Welcome to Velvet Paw Creations - Design Team Projects by Leigh Snaith-Brunton - The Sharpie Domino Queen & owner of LeighSBDesigns Art Stamps!

Sunday, February 26, 2012

"Dream" Steampunk Mini Book

Hello Everyone!
Following on from my last project here's my 'Dream' Mini Book that features the Crafter's Workshop Template Mini Numbers Collage and Steampunk style stamps by Blockheads Paper Arts.


I've been experimenting with Crafter's Workshop Templates for Blockheads Paper Arts' design team using various products to create interesting backgrounds and effects.  I've got a few projects to share and this is my second template project.  I love making tiny books and haven't done so in a while so couldn't resist making this one ;0)

Here's a peek at some of the backgrounds I've made with the Mini Numbers Collage template so keep an eye out for all the projects I've done with them ;0)  If you missed the Steampunk inspired "IMAGINE" card using the background on the left then check it out here.

Here's a list of all the stamps and supplies I used from Blockheads!

 Mini Numbers Collage
Victorian Invention

Feeling Regal
Verses Full Sheet

Quickutz Mini Album Die set - Sugarplum
Tim Holtz Idea-ology Nostalgic Tape
Tim Holtz Idea-ology Film Strip Ribbon
Tim Holtz Idea-ology Charm Clips
Tim Holtz Distress Tool
Penny Farthing Charm (Hobbycraft UK)
Tiny Brass Brads
Tiny Hole Punch
Metallic Gold Rub-ons
Memento Tuxedo Black and London Fog Ink Pads
Versamark Watermark Ink Pad
Perfect Pearls Gold Powder and soft bristle brush
Decorative Chalks or Pebbles Chalks
Sponge Chalk Daubers
Tim Holtz Idea-ology Paper Stash cardstock
Brown, light grey-brown and seafoam cardstock
Bronze-Copper metallic shimmer paper
Metallic yellow ribbon
Brayer
Double-sided Tape
Permanent Adhesive Tape


"Dream" Steampunk Mini Book

To create the mini numbers collage background ink up the back of the template with Versamark Watermark ink.  Apply the ink directly to the template with the ink pad and be as generous as possible with the ink so the template is nice and wet.


Lay the template ink side down onto the brown cardstock and cover the template with a piece of paper towel to protect your brayer.  Roll the brayer across the template multiple times with a nice even firm pressure.


For my previous project, the "IMAGINE" Steampunk Card, I created a background where the negative spaces of the template were filled with the ink and now this way the actual numbers are the inked design instead which is pretty cool!  Apply dark brown, dark blue and black chalks randomly to the ink with sponge daubers.


Stamp the Penny Farthing image onto a piece of light grey-brown cardstock with Versmark Watermark ink and apply the same chalk colours to the image.  Lay the template over the image and apply dark brown chalk to the visible areas of the cardstock to create a subtle numbered background.

On to the mini book...
Die cut out the double cover of the mini book using the Sugarplum Quickutz mini book die set.  I used a sheet of Tim's Retro Grunge paper that has the dirty blue-green distressed look on one side and a circles-stars pattern on the other.


Use the square Page die from the Sugarplum die set to cut out the Penny Farthing panel.  Distress the edges with Tim's Distress Tool and apply metallic gold Rub-on cream to the edges.  Die cut out two mats slightly larger from a sheet of bronze or copper shimmer paper and adhere the Penny Farthing panel to one with permanent adhesive tape.


Punch tiny holes into the center of both wheels and add tiny vintage gold brads.


Die cut out the numbers panel with the same Sugarplum Page die, distress the edges and apply the metallic gold Rub-on cream to the roughened edges.  Adhere the panel to the other bronze shimmer mat.


Adhere the Penny Farthing panel to the front cover of the die cut mini book with double sided tape.  Adhere a strip of Tim's Nostalgic tape down the left hand side and overlay it with a strip of Tim's Film Strip ribbon.  Punch tiny holes and attach the Film Strip ribbon to the mini book cover with tiny vintage gold brads.


