GSL Cuts: Tags in a Box by Trish Alger!

Hello there, this is Trish Alger. I'm so excited to be a Guest Designer this month for Gypsy Soul Laser Cuts. Here is my steampunk inspired tags in a box project:

GSLCuts has the most amazing chipboard elements. Great themes, with intricate detail, that are a fabulous springboard for our creativity. I'm in love with GSLCuts steampunk selection. Gears, gears, and more gears - delicate, lacy gear borders, chunky gear shapes, and lovely Victorian pieces to pair with.

I needed some feminine gifts. The kind that had laborious value, not cost. In the project I chose, each woman can receive her own extra-large tag (with sentiment) to take home. I set the challenge to create my own metal gears out of chipboard, rather than hunt through my metal stash. Other than a few metal brads, I succeeded. I kept my palette limited to brown tones, ivory, black, and rusty gear metallics.

Let's look through the steps of the tutorial. You'll find the supply list at the end. Each piece was gessoed in black...

Or white...

Or a coat of iridescent medium mixed with acrylic medium...

Here are the wings closer...

(Do yourself a favor and remove any lingering bits from the holes before covering it in medium.)

Some unbleached titanium for the dressforms...

Next I added some rust paint over the vanilla doily edges and cut to fit in the shape of a corset.

And some copper for the beautiful banner...

Then a bit of unbleached titanium over the letters...

A closer view...

Time to mix paint with acrylic medium and add some color...

Mixtures...

Black gessoed tag, painted in a leather color...

White gessoed tag, painted in another leather tone...

I printed the Pocket Pages sentiments onto the vanilla linen paper and trimmed to allow six for the backs of the tags in the box. They were adhered with the acrylic medium.

The inside of the box were gessoed black. The outside was painted with copper and the corset images (printed on vanilla linen paper) were adhered with acrylic medium. Doily edges were deconstructed to adhere with acrylic medium around the edges like a frame.

The gear sheet, painted with rust, copper, and black...

A second view...

And a third view...

Here are the individual tags completed:

Tag 1...

Tag 2...

Tag 3...

Tag 4...

Tag 5...

Tag 6...

And the tag for the front of the box...

Here is the entire box filled with the completed tags:

I realized as I assembled the completed sides for box that I needed to be extra aware of the materials in the tab areas. That includes paper, paint, and mediums. Lots of sanding otherwise.

Well, I had a lot of fun and it made me happy. What happiness are you creating today? Please let us know you were here and what you thought of my box of tags.

Ciao for now,

-Trish Alger

justchickenscratch.com

My ingredient list:

GSLCuts:

Tags in a Box Display

Dressform Tags

Texture Sheet Gears

Cardstock Doily Set Steampunk

Gears Border and Corners (will be available soon!)

Word Ribbons 1

Victorian Silhouette Frames