Sunday, March 15, 2015

Gears, gears, and a Balloon?

Hello yall! This is my first Design Team piece for Sandee&Amelies Steampunk Challenge! The theme this month is Gears! Remember to check out the rest of the DTs work by visiting each of their blogs. Here is my finished piece. 


This is an 8x10 flat canvas. I started by applying Gesso to my canvas and then added texture paste through 3 different stencils. 
Then comes the sprays and mists! I made my own spray box so I could happily spray all day and not worry about color going everywhere. Just a cardboard box and some paper towels. 

I used LSG sprays, Luminarte sprays, and Smooch sprays to achieve the Steampunk look I like. I also added alcohol ink for the patina look. I could have stopped here but there are no gears!!!!
I then used Silks to go over the texture and make it subtlety pop. Then came the gears!

I love using Creative Embellishments chipboard pieces. They have a wonderful selection of Steampunk pieces to choose from and I actually won the chippies I used in this piece. :) I painted all chippies with Gesso first, then dabbed Distress Paint Bundled Sage here and there on the gears, next I spritzed with a copper spray and edged the piece with black archival ink. I adhered the gears with TomBow Multi. 

Next came the hot air balloon chipboard piece. I started by creating my basket out of leather strips that I weaved together. Then I used Acrylic Metallic paint for the balloon part and added copper wire around the balloon. Then I added ribbon around the "handles" of the basket and adhered it with Tombow as well. 

I used copper embossing powder on the chipboard word "Create" and lightly brushed it with black archival ink to give it a grunged look. Hope you enjoyed! Carpe Diem! ~Niki

Want to try Steampunk, but you aren't sure where to start? Throw caution to the wind and just give it a go! Join in for this months theme of GEARS! Just remember to use some gears and you are golden! You never know what you will create! xx


22 comments:

  1. Awesome texture and colours, Niki!

    Your steampunk balloon is adorable and I love that gears border! Sooo much detail to discover! Love love love it!

    Hugs,
    Claudia x

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    1. Thanks muffin! Who could ever go wrong with gears?!?! Loved this challenge and the team is amazing. Hugz!

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  2. Have loved reading and viewing every step of your creation brilliant piece, the colours are beautiful as is the luscious texture. Dee x

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    1. Thanks Dee! I try to share the process but sometimes the fun/joy of creating takes over and I forget to take pics of the process. Lol! Hugz!

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  3. Love your background and the bautiful chipboards!!

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    1. Thanks Kerstin! CE makes wonderful Steampunk chippies. Hugz!

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  4. Holy cow Doc, this is fabulous!! I love how you put together the background, thanks for the process shots, I love to see how you work! The patina turned out amazing! Another truly gorgeous piece of art my talented friend! hugs :)

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    1. Hey there Bubbles! So happy to share the process. I learn a lot from looking at other peoples step by steps and we all share in blog land, at least the nice ones do. Hugzzzz to you muffin!

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  5. Niki, this is AWESOME! Fabulous texture and so much amazing details! I love the baloon and the colors! The gears are amazing! Love, love, love this!
    Hugs :)
    Branka xxx

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    1. Haha! Thanks ever so much Branka! A Steampunk girls gotta love gears right? Wow, that was a mouthful! Lol! Hugz!

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  6. Fabulous! Love how you created your balloon, and awesome take on gears and cogs!

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    1. Thanks Maura! The balloon was a bit daunting when I first started. I didn't have a vision in my head and just grabbed a few things from my stash to see what would happen. Hugz!

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  7. I totaly love your style and colour on this Project Nikki. It really pops and is such an eyecatcher! Thank you for your lovely comment on my blog
    xoxo SanDee1899

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    1. Aww shucks! Thank you SanDee! Your work is stunning and I am so happy to be your teamie! Hugz muffin!

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    1. Thanks muchos! It is so fun to create the background and it just gets better from there. Hugz!

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  9. Super funky canvas!! Steaming with Steampunk!!! Love the colors and design, I could have just said EVERYTHING, huh?

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    1. Haha! You crack me up Samra! It would be awesome if I could figure out a way for steam to come out of any of my Steampunk creations......hmmm. Wonder how that would work? Hugz!

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  10. Wow, that is fabulous, love how you used the gears for the balloon as well, inspired!

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    1. Thank you Deb! The balloon is one big chipboard piece from CE. They make awesome chippies!

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  11. Niki, that is just stinkin cute. I'm not sure if that's a correct adjective for steampunk LOL but it made me smile and I needed that!

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    1. As long as the art makes you feel something, that is all that matters. Lol. I will take it as a huge compliment. Thanks muffin! So glad you stopped by. Hugz!

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