Quick fix Pocket book

This was a super quick and easy project.  I made a small book from one sheet of 12x12 paper. To embellish the outside I covered it in strips of tissue tape.  A hitch post from Tim Holtz was added to create a closure.  I found an old bit of ball and chain and used  a grommet to reinforce the hole where it is attached.  It works perfect.  A metal frame outlines one of Tim's tiny stamped quotes.

  

The inside was quickly decorated with stickers, also from Tim.  I filled the pockets with all kinds of vintage ephemera for my swap partner.   I hope they like it!

A show of hands...and a few other details

Well folks, I have to say, the response to my late night post yesterday has been simply amazing!  I was blessed with 25 comments from my lovely readers when I arrived home from work tonight. Wow!!!  It just means the world to me to get feedback on my art.  I also recieved several personal messagess asking to see a few parts a bit closer.  I thought I would post again as this will provide opportunity for me to enter this piece into Simon Says weekly challenge and allow me to share a few more details that I left out in yesterday's post.  I was just so excited to share what I had been working on!

This week the theme for the challenge is hands.  My piece has vintage clock hands actually embedded right into the canvas. I topped off the hands with a cute little watch part that looks like a flower.  As I look at this area of the collage, I think it would be really cool to try and find a fine chain to wrap around those two gears. 

I did get a request to try to show off my "alternate" Grungy Monday dimention technique with a bit more detail. Sorry Tim, but I had a terrible time with the techique Linda challenged us on, so I reinterpreted the idea.  Anyway,  the picture in the previous post really did not capture what I accomplished.  Hopefully this image will allow you to see the effect this technique had on the piece.  It really is easy, if you can get your detailed cutting done well.   Again, I simply used two sheets of the same paper, cut the central image out and mounted it on top of the other sheet of paper.  Craft foam serves as the barrier to provide the dimension. 



I received another reader request to see a closer view of the other mosaic piece that inspired this whole project. I love to sprinkle Perfect Pearls and set them exactly how they fall.  You can see a bit of this technique on the background of my mosiac piece.  I  have also included a close up of another Art Nouveau gal, complete with gears in her hair.  I don't think you could see this very well in the larger pictures and she is another one of my favortie images from this collection.

Well, that takes care of the requests and the questions. Here are two more close ups of the tiny chipboard pieces I added to spots that just needed "something" but were too small for another canvas.  Yet again, a piece of craft foam helps to provide just the right amount of depth to these small additions.  The embossed chipboard was really fun to ink up too.  I just love the texture it adds. 

 

Thanks for stopping by!

Cheers,

Rhea

Steampunk Mosiac

I started this project by making this tiny canvas.  I had no idea, at that point how this piece would evolve.  I had a bunch of die cut tags from Graphics 45 and the scale was perfect for Tim Holtz's fragments.  I made a bunch of them and needed to do something, so i made mosaic on a tiny canvas.

  

I had enough to make another so I did.  That is when I had the thought to mirror the idea of a mosaic with canvases.  I had a stash of Steampunk Debutante paper that I had been "saving" and this seemed to be the perfect project.  I had a random few pieces of 12x12 and I also had an 8x8 stack.  

I recently hit an estate sale for a clock repair man where I found a ton of steampunky goodness, some seen in this piece.  My favorite image from this collection of paper is the gal with the gears in her hair.  It was a simple game of match up and her hair was soon embellished with real vintage gears. Many of my canvases also have altered tissue tape surrounding them.  This is a technique I recently discovered with alcohol inks with perfect pearls and it achieves amazing results.    

The next panel I made with Linda's recent Grungy Monday Challenge in mind.  I struggled with this technique for sure.  This was probably due to my thin foam frame.  I still made it work and also used the technique in another way.  I used the craft foam to make the image pop off the page to add dimension.  It may be hard to see here, but the girl on the top with the hat shows this alternate interpretation of the dimension technique. Since I had two sheets of paper, I fussy cut one of the images of the lady and backed it with foam before mounting in on another sheet of the same paper.   

I found a few ways to add texture.  Bits and pieces of clocks are scattered all over the piece.  I also used a few scraps of fiber to soften things up.  

I scored a bunch of the apothecary bottles from 7 gypsies at a really good deal.  I used a few of them along the top of one canvas and filled them up with the metal sticks that many of the gears were once pressed into.  The bottles were embellished with some scraps of paper.  A few of my gear sticks were also bundled with wire and used to frame out one of the images as well. I was pleased to use some bolts and screws since I had planned to toss them. 

I love the clock hands I embedded in this panel too.  I had to poke a hole in the canvas to get them to lay properly.  I also made another time charm with a pair of wings, and old clock face and a spinner.  

One thing that really stuck me when creating this layout was a memory of Yearbook class from junior high.  I recalled some of the principles that were taught in terms of the direction people are looking for good design.  How funny for me to remember that!

Thanks for stopping by!