STEAMPUNK MEETS MR. BONES

It's a back to normal Simon Says Stamp and Show Challenge this week.  I hope everyone had as much fun as we did at the STAMP ~ TEMBER Blog Hop!  I had so many nice comments and I thank everyone who stopped by!  I loved seeing all of the "ANYTHING GOES" entries!!! Isn't it just AMAZING what you can do with paper?!  (smile)

It's a new week at Simon Says Stamp and Show!  This week's theme...."STEAMPUNK".  YES!!!  I LOVE STEAMPUNK!!!

My Design Teammates' brains have been working overtime this week to bring you some absolutely "sic" Steampunk designs.  You won't believe your eyes!!  Check them out at
SIMON SAYS STAMP AND SHOW CHALLENGE!

If you haven't already figured it out, Halloween (other than Christmas) is my favorite holiday for crafting!  I was at Michaels the other day and picked up this really sad looking jointed skeleton.

Isn't he great?  He had so much potential! 
Oh...what to do with him?!

Then I saw our challenge theme was "Steampunk".   I really think that Steampunk and Halloween can go great together!  Both are a bit weird and quirky; just like my sad little skeleton.  So, for my challenge piece this week........my skeleton went Steampunk!

Meet Mr. Bones!  He's posing for you.

He's such a ham!!

I dressed Mr. Bones by fashioning a hat and vest for him out of black cardstock.  Yes, it started out as simple, plain black cardstock!  I made my patterns for the hat and vest and cut them out.  I generously sprayed the black cardstock with Ink Refresher.  Then I worked it into the cardstock.  It doesn't take long for the paper to actually start feeling like a soft leather.  I crinkled it all up and then partially smoothed it back out again.  Then I very lightly dusted the cardstock with a Perfect Pearls large brush dipped in Copper Perfect Pearls followed by Gold Perfect Pearls powders.  Then I heat tooled it dry. 

I wish you could feel the hat, vest and leggings.  They really do feel like a soft suede leather...nothing like paper!  And the Perfect Pearls give them such a weird shimmer...perfect for a ghostly ghoul who needs a new image.

I cut two of the hat brim and then cut a smaller circle in the center for Mr. Bones' head to fit through.  I used one of the holes that I cut out of the brim to be the top piece of Mr. Bone's fine steampunk hat.  The body of the hat was about 3" long.  I cut tabs up about 1/2" on both ends so that the hat could curve as I was attaching it to the brim and the top.  They went together perfectly!

Next I decorated one side of the hat with some Tim Holtz Ideaology Sprockets and Gears and Metal Game Spinners that are wired together.  Then I attached them to the hat with a Long Fastener.  I added just a bit of corkscrew copper wire to represent haywire mainsprings from a clock.  

The other side of the hat features a Tim Holtz Light Bulb that has a Gear attached to the front of it using a Long Fastener.  It is wired to the hat and I added some extra curls of wire extending from the bulb.  Pinned into the brim of the hat is a Trinket Pin holding a mini pumpkin charm.  Behind that, stuck into the hat is a Memo Pin holding a Happy Halloween ticket from Tim Holtz' Odds and Ends stamp set.  I stamped the image on watercolor paper that I had first dabbed with a Gold Paint Dabber and lightly touched with a Juniper Paint Dabber.  Then I further lightly distressed it with Rusty Hinge Distress Ink.  

The top of the hat features a Tim Holtz Time Piece embellished with more Sprocket, Gears and Game Spinners.

Let's move on to Mr. Bones' fancy steampunk vest!  Did you catch the back?  He looks like a biker dude!  The witch patch is from Tim Holtz' new Mini Halloween 2 stamp set.  

She is stamped on cream cardstock that is distressed with Vintage Photo Distress Ink.  After cutting her image in a circle that is the perfect size for a big patch on the back of the vest, I further distressed around the witch with Rusty Hinge Distress Ink.  Then I used a black cats eye ink pad to distress just the edges of the circle.  Finally, I drew black stitch marks using a Letraset Fine Line Drawing Pen.  I used Glossy Accents to attach the patch to the back of the vest and smeared Distress Clear Rock Candy Stickles over the patch for a more vintage look.

