The Possibilities are Endless

I hope you’re all enjoying this month’s theme “Poetry in Motion” over at Art Journal Journey.  Today I have created a steampunk page using leftover materials from previous projects to depict “Dream, hope, believe … and the possibilities are endless”.

I started by applying the inks onto the page, which were leftover from a 21^st birthday card that I had made; this involved dripping the remaining diluted blue Distress Ink from an acrylic block onto the page and letting it dry, then applying the leftover black Distress Ink that was on my blending tool using a Viva Décor stencil that I had also used for the card. As you can see, I moved the stencil around the page to produce a lovely shaded effect as the leftover ink was gradually used up. I then added leftover letters from a set of rub-on transfers by Letraset to give a grunge look to the page. Next I stamped three frames, some postal marks and texture stamps by The Works and a key image by Royal & Langnickel using black Archival Ink. To start my sentiment I added the words “dream; hope; believe” which are rub-on transfers by Royal & Langnickel. I stamped the rest of the sentiment onto a piece of white tissue paper using black Archival Ink and stuck it onto the tag using a UHU Stic. The tag was also leftover from a previous project; I had stamped a Kaisercraft Script stamp using black Archival Ink over the whole tag, edged it with Tea Dye Distress Ink, drawn a stitched look border using a black Uni Pin marker and tied on some paper twine which I distressed using the same Tea Dye ink. I also stamped the texture and key stamps onto the tag so it matched the page background. I outlined the edges of the tissue paper and the letters on the tag with a white Uniball gel pen and stuck it to the page using double-sided foam tape. Then I used the Royal & Langnickel rub-on transfers again to add the “dream; hope; believe” definitions around the sides of the page. To finish, I sourced three postage stamps from my hubby’s childhood stamp collection that tied into the steampunk feel. They are all from Great Britain and I placed them inside the stamped frames using double-sided foam tape.

Here’s the 21^st Birthday card that I made for one of my godsons, like my page it has a steampunk feel to it. I find like many of my projects that I had some bits and pieces left over, so I was inspired to create a page from leftovers to demonstrate that the possibilities are endless!

I hope you also think that the possibilities are endless for this month’s theme “Poetry in Motion” over at Art Journal Journey. I’m so looking forward to visiting you and seeing your creations. Thanks for joining me today!

If you have any questions or comments, I would love to hear from you.

Here is a list of all the materials used to create this art journal page:

• Tim Holtz Distress Ink (Black Soot, Peacock Feathers, Tea Dye)
• Range Archival Ink (Jet Black)
• Faber-Castell Big Brush Pitt artist pen (Black 199)
• Uni Pin Fine Line marker (Black 0.1mm)
• Uniball Signo gel pen (White)
• The Works clear stamps (CRO274/TW3)
• Royal & Langnickel Clear Choice Stamps (Journey MIN-CCS104)
• Viva Décor Universal Stencil (Past Times 9002 703 00)
• Kaisercraft clear stamp (Script CS752)
• Dovecraft lower case alphabet stamp set (WDN ALPHA STMP DCVW0050)
• White tissue paper
• Hobbycraft(Kraft Medium Luggage Tag 5776581000)
• Letraset Transfer (Helvetica Bold Condensed 5mm RDC0251)
• Royal & Langnickel Rub-on sentiments (Motivate Sentiments #ROY510 RUB-ON)
• Postage stamps (Great Britain 1972, 1975)
• Wilko (10m Paper Twine 0314169)
• UHU Stic
• The Range Double-sided foam tape

Past Times

Loving all things Victorian, I was delighted to hear a familiar sound whilst gardening; it was a steam engine coming down the road. Luckily they don’t go too fast so we had time to grab our cameras and take some photos while it was passing our house. This magnificent sight inspired my steampunk page.

I started by colouring the edges of the page with Tea Dye and Brushed Corduroy Distress Ink using a blending tool, fading the colours as I reached the centre of the page. Then I stencilled cogs, keys and text by Viva Décor using the same inks and highlighted areas with Black Soot Distress Ink and a terracotta Spectrum Aqua marker. These colours and images remind me of the steam engine that we saw. I cut the world image and rulers from some vintage paper by Kaisercraft and I used some street map paper by American Crafts to illustrate where we had seen the steam engine. I aged all these papers with Brushed Corduroy Distress Ink and edged them with Black Soot Distress Ink using a blending tool and then I stuck them to the page using Liquitex Matte Gel Medium. Once the medium had dried I added colour and detail using a black Uni Pin marker and terracotta, tan and slate Spectrum Aqua markers. Next I stuck on the three Victorian tags, the very dapper looking gentleman, the top hat and the fountain pen/pocket watch, all of which I aged and edged in the same way as the world and map paper. I coloured three clocks which are outline stickers with a black Sharpie permanent marker and stuck them to the page. I added the keys which are rub-on transfers and then layered up lots of different items including: Salvage Stickers from the Tim Holtz Idea-ology Crowded Attic collection, Bees that I had stamped using Archival Ink onto some of the Kaisercraft paper and rulers that I cut from the same sheet of paper. All these items are edged with a black Sharpie pen and once in place I added shadows using a Slate Spectrum Aqua marker by smudging the colour with my finger and a baby wipe to produce a grunge effect. I stencilled white cogs with modelling paste and when it had dried I outlined them with a black Uni Pin marker so they stood out more. I added star outline stickers that I had coloured with the black Sharpie marker and some assorted buttons using Glossy Accents. I coloured and underlined the “Past Times” text with a black Uni Pin marker and applied Glossy Accents on top of this wording, the black stars, the metal button in the centre and around the holes of the tags to give a 3D glossy look.

