Steampunk Arch (by Nikki)

Hello everyone, it's time for the last post this month from our Guest Design Team member Nikki. She has made a fabulous steampunk themed mixed media piece for us this week.

Morning everyone, I've got my third make for you today, and wanted to use the brilliant Steampunkery stamp set.

I took a little MDF arch, and painted it with chalk paint in dark grey, crackle medium, and a cream top coat. Next I gave it a wash, (watered down acrylic), of pthalo turquoise and quinacridone gold. The background was stamped with the cogs from the Steampunk Butterfly stamp set. (This is my new favourite stamp).

I painted some greyboard cogs, and part of a clock I had left over from another project, in raw umber and pyrrole orange to make them look rusty. It's a very easy rust colour with just two paints!

I stamped the beetle from Steampunkery twice onto Velvet card, and coloured the images with prussian blue hue and quinacridone gold acrylic paint in washes, to simulate watercolour. On top was a coat of watered down copper acrylic, to give a shimmer. I cut out the clock, beetle shell and wings from one of the images, and layered up, putting the wings behind the main image, and the shell and clock on top. The shell and clock were covered with a triple thick glaze to give shine and depth.

I stamped the Time Flies sentiment, and aged this with acrylic paint. It was edged in Copper and glued to the cogs. I hadn't used the Velvet Card for stamping and painting before, and I am seriously impressed at the way that it took paint, even watered down, without pilling and rubbing off. I will definitely be using this card in the future.!

I hope you like my little arch, I'm a bit in love with this stamp set. (Well, most of them really!)

Thank you for stopping by and joining me here, hope to 'see' you again soon.

Best Wishes,

Nikki K. xxx

Nikki will be back with us later in the year, but you can check out her blog here.