Steampunk Tissue Boxes

My studio met with a certain demise over a year ago, and since that time I have been focusing on my digital designs, until I could acquire a new building that won't fall prey to every little water disaster that comes my way. My husband and I went down to a cedar shed dealer where we ordered a custom building that will be delivered in a couple of weeks. It is 14x40 with 16ft of loft space, and I will have room to stretch out and be all kinds of messy, and still have enough space for workshops.  

In the meantime, this is a favorite project that I left in my drafts folder, and thought it would be a great time to add something new (And knock that Christmas Tree off the front page!). 

I used almost all Tim Holtz die cuts, and painted them with iron paint and then rusted them. My favorite detail is the picture wheel. I scanned a black cut and made a digital template, then printed pictures on acetate. It is a time consuming project, but it is full of wonder and inspiration. 

Bracket Album - Pink Rose

Handmade mat board albums has been a favorite project of mine for a couple of years. They are special cut scrapbook albums, approx 11 inches and very sturdy and thick. The reason I have not listed or posted anything about them recently is because the material has been increasingly difficult to find. This album is my favorite of all that I have made. There is a vintage album, and a more masculine  theme album that I am preparing to list in my Etsy store. 

I used my Cricut Expression to cut nine bracket frames.

My work space tends to get a little spread out, and very messy. A single project can overtake my studio, and somehow turn into several other off subject projects. If I'm doing this, I might as well do that!

I have several more of these that are waiting to find creative homes. They should be as easy as just adhering your favorite photo's on the page. Embellish or not, I think they are fabulous just as they are, but that is personal discretion. 

In the coming months, I will start making these books with my own designs, which you can also find in my Etsy store. I will soon be making books in: Rose Diaries - Green or Rose Diaries -Pink themes. Hint... I also have images that are not listed in the store, so they will be truly unique! 

Great Performance!

This was a fun piece to put together. At the time, the wings were new to me, and I was on a fanatic dress form spree. The week I made this one, an actor friend was having a performance at his school and I was inspired by the intrigue of it all. Jesse got a standing ovation from me! One day when he makes it big in Hollywood, I will always have this piece of him from the past. Yes, he's a guy and this is a girl thing...I did use blue...

Cheery Lynn Designs - Wings 

Sizzix - Tim Holtz Sewing Room 

Sizzix - Tim Holtz Gadget Gears

Sizzix - Ornate Hanging Sign

Lumiere - Indigo

Precious Metal Colour - Blue Azure

Stampendous! Mica Flakes - 

You can find them at Michael's and Joann's stores, or here online.

The larger gear is from Cricut.com

Old Curiosity Shoppe

Several years ago I bought a trunk full of mache boxes for $2 each. They are really nice quality and have longevity on their side. I used Graphic 45 paper, and the base is Martha Stewart festive green paint.

The wings are Cherry Lynn Designs, as well as the mini gear. The doll body is from the Spellbinders Mixed Media Playtime set.

Rusty Laugh

These chipboard wall hangings are so amazing to work with. They are tedious in their process because you have to get in the grooves, and don't forget to do the back too! They are made of layered chipboard, which I found at Hobby Lobby on sale for about $3. They make really great gifts because they don't take up space, and who doesn't love a positive subliminal message to plant in their mind every day? My house is filled with handmade subliminal persuasion. That's how I stay positive in the midst of all my personal hardships.

This is a quick view of part of the rusting process. You seal your substrate with the primer, then paint on one coat of the black iron paint and let dry. Then you paint on another coat, and while that is still wet, you strategically dampen it with the activator solution. I get my results from a pooling effect. Some kits come with spray bottles, but I find that doesn't give me what I want. I want it to look a thousand years old! After that dries, I cheat and wet it with water, and add a spotty layer of black iron paint again, then soak that with more solution. I usually do multiple pieces at once so I can stack them on top of each other. That is how I get the added texture. The process takes a few days if you want it to have this level of erosion. Once the rust is taken hold, I start to add the bronze and gold paint for the patina to show through. If you don't have the patina, the piece looks really orange and pure rust. Personal choice!

Tommy

This is my best friend when he was probably two years old. His grandfather worked on cars and was the Sedro Woolley fire chief for ages. I love the photo on top, because I always imagine what he was saying to his grandson at his kitchen table in Sedro Woolley, WA.

Grandpa Tommy, and his grandson Tommy.

We have a variety of Tim Holtz Alterations dies. The gear set, Word Play alphabet, mini old jalopy.

There is a large piece of acetate cut with a Spellbinders, grand size circle die. I rubber stamped gears and cogs on it to give it a very dimensional look. The idea is that it is digital media brought to life. It is very subtle. but it mats the entire circled section. The bottom of the acetatate is stamped with StayzOn ink, and the top is sprayed with black webbing spray.

Spellbinders circles and sprightly sprockets by Donna Salazar.

Tim Holtz Ornamental Sizzix die, and Stampers Anonymous. 

The center is an expensive laser cut chipboard piece. I can not recommend using them because they are incredibly fragile to paint on. 

This is the Tim Holtz Alterations picture wheel die. I scanned a black cut out and extracted it from the background into a PNG file. Then I took a series of photo's to the time, and placed it in a template to insert behind the picture wheel, which is cut out with chipboard, and coated with a rust and patina process.

I uploaded a small gift for you, if you would like to make a picture wheel yourself. Please see my free downloads page and look for the black template that is the scanned image of an actual die cut. There is also a block mask that you can clip your photo to in photoshop.

Thank you for stopping by!

The Family

This is one of my favorite photo's of my dad and his two brothers and sister. My father is the little cutie on the top right, "Freddie". This canvas was inspired by the hardship my grandmother faced while raising four children at such a young age, in the aftermath of the Great Depression. Their father was not around much and she had to fend for herself, carving out a pattern of survival skills that I have found invaluable during the last few years of my own personal hardships. Remember the stories your grandparents tell you, because they are trying to teach you something!

I chose this quote because we take our hits, then we dance on.

This is a laser chipboard cut, and the butterfly is a Spellbinders die cut, and various metal findings.

The bird and branch is a Tim Holtz Alteration die, bird branch. I cut it out with chipboard, then layered it for depth. My grandmother loved the birds.

The cogs are another Tim Holtz Alterations die, and a few metal pieces placed strategically. The fence is a laser wood cut from Michael's. The grass is a Cheery Lynn Designs die cut that I painted with texture paint.  

My grandmother had the all American home when I was growing up. Simple and maintained with love. She didn't have a fence, but she had a beautiful enclosed patio. I aspire to have one of my own.

The paint is a real rust and patina paint and solution. I then stenciled on a brick texture using fiber paste and a brick template stencil. After that cured, I applied a new layer of rust and patina.

More hardware findings by Tim Holtz Alterations. Cut out with chipboard and painted, then soaked in a tub of activator solution and enclosed and shaken on occasion until I was satisfied with the depth of color.

The quotes are stamped with Stampers Anonymous stamps, by Tim Holts. I can't read the side poem anymore! I used StazOn ink on acetate, then adhered with Crackle Accents glue.

The knob is packed by Tim Holtz, and dropped in the tub of solution with the hinges, gears, cogs, and metal accents.

I will have one more 12x12 thick canvas that I will post next.

Thank you for stopping by!