I’m so pleased to be able to join Erica who is the guest designer for the “Steampunk” theme over at Try it on Tuesday and also Rosie who is hosting the “Circles” challenge over at Art Journal Journey.

Here’s the wonderful old steam engine as it passed by our house! The sight, sounds and smells were wonderful, reminding us of times gone by. Steampunk captures this era very well as it incorporates technology and designs inspired by 19th century industrial steam-powered machinery and is referred to as Victorian futurism. If you are interested here is some more information about steampunk:

• Steampunk is a fictional style and is often set in an alternative history of the 19th century’s British Victorian era or American “Wild West”. Neither of these style cares too much about historical accuracy, the purpose is to have fun, be creative and use your imagination and not to accurately re-enact a period of real history.
• Technologies that were new or important to the Victorians, such as steam power, clockwork or electricity, are big themes in steampunk.
• The first science-fiction novels by authors H. G. Wells and Jules Verne strongly influence steampunk and as such fictional machines are popular. If either of these authors wrote a science-fiction novel today, it would be considered steampunk.
• The “punk” in steampunk comes from going against convention that sets something apart, which is borne from creativity, imagination and one’s individuality, be that style or gadgets.
• Steampunk is thought to have originated from well-known science-fiction authors William Gibson and Bruce Sterling and/or writer K.W. Jeter.
• Steampunk may also, though not necessarily, incorporate additional elements from other genres like fantasy, horror, goth, historical fiction, alternate history, or speculative fiction.

In the Victorian era, afternoon tea was also invented and became very popular; it is still popular nowadays although it is seen more as a special treat. So we decided to take advantage of the “Afternoon Tea – 2 for 1” offer whilst visiting a local Garden Centre which also has a wonderful craft shop (grin!). As T Stands for Tuesday I’m saying a big hello to the T Gang and sharing our afternoon tea, which includes our usual choice of green tea with a selection of sandwiches and cakes. There was so much food that we both only manage to eat the sandwiches and delicious scone with jam and cream.

We took all the other cakes home to enjoy another day; from the bottom left clockwise there is a Bakewell slice, Viennese Whirl, millionaire’s shortbread, Victoria sponge, tea loaf and in the middle is a chocolate brownie. As I don’t eat nuts I was served different cakes to my hubby and I have to say the millionaire’s shortbread tasted out of this world – yum!

In case you are interested, here’s the craft shop that we looked round after our afternoon tea. I did buy a few things, well, it would be rude not too with the sale items on offer and the 20% off voucher/coupon I had (double grin!).

Thanks for joining me today! If you have any questions or comments, I would love to hear from you.

Here is a list of all the materials used to create this art journal page:

• Tim Holtz Distress Ink (Tea Dye, Brushed Corduroy, Black Soot)
• Ranger Archival Ink (Jet Black)
• Spectrum Aqua Artist Marker (Terracotta, Tan, Slate)
• Faber-Castell Big Brush Pitt artist pen (Black 199)
• Uni Pin Fine Line marker (Black 0.1mm)
• Sharpie Permanent Fine Point marker (Black)
• Pébéo Modeling Paste (High Density)
• Hampton Art 7 Gypsies cling mounted rubber stamps (Birdsong ICO151)
• Viva Décor Universal Stencil (Past Times 900270300)
• American Crafts Paper Pad (DIY Shop 366665)
• Kaisercraft Timeless Collection (Postmarks P853)
• Outline Stickers (Timeless Silver 904935)
• The Works (Victorian Style Embellishments)
• Tim Holtz Idea-ology Salvage Stickers (Crowded Attic #TH92898)
• Royal & Langnickel Rub-on Sentiments (Home Collage #ROY533 Rub-on)
• Assorted buttons
• Ranger Glossy Accents
• Liquitex Matte Gel Medium