Steampunk Inventor

A bit of personalised steampunk fun

Another busy day as I’m going to see ‘Les Mis’ at the cinema.  Determined to get my blog habit up and running again so it’s time to share an earlier project.

For my ‘son-in-law to be’ I made a steampunk birthday card earlier this month using serif’s craft artist professional.  Number one daughter told me that he liked all things steampunk, but to make sure it was masculine.  I am still more of a tactile crafter than a digital one, but you just can’t get away from the world of possibilities with digital crafting, and how easy it is to personalise your creations.  I am still expanding my knowledge as I go, but having fun all the way.  I’ve added a picture of the loving couple.  The digikit used was ‘Steampunk Inventor’.  I printed on Neenah card and cut out.

This is stage one.

Stage two, was layering on some embossed and inked mirri card, adding some metal bits and bobs, some Tim Holtz tape and glossy accents and crackle glaze.  Unfortunately, doh! I didn’t take a photo of the final result before rushing to visit.  With a bit of luck, my daughter will come to the rescue and send a picture xx

Ok, where’s that box of tissues …

Personalised Plus

the final card with inked edges, faux stitching, glitter, glossy accents and a little bow

a simple insert prepared digitally

the digital image

I am away from home for a few days, lots of fresh air and bracing walks (but I did find a wee craft stall, which I may go back to tomorrow).  Putting my feet up now, so I will quickly share the result of my digital crafting efforts.

The start of this story is in the post 'Jack and Victor'.  I made a batch of nine personalised Christmas cards (three different designs) which I completed on Sunday night.  I particularly like the 'photo real' button wreath on this design.

I started with a layout from serif craft artist then added a few digital embellishments.  Once printed I trimmed and inked edges, added some faux stitching, glossy accents on the faux buttons, beads and some of the berries and a touch of glitter on the holly.  Then I added a tiny bow.  I think the glossy accents in particular really made a difference making the card much more tactile.  I managed to design a very simple insert on serif to match the cover design.  The result is still less than 5mm so should be ok for standard letter postage.
I was happy with the final card and pleased that I had made the effort to try something different.  I've not had any feedback yet but fingers crossed.

Back again soon xx

Queen for the Day

Old Photos on envelope and Queen for the Day on card front

Inside of card with Kanban bits and hand written journaling

Update: I’m having a bit of a duvet day today, doing some preparation for December cards (cutting pips and inking edges).  That doesn’t make a very interesting blog post so I thought I would share a card I made in the summer that I am particularly fond of.

Inspiration: As part of Elizabeth II’s coronation celebrations, my mother in law was crowned the Queen of the Gala in her local town (Clackmannan) when she was twelve.  She is having a tough year so we wanted to make a bit of a fuss of her for no particular reason.  So at the time of Elizabeth’s Jubilee celebrations I made a Queen for the day card and we got her some treats.  The card borrows from scrap booking quite a bit with some old photos of the crowning ceremony, unfortunately the photos we had were not very clear but there is bunting and they have a lovely vintage feel.  Can you see the horse and cart that has been decorated as her carriage?  I think it’s so romantic.

• Products: Kanban Cool Britannia/Jubilee kit; 8” by 8” kraft card blank (I love kraft card but I think it works particularly well with the vintage photos); some paper and ‘Queen for the day’ stamp from ‘Simply Homemade’ magazine; red card from stash; some bling and butcher’s twine from stash.
• Techniques: The toppers and background card from Kanban did most of the work for me setting the scene.  The bunting ties in nicely with the bunting in the background of the old photos.  I’ve framed the photos with some red card and some dots and dashes.  I’ve added some hand written journaling.  I understand from the TV tips by Mel Heaton and Rosemary Berry that this is very important in scrap booking.  As yet I have not done a 12” by 12” scrap book page (that will be changing soon though), but I really like making personalised cards like this.  My husband is a very typical Scottish man and doesn’t do talking about feelings, so in a way this is a gift to him too, to express the feelings he can’t say himself.
• Favourites: Kraft card; faux stitching; extra details inside card and matching envelope.
• Extra bits (I love extra bits): Bling here, there and every-where.  I’ve coloured the union jack in the background of one of the photos.  Clever people can do this sort of thing digitally but I just did it with a red pen and a blue pen.  I like this sort of effect.

Watch this space: Trying to alternate between December cards and other requests.