Imagination Meets Reality (by Anne)

Good morning. This one is another of my recent samples for the Steampunk shows. I used Soft Form Relief Paste to create the 3D embellishment, the lovely lace with cogs stamp to create the border and stamped onto a pretty floral paper from Crafty Individuals. I thought that the sentiment ‘imagination meets reality’ was fitting.

I mounted everything onto a ‘recycled’ 8 X 8 inch card which was a previous sample that had gone badly wrong. Rather than throw it away I just covered up what was originally there. No-one would ever know – ooops I just told you – tee hee hee.

Materials:

• Steampunkery and Punky Expressions stamp sets
• Useful Leaves mask/stencil
• 8 X 8 inch card blank, cartridge paper, black card for mounting, Crafty Individuals 6 X 6 Background Paper (Springtime)
• Water based inks (teal, lime)
• Inkpads: Versamark, Versafine (Onyx Black), StazOn (Jet Black), Distress Ink (Vintage Photo)
• Embossing powder (pearl)
• Soft Form Relief Paste (Copper)
• Fine tipped pen (black)
• Alcohol marker (black)
• PVA peals (black)
• Shaving foam and shallow tray

How it was done:

1. The background paper on my ‘recycled’ card was created using the shaving foam technique. This is a fun method for making pretty marble effect papers. Shaving foam is spread onto a shallow tray and inks dropped onto the surface. Paper is then lowered onto the surface to pick up the ink. Versamark was then sponged through the leaf stencil and heat embossed with pearl powder. Distress Ink was then blended over the top, the embossed areas repelling the colour. A ribbon band was drawn on with pen. This was then mounted onto and 8 X 8 card. Faux stitching was added around the edges using a piercing tool and drawing with a fine tipped black pen. PVA pearls were then added to the corners.
2. The lacy border and sentiment were stamped with Versafine onto the decorative floral paper, then mounted onto black card to frame. I had a spare scrap of this paper from another project so cut out the daisy and shaped it to add dimension and decoupaged it up onto the background.
3. The beetle stamp was coated with StazOn Ink, then a thin layer of Relief Paste and left to dry overnight before peeling away. It was then trimmed to neaten up and glued to the card.