Steampunk Mail: Published!

To all my faithful followers, I am so excited to share that I have reached my art goal of being published!  I am feeling quite happy and accomplished.  The magazine is Just Steampunk by Scott Publications.  

I purchased this little paper mache box for a dollar at a wonderful place called USArtquest, which was the inspiration for this project.  This is also where I met a certain man named Joe Rotella of Create N Craft, who pointed me in the direction to submit. Incidently, I also met Steampunk Eddie at the big sale at USArtquest, who is on the page opposite me in the magazine!

Below is a picture of my page from the publication.  I was tickled to later see my work on the title page of the home decor section too!

I have to give shout outs to both Graphic 45 and Alpha Stamps as they were both mentioned in the article as well.  I can't believe they put most of my text too!!!  It was edited for tense, but other than that, these are my words...and there are lots of them.  There are not too many long written pieces in this publication.  

I love the texture that the silver gilders paste created on the wings and on the Dresden Scrap that borders the box.

Lots of metal embellishments add to the industrial look of the project.

See some of the cool mail below.  I just started creating freely using up scraps on hand.  I thought it was quite clever to use gears, keys and junk as tabs and dividers.

The large postcard is captured in a mica frame.  I also used a lot of embossing.  This is an easy technique that gives you a lot of bang for your buck.

I love the addition of vintage postage stamps to the mix as well.

As always thank you for your support!  Each and every one of you who stops by is appreciated, and your comments really do mean the world to me.  

Cheers, 

Rhea

Couture Letterbox Tray

Today I decided to celebrate my day off with an art project done just for me.  It has been ages since I have made art not intended for one of my design teams, and I have to say the project came together effortlessly.

I embraced the full color palate of the Couture paper line by Graphic 45.  It has some really lovely sentiments and messages that are good reminders as I am taking better care of my physical body.  Hopefully soon the efforts will be able to be seen in my own new style.  It is coming this year: 40...and I hope to be fabulous and not that other f word.

This "couture" stand is made from an old sewing machine part and a piece of Graphic 45 chipboard.  I just love using unique things in my stash to make a project have my own individual flair.

In the "classy" box above I used an old shoe clip to back the card stock sticker.  This made for great texture and added another great fashion themed embellishment.

I added a precious typewriter key along with a few black vintage snaps I had in my stash.  Again, the snaps made for a great re-purposed decoration in this assemblage.

In this cubby I added a bezel from Spellbinders I filled with Ice Resin.  I stuck this word right on top of the saying "Isn't she lovely."  It is a good secret reminder for me to remember and believe that sentiment.  A vintage button, a few more snaps and one of the great new shabby chic staples finished out this section of the piece.

More reminders to accept myself and remember by beauty.

I thought the crown was fitting for this saying from Coco Chanel.

To finish out my tray, I peppered in lots of color with a few bunches of paper flowers.  I think this element really makes the piece pop and gives the eyes places to wander. 

Thank you so much for stopping by.  It was so much fun to create something just for me!

Cheers,

Rhea

Romantic Steampunk Lady

I had some spontaneous fun with this month's kit from Alpha Stamps, which had the theme of romantic women.  I was not sure what to make with all these goodies, but I think I put them to good use, along with a few other treasures I had on hand. Here is a link with all the fun stuff I used.  

I love using transparencies.  Here I used one along the border.  The edges are hard to see, and I love that you can see texture from the lovely embossed paper peeking through.  That paper is to die for by the way, I altered it quite a bit with inks, stains and even a bit of black gelato.

The skirt of my romantic steampunk lady is made from a paper doily that was distressed with inks and stain.  I added a few steampunk elements from the awesome selection of collage sheets at Alpha Stamps.

Finally, I added a bit of metal and junk.  I just can't seem to finish off a project without finding some way to add some metal or a random trinket.  

Thank you so much for stopping by!

Cheers, 

Rhea

Couture Dress Form

I am excited to show off this little mixed media dress form I made for Graphic 45.  Being able to play with hot off the press craft supplies is one of the coolest perks of being on a design team.

I started off by coloring the Kaiser Craft mannequin with black gesso.

Then I used the brand new washi tape to decorate the edges of the stand.  As most of you know I adore decorative tapes, so I was pretty jazzed when Graphic 45 finally came out with some.

To decorate the bodice I used a new shabby chic metal keyhole.  To create a bit of interest, I backed the opening with a scrap of paper that had a pretty face image on it.

To provide movement, I added a chain I had on hand.  I have oodles of junk that my dad gives me from left over estate sales and this is where I scored this treasure.

I also used the Couture flower die cuts to embellish the skirt area of this project.  I love how their coordinated embellishments make it easy to add design elements.

Also notice the new shabby chic key and brad I used.  The finish on these new staples is really lovely.  It was a little bit hard for me to not horde them!

The final touch is my usual buffing of gilders paste in silver for added texture and framing.  

I hope you liked this fun little project for Graphic 45!  I sure had fun creating it!

Cheers, 

Rhea

Jumping In with Journal52: Week One

I am happy to be starting 2014 off with a few new art adventures.  The first is Journal52, which is a weekly online art prompt and the second is called Creative Jumpstart 2014.  So with the first creative prompt of "up, up and away" and with some inspiration from "jumping," I created my first journal spread of 2014.

I used a journal I had on hand.  In order to keep the book sturdy I plan to reinforce each page with tape.  I think it will end up pretty thick as things progress.  The tape shown here is hot new product from Graphic 45.  I am absolutely in love with it.

I tried to get the texture thing going on this page with layers of ink, molding paste by Liquitex, distress stain, stickels and a few drips of alcohol inks.  I also buffed on some gilders paste, edged my pages with stain and used pencil to make marks and scribble.

The circles were from prints I made on a friends gelli plate a few weekends ago.  I was happy to put one of my freshly made images to use in my journal.  Lots of details and marks were added with markers, paint pens and even water.  I love playing with the distress stains, you can achieve some great texture with this product since it interacts with water.  Here is where I used Natalie's prompts from Creative Jumpstart, using household items to make my marks.

My goal in this book is to actually journal!  This is a tough one for me...one.  Not only do I have to be open to commit words to a page, I have to scribble my handwriting all over the page, which while it may seem simple, for me it is a daunting task.  

Let's see if I can keep this momentum grooving!

Cheers, 

Rhea

Favorite project from 2013: Typography Tray

I had fully meant to do a year in review post, but somehow I never got around to it.  I was super excited to be revived into some sort of memoir post from a prompt on Natalie Kalback's 2014 Creative Jump start. The task posed to all the "jumpers" is to share their favorite project from 2013.   It was tough to narrow down, but this Typography Letterbox Tray is my pick.

This project was previously featured on Paper Crafter's Library, so it is also nice to be able to document this project in my own little corner of the blogging universe.

The focal for this piece is the lovely Typography paper by Graphic 45.  I fell in love with this paper line for sure.

I like to incorporate unique junk into my assemblage pieces to create a story.  Here you can see an old typewriter key as well as a few old pen nibs.

Lots of flowers by Petaloo were used to add lots of color and texture to this collection.

The sentiments in this paper line are just perfect for the artist.

I love this embossed butterfly, dusted in gilders paste.  I also used it in copper along the edges of the box for yummy texture.  

More junk by the way of a jack, a key, some tags and wood block accents add more unique interest.

I just love the rich palate, so unlike my usual work but I embraced it!

The typewriter metal embellishment was a perfect fit for this project.  Assemblage continues to be my favorite art form to date.

I hope you found a little bit of inspiration along the way. Thank you so much for stopping by!

Cheers, 

Rhea