When a Wave Comes, Go Deep - Seahorse Tag

Hi everyone,

Hope you're having a great week.  Today I have this steampunk seahorse tag to share with you.

Here's how it came together:

I'm using this Steampunk Seahorse chipboard C15S and I found the perfect words to go with it in this sticker set.

I am also using one of the tags from the Super XL Tag set D92C.  This is a set of really big tags, each one has a slightly different top.  I tried my seahorse on all three before deciding on the middle one.

Since I was going to use collage on the background of my tag, I pulled out some possibilities from my stash.  I found a few different blue tissue papers, some other bits and pieces, and even some gift wrap that had shells and seahorses on it (the green one on the left) but I really wanted to stick to blues if possible.

While I was still deciding on and sorting through papers, I also gave all the pieces a coat of gesso.  I also found this poor broken seahorse which I managed to snap in half last week, so I wondered if I could add it to the tag and give it a home.

Now it was time for the fun part - covering the tag with all the lovely papers!

I also found one of those plastic fruit nets that lemons often come in, so I thought it could make a good fishing net for my tag, and glued it down on top of the papers.

While everything on the tag was left to dry, I got to painting the seahorses.  I glued the plaster seahorse back together and then painted it with a metallic paint I made from a few colours mixed together.  The chipboard seahorse has two parts - the base and the filigree top part, so I painted the base in a nice deep turquoise and then painted the top part with the same paint mixture as the other seahorse.

When the paint was dry, I started to add wax to both seahorses - turquoise for the plaster seahorse and a deep gold for the chipboard seahorse, so they have similar colours just tweaked a little.

Here's a closer look at the finished Steampunk Seahorse.

Using the same wax, I rubbed some all over the yellow plastic net.

I wanted to add more collage to the background and found these small pieces to add beneath the plaster seahorse.

I also had all of these thin strips of book paper leftover from another project so as a finishing touch, I added a few of them too.

I darkened the edges of the tag with some dark brown acrylic paint, and then the final step was to add the word stickers and call it done.

Here's a closer look at the seahorse and the "copper" net.

The Finished Tag:

Hope you enjoyed this little tag project.  Please let me know in the comments.

Till next time,

Elle
Empire of the Cat

Supplies:

Steampunk Seahorse C15S
Super X Tag set D92C
Collage materials from stash
Plaster seahorse mould
Acrylic paint and waxes
Word stickers

Turn Back Time - Little Niche Pocket Watch

Hi again,

It's Elle here from Empire of the Cat and today I am sharing this little pocket watch niche which I made for GSL this month.

Inspiration

I was looking at this little pocket watch and thinking about time, and then that Cher song popped into my head - you know the one! And so I started thinking about turning back time, literally turning it, and so I decided that this little project would have a front and a back.

GSL Products Used

Little Niche Pocket Watch D64H
Miniature Bookplates Shape Set D70A 2 bookplates
Steampunk Lightbulb Set D20D some cogs and 1 clock hand
Gears Shape Set BB13some cogs

Overview of Process

So firstly find a photo that will fit inside the niche.  I am using photos from this Prima Vintage Photobooth sticker set.



Then decide what kind of embellishments you want to use on your pocket watch.  I decided to use some cogs from a couple of GSL sets that I had been using recently and also two of these little bookplates.



When you have all your pieces ready, it's time to cover them all in black gesso.



I'm painting both sides of everything because for this project both sides will be seen!



At this point your niche is still flat and unassembled which makes it easier to insert the photograph sticker.  These stickers are slightly bigger than the niche size so carefully trim off the excess with a scalpel or craft knife.  Once you have the photo stuck down inside, you can assemble the niche using some craft glue.



In this project, the back of the niche also gets its own photo.  As I hinted above, this is all about turning back time and so these two photos (probably different people lol) are going to symbolize the past and the present.  If you also want to create this idea of past and present, make sure to choose two suitable photos.



To give the photo sticker a more vintage feel, I used a Tombow ABT marker and a waterbrush around the edges.  You could also use Distress markers, watercolour or other water soluble markers or pencils.



Repeat this process on the back photo.



As the insides of the niche are painted with black gesso, which makes it quite dark inside, I decided to line the sides with silver mirror cardstock to allow the light to bounce around in there. Once that was in place, I gave the photo a coat of Deco Art Liquid Glass to also capture more light and reflection. Put this aside to dry while you work on the embossing.



To make the plaques for the back and front, I used some black cardstock, and these small word stickers from an old Prima sticker set.  I then painted around them with black fluid acrylic to make the cardstock as dark as the stickers.



I heat embossed all the little doo dads using Wow embossing ink and the Wow Weathered Gold embossing powder from Seth Apter.



Now that the Liquid Glass is dry, glue the niche onto the pocket watch frame using craft glue or the glue of your choice.  It's now time to decorate, so let's start with the back.  I use Deco Art Metallic Lustre Black Shimmer wax and just rub it in to the back with my fingers.



On the front, I again used my fingers to apply some gold paint to the body of the frame, mostly around the outsides as the middle will be covered up.



Then I applied the same gold paint around the edges quite thickly as shown below.



Then I used the same process on the back of the pocket watch, using silver this time.



Next, I grabbed the black card with the word stickers on it, and glued them to the bookplates that I am using as plaques.  I found some brads in my stash that were just the right size to add to the plaques and the clock hand.