Stamp the mini word "Dream" from Blockheads' Verses Full sheet in Memento Tuxedo Black ink in the upper right hand corner of the cover panel.


Now for the back cover of the book...
Stamp the Clock image from Blockheads' Victorian Inventions set on a scrap piece of the light grey-brown cardstock in Versmark Watermark ink and colour with the chalks in the same way as the Penny Farthing image.  Cut out the clock and adhere it to the Numbers panel with a dab of permanent adhesive tape.  Punch a tiny hole in the center of the clock and attach a tiny brad.


Adhere the back cover panel to the mini book with with double sided tape and also add a strip of Tim's Nostalgic tape down the right hand side. 


Now for the Pages of the mini book...
Use the Sugarplum pages die to cut out two pages from Tim's Retro Grunge cardstock, two pages from the seafoam cardstock and a half page from the numbers background cardstock I created.


Stamp the Flourish design from the Feeling Regal set down the right hand side of the seafoam pages in Memento London Fog ink.  Stamp the mini words "Wish" and "Create" on each page in Memento Tuxedo Black ink.


Cut two triangle shapes from the Numbers background to make pockets for the other two pages.  Distress the edges and add the metallic gold Rub-on cream to both.  Stamp the mini words "Imagine" and "Inspire" on the pockets with Versmark Watermark ink and add gold Perfect Pearls powder with a soft bristle brush.  Adhere the pockets to the pages with a thin strip of double-sided tape along the bottom edge and a tiny brad in the right hand corner.  Stamp the same mini words in Tuxedo Black ink in the upper right hand corners of the pages.


Distress the right hand edge of the half page only and add a touch of gold Rub-on cream to just 3 edges of the page.  Put all the mini words used on an acrylic block and stamp them together onto the page in Tuxedo Black ink.


Embellish the cover of the mini book with a tiny Steampunk Penny Farthing charm.  Attach the charm to the Film Strip ribbon with one of Tim's charm clips.


Assemble the book and use 3 pieces of metallic yellow ribbon to secure everything together.
I love the pop of yellow colour which also ties in nicely with the vintage gold embellishments.

Now you can have loads of fun filling the mini book with memorabilia you've already hoarded or turn it into a SMASH journal for your travels....anything goes ;0)
Here's a peek at the pages inside mine!


Thanks for joining me today, I hope you can find a little 'me' time to go and create your own Steampunk inspired mini book ;0)  Stay tuned for even more Crafter's Workshop Template projects, I've got more up my sleeve and also check out what my fellow design team mates are doing with theirs over on the Blockheads Blog!


Enjoy the rest of your Sunday and Happy Stamping!
 THE SHARPIE DOMINO QUEEN
I design for Blockheads Paper Arts * Third Coast Rubber Stamps * About Art Accents

Tuesday, February 21, 2012

"IMAGINE" Steampunk Card featuring Crafter's Workshop Mini Numbers Template

Hello Everyone!

I've been experimenting with Crafter's Workshop Templates for Blockheads Paper Arts using various products to create interesting backgrounds and effects.  I've got a few projects to share so I'm starting off with this cool Steampunk style card.  You can get a head start on your Father's Day cards with this one but its also suitable for an guy card occasion too.


Here's a peek at some backgrounds I've been creating with the Mini Numbers Collage template so keep an eye out for all the projects I've made with them ;0)

I used the following Blockheads Paper Arts stamps on my "IMAGINE" card!
Victorian Invention
Grunge It Up
Verses Full Sheet
Household Notions
Vintage Light and Form
 Here's a list of all the supplies I also used.
All the linked items are available from Blockheads!
Spellbinders Labels 21 die
Spellbinders Tan Embossing Mat
Tim Holtz Alterations Ticket Decorative Strip
Tim Holtz Idea-ology Film Strip Ribbon
Tim Holtz Idea-ology Charm Clips
Tim Holtz Distress Tool
Clock Charm (Hobbycraft UK)
Tiny Brass Brads
Tiny Hole Punch
Regular/Standard hole punch
Metallic Rub-ons
Memento Tuxedo Black and London Fog Ink Pads
Brilliance Lightning Black Ink Pad
Versamark Watermark Ink Pad
Versmark Watermark Pen
Decorative Chalks or Pebbles Chalks
Sponge Chalk Daubers
Brown, blue, light grey-brown and seafoam cardstock
Double-sided Tape
Permanent Adhesive Tape

