Steampunk Themed Mini-zine

So, I am hosting a swap for a mini-zine with a steampunk theme on Swap-bot. I really like making zines and I can take my time and add to them slowly over the course of a week or even two, so no rush, I like that very much.

This one was really fun for me because I love steampunk. This zine has more of a picture book feel to it more visual than chocked full of information and it's a little colorful and with a more whimsical approach to steampunk than serious or true to form, but I like it!

I make all my zines by hand so I have an original, tangible template for each one I have made so far. I do not have any digital programs to aid me in making zines. But making them by hand is fun too. I use inks, and stamps, tissue tapes, just whatever I have in my stash to help make my idea come to life.

So enjoy a little sneak-peek and have fun crafting this week and happy swapping to all!

Slowly Creating Once More

My newest inspired act of creativity is this set of hand stamped, hand stained muslin ribbon I made for a trade on Flickr. I used various Walnut Inks and Glimmer Mists to stain the ribbon and then used different colors of Staz-On inks to stamp the designs.

I also made the tags that are shown with each ribbon. For them, I used Distress Inks in Barn Door, Black Soot, Dusty Concord, Peeled Paint, Vintage Photo and Milled Lavender to name a few, Distress Crackle paint was used on a tag as well. I then misted then with water and Glimmer Mists and used Staz-On once more for the images I did not want blurred around edges. Essentially, these are ribbon and tag sets. I hope to sell them soon when I get my Etsy store set up. Listing from top to bottom they are Bloody Valentine, Celtic Garden, and Parisian Post.

I added vintage hat pins to secure each set and give that special touch. The ribbon I used to finish off each tag is cabbage roses ribbon from a great Etsy shop I have mentioned before in my blog... MemrieMare, the link follows: http://www.etsy.com/shop/MemrieMare

I hope you enjoy these new items and thank you for looking. Happy crafting!

Taking a Break...

My sincere apologies to all my followers (believe me I appreciate every person that follows this blog). I am taking a short break now for some family business. However, I will be back and blogging soon once more. Please don't give up on me, there will be more fun crafts to come! Thank you to all who follow this blog, you all make me smile!

The Art of Domino...

I joined another great swap recently to expand my crafting experience. I signed up for a domino booklet swap for my group Keepers of Avalon on Swap-bot. I have never made a domino booklet before so this was an exciting as well as a learning process for me.

I used acrylic paint and Distress paints on the domino. I then covered the surface with Rock Candy Distress crackle paint. The images are waterslide transfers that I glazed over with Glossy Accents. The pages are tea-stained paper I stained with Distress Inks and Perfect Pearl Mists. I also used stamps with Staz-on inks for design as well. The last touch is some cabbage ribbon to tie it all together.

I may not have gotten everything right this first time, but all in all I do not think it is a bad first effort. I cannot wait to try more in the future. Thank you for coming along with me on my creative journey today. Until next time happy crafting!

Steampunk Container

I was in private swap with a lovely swapper, LadyStephanie and as I looked over her profile I notice she had been flaked on for some swaps and offered to angel one for a Steampunk Container. Here then is my offering for this swap to her.

It began as a humble, unassuming and unfinished wooden box from Hobby Lobby. But after some layers of quality acrylic paint in a dark umber, a lot of sanding it down to a smooth finish with worn edges. I began to decorate it at last.

I used acrylic paint to stamp the floral pattern on either side. I then found a clockwork print paper that I went over with Distress Inks and then glazed with Rock Candy Distress Paint. After that, I went over it once more with Distress Ink to reveal the cracks for an even more aged look. Then I just added the embellishments. The rest of the box is decorated with a stipple brush and acrylic paint and with a stamp that I inked with Staz-on over the paint.

I really hope this will brighten her day as I had so much fun making it. Until the next blog, happy crafting!

Watercolour Ribbon

I am making hand stamped, hand dyed ribbon for another wonderful Shabby Chateau swap! This is my first try at it and there will be more examples to follow shortly.

For this first try at making ribbon I purchased some inexpensive muslin and tore it into 1 yard strips. I then stamped it with various stamps using Staz-On ink pads, you can use any colour you like. Then using inks I dyed the ribbon in a Zip-loc baggie rising it in cold water after and drying it out to get an aged look.

I then used Distress Inks to make the tag along with my own mix of Perfect Pearls mist to give some sparkle to the tag, stamped it and then added some cabbage ribbon to complete the tag. I wrapped the ribbon around the tag securing it with a lovely pearl tipped hat pin. Hope this inspires you to make some of your own ribbon. Have fun and happy crafting!

Parisian Dreams

Once more I have turned my thoughts to canvas for my latest swap, titled "Shabby Time to Shine" where participants create their favorite craft as an introduction to their partner. Since I adore working on canvas so much it is the craft I chose to send.

This one is a bit different from others as it is more pastel in colours, and heavy on the vintage feel. I used a variety of acrylics, Distress paints, stamps, Perfect Pearl mists, vintage book pages and more to create a romantic canvas.

I hope my partner likes it, I can't wait to send it off a bit later this week! Until next time keep creating and keep swapping!

My "Poe"tic Crush...

My latest canvas offering is for one of my favourite Poe quotes from "Ligeia." I started out by layering black and brushed pewter acrylic and distress paints onto the canvas, then began mixing in other colours and inks, letting them dry and layering more colour to give the background depth. The edges are finished with Perfect Pearls powder from the metallic collection in pearl.

All artwork is my own with the exception of the stamp bordering along the top. I also used a vintage book page from one of Poe's narrative's to give a bit of an anchor to the piece, as to me a narrative is a stark contrast to a poem. But both are equal sides to Poe's diverse and creative nature.

Steampunk Dreams...

Another one of my favorite themes is steampunk! I wanted to do something more romantic for this set, these three ATC's are the result.

Once again, most of them were created simply with pre-cut images I found at my local scrapbook store. I then used various Distress Inks, Perfect Pearl Mists (or mists that I create myself), stamps, and embellishments. I then used a gold gel pen to highlight certain aspects of the ATC. The backgrounds are various 12x12in paper sheets I thought would coordinate with the images.

From top to bottom the titles are: "Memorabilia in Steam," "Steampunk Romance," and "Steam Goddess." I hope you enjoy! Until next time stay warm and happy crafting!

Faerie Fantasy ATC's...

I have been busy making ATC's and as you can see I have been on a faerie themed journey lately! There is also a cute Beatrix Potter one in there too.

These ATC's are fun, whimsical and just a joy to make. I hope you enjoy them too. Most of them were created simply with pre-cut images I found at my local scrapbook store. The images are from Graphic 45 a branch of Mind's Eye. After finding the images I just use various Distress Inks, Perfect Pearl Mists (or mists that I create myself), stamps, Stickles glitter glue and embellishments. I then used a gold gel pen to highlight certain aspects of the ATC. The backgrounds are various 12x12in paper sheets I thought would coordinate with the images.


From top to bottom the titles are: "Spring Rose Revisited," "Springtime," "Catching Up," "Woodland Faerie," and 'Daybreak." ATC's are fun and fun to trade. If you have not tried making any yet there is always time to experiment, play and learn! Don't be shy, create a little faerie magick of your own!

Until next time, Happy crafting and swapping!