Now all the pieces were ready to glue into place, starting with the front and then moving on to the back pieces.



Line the two plaques (bookplates) up so that they meet at the bottom and then pop some glue in between and hold them together till they stick.  You don't have to do this but it makes sure that nothing is overhanging from the other side and it looks better overall.



Here's a look at the shine from the Liquid Glass coating on the photo.



For some extra interest, I used some thin bronze wire and wrapped it around the top of the pocket watch.  This step is optional.



The final step was to twist the end of the wire into a loop to hang my pocket watch from, but this niche does come with a hanging device which you can see glued onto the back in the photo below.  If you don't have wire, you could use metallic thread, linen thread, twine, hemp cord etc.



And the pocket watch niche is complete.

Thoughts

One side shows the couple in their youth in the forever past, and the other side shows them many years later in the always present. This little niche would be on display in their home, and all they need to do to turn back time is turn the pocket watch to the other side.

Thanks for making it all the way to the end. Let me know what you think in the comments!

Project Recipe:

Little Niche Pocket Watch D64H
Miniature Bookplates Shape Set D70A (2 bookplates used)
Steampunk Lightbulb Set D20D (some cogs and 1 clock hand used)
Gears Shape Set BB13 (some cogs used)
Black gesso
Nuvo Deluxe Adhesive
Prima Vintage Photobooth stickers, Archivist stickers
Deco Art Fluid Acrylics - Gold, Silver, Black, Liquid Glass, Metallic Lustre Black Shimmer wax
Tombow ABT marker
Waterbrush
Wow embossing ink, Weathered Gold embossing powder
From Stash:  black card, brads, wire, wire cutters

Steampunk Boutique Experience

Hi again,

It's Elle here from Empire of the Cat, and here's my project for today:

To make this project, I will be using the following chippies from GSL:


 There are two dress form / mannequin types included in this set but for my display I really wanted three so I used this circled piece of chipboard which I thought looked a bit like a dress form.  As you can see, it is just the waste piece that was leftover from the large wings that were there.  I have circled it for you in the photo below.  I cut out the whole piece and kept the cogs in place.

Since she would need something to stand on, I decided to use this key from the Steampunk Lightbulb set, but if you don't have this set, you could use something else as this is the only element I used from this set.

Here's how I laid them out inside the box to check that everything fit. 

The next step was to paint everything with white gesso - all of the dress forms and the inside and outside of the box pieces.   I am not using the internal dividers so I will keep them for another project.

Once everything was dry, It was time for the fun part - heat embossing!  I am using an Emerald Creek EP called Wrought Iron which seemed appropriate.

I ended up only using the EP on the dress forms, here's a look at them after heat embossing.   Now at this stage I was considering using that pink alcohol background in my display box but you'll see below that I changed my mind.

Much as I love the bright pink with the black embossed pieces, I decided to use one of these other backgrounds from my stash and so my project was definitely heading in a vintage direction!

Time to construct the box!  I am using regular white glue to glue everything together.  I made sure to measure my paper pieces first - much easier to do before the box is constructed.

Since my project is basically a display "window" I thought it could use a sign, so I die cut these letters from some old cardboard boxes, and since the cardboard was quite thin, stacked them on top of each other to make them more robust. But where to put my sign?

To construct my sign I am using this old piece of acetate from a cake box which I will wrap around the top of the display box and glue into place.  I laid everything out to make sure it would fit across the front of the box.

Now it was time to cover all of these elements with black gesso, ready for painting.  I don't have a painting photo but they were painted with black and metallic paints.

Leave all of those elements to dry and start gluing the background papers into the box and paint the outside of the box - I used Little Black Dress of course!

Next, adhere the acetate to the top of the display box, and then begin to arrange the painted gears and cogs, gluing them on to the acetate, and then add the STEAMPUNK letters on top.

Now to add the dress forms / mannequins to the display window.  I am using black foam tape 3-4 layers of it to attach to the back of each dress form (in a place where it won't show) and then affix them to the back wall of the display box.

Here's how the ladies look once they are in place:

At this point I was "finished" but I felt that it needed something else, and that something else was little feet.  I used a couple of plastic bottle caps, gessoed them and painted them in black metallic paint.  Once the paint was dry, I glued them in place on the bottom of the box.

And then, just when I thought I was finished, I found this little label that was leftover from another project and I thought it would be perfect as additional signage.  It was already gessoed so I gave it a coat of pewter metallic and added these word stickers from Prima.

Turns out I wasn't happy with how it looked, so I ended up repainting it in black acrylic.

I then glued it to the centre of the display box at the bottom.  The addition of this little plaque really finishes it off perfectly!

And that's my project for today.  I hope you enjoyed following the process and seeing the finished project.  Let me know in the comments below!


Elle
Empire of the Cat


PROJECT RECIPE

GSL:
Specimen Box C12Q
Steampunk Shape Set D33A *coming soon*
Gears Shape Set BB13
Steampunk Lightbulb Set D20D (one element used, can be substituted)
Stackable Labels Shape Set D35H (one label used, can be substituted)

Other:
Embossing ink and embossing powder
Silver, copper, pewter metallic paints
Black and white gesso
PVA glue
Black chalk paint
Word stickers
Double sided foam tape (black)
From stash: background paper, acetate, cardboard letters, bottle caps,