfly. I googled some images/pages and found this one, which became the inspiration for my butterfly. I really love how the butterfly looks like it's made from metal plates, riveted together.

My only butterfly stamp was the one from A Touch Of Ink, so I stamped it in stamped-off Gray Granite ink. I then used my Copic Multiliner to draw in the plates and rivets, following the basic outlines from the stamp. Then I just coloured it with my Smokey Slate and Soft Suede Stampin' Blends.

I was very pleased with how it turned out! I reckon the seahorse from Seaside Notions would look pretty cool drawn and coloured like this, too.

I finished the card with some more cogs on the inside. You might be able to see the Wink Of Stella that I added to all the cogs on my card. I couldn't resist adding a top hat to the inside, either - it seems to be a common image used in Steampunk cards, although usually with the cool goggles over the top.

Overall, the Steampunk theme wasn't as scary as I though it would be. Have you ever tried it? Why not give it a go? You can link your card up over on the Just Add Ink blog, where you can also find the rest of this week's Design team cards.

Bye for now,

Tina

CTC #241: CASE A Layout

Hi!

Welcome to this week's CASEing The Catty Sunday Challenge Blog Hop. You may be starting here, or have come from Siobhan's blog, either way, just keep hopping until you get back to where you started.

The week the Design team are challenging you to CASE one of the card layouts from page 101 of the Annual Catalogue. There are four to choose from - which one catches your eye?

Mine was caught by the cute foxy card at the top left, in particular the stitching around the aperture. It's such a lovely design feature.

As much as I'd love one of everything in the catalogue, I don't have any of the dies or stamps used to create that card, so I had to get creative!

I recently purchased the Sweetly Swirled stamp set, and it came to mind as I was pondering how to replicate the stitching. I heat embossed the largest circular swirl using Sliver embossing powder on Basic Black cardstock. I then cut away the inner piece to make a window.

At this stage my card was looking very masculine, and so I decided to cut some cogs from Copper Foil to line the inside of the opening. I then fussy cut a muscle car from the retired Classic Garage DSP in place of the sweet foxes. I also used some Tranquil Tide DSP to layer under the Basic Black. I like how if frames the card and gives a little relief from all of the black.

I had some left over cogs in both Silver and Copper, so I used them on the inside rather than toss them. I had originally intended to used the Silver cogs on the front as an extra layer in the aperture, but it looked too fussy. Not great on a masculine card!

Which of the four cards appeals the most to you? How can you change it to make it more 'you'? I can't wait to see your card in our Facebook group.

Before you dash off to get creative, don't forget to finish the hop! Next up is the lovely Elizabeth with her sweet card.

Bye for now,

Tina