"IMAGINE" Steampunk Card


Lay half of the template onto brown cardstock and apply Versmark Watermark ink all over with the direct to paper method.  Tape the template down with masking tape if you find it moves around too much for you.  I just held it still with one finger without too much trouble though, it also depends how clean you want the impression to be ;0)  Cleaning the template was easy too, I just used a baby wipe and gently wiped off the ink.


Apply dark blue, dark brown and black chalks to the ink while it's still tacky with a sponge dauber.  This is another fun way to use my Chalk Attraction Technique I'm currently hosting for Blockheads!  The Challenge for the prize closes today in a few hours so there's still time to get in on the action if you're quick ;0)  There's also a Facebook Challenge too if you don't have a blog!  Read all about it here.


Tear the cardstock down the right hand side and apply metallic gold Rub-on cream to the rough edge with a piece of scrunched up paper towel.


Create a 'grunge' background on a sheet of seafoam/light dirty blue cardstock with one of the stamps from the Grunge It Up stamp set.  I used Memento London Fog to stamp the image multiple times.


Adhere the grunge background to the numbers background with permanent adhesive and distress the edges with Tim's Distress Tool.  Apply metallic gold Rub-on cream to the edges of the brown cardstock but apply Brilliance Lightning Black to the Seafoam side for a darker edge.  Stamp the Postcard image from the Vintage Light and Form stamp set also with the Brilliance Lightning Black.


Layer the panel onto a piece of blue cardstock.  Stamp the Tape Measure image from the Household Notions stamp set with London Fog ink onto another piece of seafoam cardstock and cut out.  Tape it to the upper portion of the card and wrap the edges around the blue panel and adhere it to the back.


On a sheet of light grey-brown cardstock stamp the Flying Machine image from the Victorian Invention stamp set with Versamark Watermark ink and apply the same chalk colours to the image.  Die cut out the image with a Spellbinders Label 21 die and then emboss it with a Tan Embossing mat.  Apply Versamark Watermark ink to just the edge of the embossed area with the the Versmark pen and apply blue and black chalk ink.  Apply metallic gold Rub-on cream to the edges too.


Punch a tiny hole in the center of the large wheel and attach a tiny vintage gold brad.


Stamp the large word 'IMAGINE' from the Verses Full Sheet onto a piece of the grunge background in Memento Tuxedo Black ink.  Die cut out the word with Tim's Alterations Ticket Decorative Strip die and edge it with the gold Rub-on cream.  Adhere the ticket to a scrap of brown cardstock and trim with scissors.  Use a hole punch on the corners to re-create the ticket look.  Rough up the brown cardstock edges with Tim's Distress tool and add some gold Rub-on cream.


Cut a strip of Tim's Film Strip Ribbon and attach it to the card front over the Measuring Tape with two tiny vintage gold brads.


Slide one of Tim's Charm clips onto the film strip and attach a Steampunk clock charm.  Attach the ticket to the charm clip too for even more dimension.


Use a regular size hole punch on the corners of the blue panel to mirror the cut out corners of the ticket and the die cut panel and then finish it off with gold Rub-on.


To complete my card I made a folded card from the grey-brown cardstock and applied the same chalk colours to just the edges of the card front and adhered the stamped panels to it with double-sided tape.


Here's another view of the details...you can see the dimension of the ticket in the little inset picture below.


I had a ball creating with the Mini Numbers Template.  It's so versatile with many possibilities of what you can do with it so stay tuned for my next project using the same template ;0) 
Thanks for visiting and I'd love to hear what you think so comment away and ask questions too!

