Tuesday, January 28, 2014

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


Monday, January 20, 2014

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

Saturday, January 18, 2014

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