Geared Up Garage Steampunk for As You See It Challenge

Ever since I first had the Occasions Catalogue in my hot little hands, I've been so excited about the possibilities for the Geared Up Garage bundle. I just haven't had an opportunity to really play with it properly. It consists of the Geared Up Garage Cling stamp set and the Garage Gears Thinlits Dies. Soooo many gears! I don't know if you are aware but I'm a secret steampunker. And gears really get me excited, because you can't really have anything steampunk without some gears in the picture.

Thankfully, our newest As You See It Challenge this week has a theme and that theme is Metallics which is perfect for gears and steampunk and other masculine type images, so I went ahead with a Steampunk Extravaganza.

Along with Geared Up Garage, I also used  Handwritten and Crackle Paint for the background, Lift Me Up for the balloon image, and Country Road for some of its rustic images. Here's my steampunk creation up close and personal:

• Some of the gears from the Garage Gears Thinlits Dies were die cut from Silver Foil Sheets, and the rest were die cut from Soft Suede cardstock and embossed with Copper Stampin' Emboss Powder. Some were glued flat to the card front while others were popped up on Dimensionals. I love the variety you get, though.
• The large balloon from Lift Me Up is stamped with Versamark ink on Soft Suede cardstock as well, then embossed with Copper Stampin' Emboss Powder as well, giving it some sponging with Soft Suede ink to add some distress to it. The same treatment was given the wheel from Country Road. while the weather vane is embossed with copper on Whisper White and the star is embossed with Silver Stampin' Emboss Powder on Whisper White.
• To create the background, the Crackle Paint stamp was inked up in Crumb Cake, stamped off and the Very Vanilla panel laid over it gently. Using the fingers, it was rubbed very lightly in a few places but not everywhere, creating what I call a 'whispered' background. I repeat the process with the Handwritten stamp, but concentrate the pressure only where there was no image from the Crackle Paint where possible. The edges of the whole panel are sponged with Soft Suede before adding all the elements to it.
• The sentiment is from Geared Up Garage, and I stamped it in Soft Suede, but quickly added some Copper Stampin' Emboss Powder before the ink dried and heat set it.  
• The final touches were the additions of two of the Geared Up Garage's Classic Garage Metal Elements: a wrench and a key. They were adhered with glue dots as shown. (Kinda gives a whole new meaning to the words "Threw a wrench in the works!" Lol.)

I hope you hop on over to As You See It Challenge this weekend and have some fun with metallics yourself!

While you are wondering what to do this weekend, why don't you plan on hosting a Stampin' Up! party before the end of March! The rewards are well worth it! During Sale-A-Bration, if your party total reaches $300 or more ( and I can coach you to show you how to achieve that easily), Stampin' Up is adding an extra $30 in rewards to the already great rewards already being given. It makes quite a difference. If you can get a minimum of 6 of your friends to your place or mine, you can tell me what kind of projects you want to do and what format you want the party to take. (We can even do an online party if you want.) Contact me in the next little while to get that set up.

                                         

 Click on the links below to take you to my On-Line Store, where you can read about, look at, and purchase if you wish, the products used to make this card today.


Product List

Geared Up Garage Cling Stamp Set [148590] $29.00	Geared Up Garage Cling Bundle [150610] $66.50	Lift Me Up Clear-Mount Stamp Set [142896] $29.00	Lift Me Up Wood-Mount Stamp Set [142893] $39.00	Country Road Clear-Mount Stamp Set [147469] $26.00
Country Road Wood-Mount Stamp Set [147466] $37.00	Handwritten Clear-Mount Stamp Set [146524] $20.00	Handwritten Wood-Mount Stamp Set [146521] $27.00	Crackle Paint Cling Stamp Set [148752] $22.00	Crackle Paint Wood-Mount Stamp Set [148755] $27.00
Silver Foil Sheets [132178] $5.50	Early Espresso 8-1/2" X 11" Card Stock [119686] $11.50	Soft Suede 8-1/2" X 11" Card Stock [115318] $11.50	Very Vanilla 8-1/2" X 11" Card Stock [101650] $13.25	Whisper White 8-1/2" X 11" Card Stock [100730] $13.25
Versamark Pad [102283] $12.25	Soft Suede Classic Stampin' Pad [147115] $10.25	Crumb Cake Classic Stampin' Pad [147116] $10.25	Stamping Sponges [141337] $4.75	Copper Stampin' Emboss Powder [141636] $6.75
Silver Stampin' Emboss Powder [109131] $6.75	Embossing Buddy [103083] $8.25	Heat Tool [129053] $41.00	Classic Garage Metal Elements [148485] $9.50	Garage Gears Thinlits Dies [148521] $45.00
Big Shot [143263] $150.00	Liquid Multipurpose Glue [110755] $5.50	Glue Dots [103683] $7.25	Mini Stampin' Dimensionals [144108] $5.50

