Category Archives: metal tape

Steampunk or industrial birthday card

kevin2012sml

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So I was blog hopping the other day and landed on Kaz’s blog where she did a metal foil covered tag inspired by Tim Holtz.  I have used this technique  a few times previously but had forgotten about it and it was just the reminder I needed for creating Kevin’s card.  It more or less uses the same technique but I added some discs, numbers and magic mesh underneath the aluminium tape to give lots of texture and dimension.  I used paper stumps and embossing tools to smooth the tape gently around these additions and going inside all the little squares made by the mesh.  The text I made using metal stamps.  I have used this kind of technique before but instead of using alcohol inks to colour the metal foil in the recesses of the texture I used black acrylic paint then swiped  some areas away with a baby wipe before it had dried completely.

Inks:  Alcohol inks Pitch black, Stonewashed and Rust
Card:  white, black antiqued metal card
Stamps:  metal alphabet stamps
Other:  Aluminium foil tape, small discs, Ideology: fasteners, washers, and cogs. Hammer, wrench, and keyhole brads, small key charm

Art journal week 36 Risk

week36RiskSml

The prompt for week 36 of the ukstampers challenge is Risk:

  • are you a risk taker or a stay safe person?
  • which ever you are does it affect what you do now? and what is the biggest risk you have taken or should have taken?
  • use a colour or technique on your page which you wouldn’t usually

These days I am definitely a stay safe person, I have no wish to risk life or limb or anything else for that matter.  Age perhaps has a lot to do with it as in my youth I did do some motor cycle sidecar racing and the odd bit of abseiling down viaducts and such like. When you are young you tend to feel invincible – that nothing could happen to you and the risks are worth taking – that’s if you even think about the risks in the first place.

I have used Therma wrap tape (aluminium tape) over watercolour paper for my background (a method I have used before for smaller pieces but not the whole page).  Underneath the foil in some areas I have put cardboard letters, bit of sequin waste and sequin type embellishments which I rubbed over with paper stumps.  Some of the writing is just using a ballpoint pen and going over it a few time with a permanent pen, others are metal stamps stamped into the foil and highlighted with black acrylic paint.  I have used both alcohol inks and acrylic paints to colour the page and white and yellow pans to highlight.  I tried using red rub’n’buff wax over the embellishments but it didn’t come up all that well.

Inks/Paint:  alcohol inks Sunset orange, Sunshine yellow and Red pepper, acrylic paints pink and black
Card:  watercolour paper, Therma wrap tape
Stamps:  metal alphabet stamps
Other:  cardboard letters, sequin waste, sequins, coloured pens