Happy Stamping!
 THE SHARPIE DOMINO QUEEN
I design for Blockheads Paper Arts * Third Coast Rubber Stamps * About Art Accents

Thursday, February 16, 2012

A "Thank You For Everything" Card - Featuring Blockheads Paper Arts!

Happy Thursday Everyone!

I want to share a Thank You card I made for my BFF today!  She's dottie for circles - I mean seriously loves anything with spots on it and all her wall decor, rugs...you name it, has the circle motif going on!  So of course I couldn't resist getting dottie myself when I made her this card ;0)


I incorporated circles, spots and polka dots as much as I could in my card by using Spellbinders Beaded Circles dies, a Cuttlebug Embossing Folder with an interlocking circle and spot design, a multi-circle Blockheads Paper Arts exclusive stamp from their Backgrounds For All Occasions sheet and a polka-dot ribbon!  I did consider making the actual card round too but decided on the rectangular shape coz I wanted to use the whole Cuttlebug E-Folder.

I also used the following on my card:
The 'Thank You for Everything' and 'Thanks' stamps from the
Verses Full Sheet
Backgrounds for All Occasions
ColorBox Fluid Chalks ink pad - Lavender
Memento ink pad - Tuxedo Black
Glitter Glue
Double-sided tape
Pop dots
Spellbinders Tan Embossing mat 
White, pale Lavender and Lavender cardstock
Magic Transparent White Pearl Pen - The Rubber Cafe

Emboss a sheet of very pale mottled lavender cardstock with the Cuttlebug Embossing Folder and closely trim around the embossed design with scissors to get the scalloped edge.  Randomly stamp the circle background design all over a small piece of the mottled lavender cardstock with Lavender Colorbox Fluid Chalks ink and stamp the word 'Thanks' in Memento Tuxedo Black ink.  Die cut out the sentiment with a small Spellbinders Beaded Circles die and then emboss the design with a Spellbinders Tan Embossing mat.  Die cut out a larger Beaded Circles mat from Lavender cardstock and emboss that too.


Make a card from white cardstock just slightly larger than the Cuttlebug embossed mat.
Stamp the circle design all around the edges of the front of the card with Lavender Colorbox Fluid Chalk.


Stamp the same design on the inside of the card too.


Stamp the large 'Thank You for Everything' sentiment inside the card with Memento Tuxedo Black ink.


Before layering the die cuts apply dimensional liquid beads to all the circles on the large mat with the Magic Transparent White Pearl pen and glitter glue dots to all the circles on the small mat for a touch of subtle bling.


Adhere a length of ribbon to the embossed mat and then the embossed mat to the front of the card with double-sided tape.  Adhere the large die cut circle on the left hand side of the card with double-sided tape too.  Gather the ribbon off to the right hand side, cut it and tie the bow.  Layer the small die cut circle onto the lavender circle with pop dots for extra dimension.  I finished my card by embellishing 3 of the small embossed circles on the background mat with larger liquid Pearl beads on the upper right hand side of the card.  Once the beads were dry I topped them off with dabs of the glitter glue for some subtle sparkle.


In the photo above I wanted to show you just how stunning all the embossed and dimensional areas are in real life. 


The finished card is so feminine and oh so pretty and my friend was thrilled when she saw how I'd gone to town customizing the card just for her ;0)

Thanks for popping by my blog today :0)

Just a quickie reminder that there is only 5 days left for you to take our Blockheads Blog Hop Technique Challenge which I'm hosting this month!  There's a $25 gift certificate up for grabs so hurry and enter your Chalk Attraction projects ASAP!!  Check out all the info here!

For even more Blockheads inspiration check out the wonderful artwork by my fellow design team mates:  Karen has been busy creating some stunning cards utilizing the diamond template by Crafter's Workshop, Colleen has been creating with a Crafter's Workshop template too and her stunning card features silhouette butterflies and Leslie has been stepping out in style in high heeled shoes...you'll have to visit her blog to find out what that's all about ;0)
Happy Stamping!
 THE SHARPIE DOMINO QUEEN
I design for Blockheads Paper Arts * Third Coast Rubber Stamps * About Art Accents