A Pop-Up Spinner Card for Freshly Made Sketches and Just Add Ink

I had lots of inspiration for today's card. I needed a fancy fold card that we hadn't done before for my Technique Night classes this week. I also thought I'd play along with two challenges. The first is a sketch lay-out from Freshly Made Sketches:

The second is an Inspiration Banner from Just Add Ink:

I especially like this inspiration photo! Look at that  rainbow macaron tower!! It almost looks too good to eat!

At our last team meeting, I saw a card made with overlapping shapes, coloured with Watercolour Pencils and blending two colours in the parts that overlapped. Even though the shapes aren't as simple, I decided to try this technique with the hot air balloons from the Lift Me Up stamp set. That's because I wanted to do a Pop-Up Spinner mechanism on the inside of the card and wanted it to be a hot air balloon that is spinning in the opening.

• Because of the overlapping, I didn't make any attempt at highlights in my colouring, but I think it would work and I might do it if I was going to do this card again.
• I used the Real Red, Pumpkin Pie, Daffodil Delight, Old Olive, Bermuda Bay, Pacific Point and Rich Razzleberry Watercolour pencils to get the rainbow effect.
• The balloons are stamped in Basic Black Archival ink. This particular stamp, even though it is a clear mount stamp, seems to be particularly troublesome when wanting to get full coverage when you stamp. I haven't quite figured out if that was intended or not, but I've found that to get complete coverage, get out your Stampin' Pierce Mat to stamp on. It makes a huge difference. If you still have issues, do a little touch up with your Basic Black Stampin' Right Marker.
• The sentiment is from Lift Me Up as well.

• The inside has a little mechanism that allows a floating balloon that can spin if you wind it up before closing the card. When you open the card it will spin on the Whisper White Baker's Twine going through the middle of the double image of the balloon, which was stamped twice and die cut with the Up & Away Thinlits, then adhered with the baker's twine right through the middle. You can attach the twine right to the front of the mountain fold on the Whisper White cardstock or you can attach a 1/2" strip top an bottom, 3" long scored at 1/2", 1 1/2", and 2 1/2". Add adhesive to the 2-1/2" flaps on the ends and attach to the back of the Whisper White cardstock then add the balloon on a string to the top and bottom strip. Make sure it is pulled tightly. I fastened it with Tear & Tape, but didn't remove the top film.

Click on the links below to take you to my On-Line Store, where you can read about, look at, and purchase if you wish, the products used to make this card today.

Product List

Lift Me Up Wood-Mount Stamp Set [142893]	Lift Me Up Clear-Mount Stamp Set [142896]	Lift Me Up Wood-Mount Bundle [144711]	Lift Me Up Clear-Mount Bundle [144712]	Carried Away Designer Series Paper [143608]
Bermuda Bay 8-1/2" X 11" Card Stock [131197]	Elegant Eggplant 8-1/2" X 11" Card Stock [105126]	Whisper White 8-1/2" X 11" Card Stock [100730]	Daffodil Delight 8-1/2" X 11" Card Stock [119683]	Watercolor Pencils [141709]
Blender Pens [102845]	Basic Black Archival Stampin’ Pad [140931]	Old Olive Classic Stampin' Pad [126953]	Pacific Point Classic Stampin' Pad [126951]	Pumpkin Pie Classic Stampin' Pad [126945]
Real Red Classic Stampin' Pad [126949]	Twine Baker's Whisper White [124262]	Up & Away Thinlits Dies [142748]	Big Shot [143263]	Banner Triple Punch [138292]
Layering Ovals Framelits Dies [141706]	Tear & Tape Adhesive [138995]	Fast Fuse Adhesive [129026]	Liquid Multipurpose Glue [110755]