Moving around to the front of the vest, I used more Sprockets and Gears and another mini pumpkin charm to create a very fashionable steampunk lapel pin that I fastened to the left side of Mr. Bone's vest.  The right side features a 7 Gypsies Industrial Gear piece that has a picture of a steampunk heart in the center, covered in Glossy Accents.  Whoops ... isn't a heart supposed to be on the left side?  Oh well...Mr. Bones is dead...so it doesn't really matter to him!  The top of the Industrial Gear has another of Tim Holtz' Sprockets added on.  I love how these two steampunkish elements work so well together!  

Mr. Bones is stylin' with his hip Halloween necklace!  I had some old link chain that I made into a necklace.  The scary hanging pendant is a Bottle Cap creation made from a Flattened Black Bottle Cap.  I punched out a 1" design from their Halloween Craze Images and attached it to the bottle cap using 3D Crystal Lacquer.  Then I added the 1" Cabachon that really made the design pop!  I LOVE BOTTLE CAPS!!  SO FUN AND SO EASY TO PUT TOGETHER!  Then I added the scary pendant to the chain and Mr. Bones is all dressed and ready for a spooky "FRIGHT-DAY" night!

Finally Mr. Bones has leggings.  They're a little distressed but he doesn't mind.  I cut 2 1/2 x 3 inch squares out of the black cardstock and treated them the same way I did for the other clothes.  Then I tore the edges and little holes in them while they were still damp.  I wrapped them around Mr. Bones' legs and attached them with Tim Holtz' Tiny Attacher.  Next, I cut fringe up the side of the leggings and scrunched it up a little.  I put the Sprockets and Gears Ideaology together with a Long Fastener and added a piece of chain with a charm I made out of bones and a couple of iridescent beads.  I poked the Long Fastener through the black cardstock and the leggings were finished!

No self respecting skeleton would leave home without his keys....A Skeleton Key, that is!!  This is made with just the head image of the skeleton from Tim Holtz' Retro Halloween stamp set that is glued onto a Grungeboard key die cut from Tim's Hardware Findings die cut.  I pounced  Silver and Gold Paint Dabbers onto the key, let it dry and then lightly added some Juniper paint for that aged patina look.  Then I made my own little label saying "Skeleton Key" out of the center piece from the oval book plate from Tim's Tag and Bookplates Die Cut.  DON'T THROW THOSE AWAY!  THEY ARE THE PERFECT SIZE TO FIT INTO TIM'S IDEAOLOGY ORNATE PLATE!!! 

Back to the Skeleton Key label...this, too was colored with silver and gold paint first.  Also on Mr. Bones' key ring is a "key" cut from Wendy Vecchi's For The Guys Art Parts onto chipboard.  I pounced silver and gold paint dabbers followed by lightly antiquing with Juniper on this key as well.  Finally, I attached a little charm I made using a skull and a couple of iridescent beads. 

In his other hand, Mr. Bones is holding an empty bottle of Witch Hazel.  The label came from Tim's Mini Halloween 2 stamp set.  The bottle is the largest of Tim's set of Vials.  Both the skeleton key and the Witch Hazel bottle are hot glued onto Mr. Bones' hands.  Don't worry...he has no skin...so it didn't burn him!!

Finally, I made a little mini steampunk book for Mr. Bones to read while he's sitting on my mantle waiting for Halloween to come.  The cover of the book is made out of a manila tag that has been distressed with Wild Honey, Vintage Photo and Black Soot Distress Inks.  Then it is stamped using Jet Black Archival Ink with some images from Tim's Steampunk stamp set.  The cover is also embellished with more Sprockets, Gears and Game Spinners as well as a super small Stanislaus Light Bulb.  

The inside pages are made from distressed kraft paper.  It is distressed with the same colors as the cover.  The edges have also been torn with a Tonic Paper Distresser.  The text images on some of pages are from Tim's World Traveler stamp set.  Don't they look like real mini pages?  

The back of the book has a Grungeboard keyhole cut from Tim's Hardware Findings die cut and painted with a Pitch Black Paint Dabber. 

So now you've met Mr. Bones, my new little friend and Halloween decoration.  Steampunk meets Halloween...a great combination, if you ask me!  

With just a little imagination and some inexpensive "trinkets", I've made a new and one-of-a-kind Halloween decoration we will enjoy for years to come!



So now it's YOUR turn to show us some Steampunk!  Post your entry to our blog.  You could be the lucky randomly selected winner of our generous sponsor's 
$50.00 credit voucher!!! 
If your entry is chosen as one of our top three for the week,  you will receive a TOP 3 BLINKIE to proudly display on your blog!  So, good luck and I can't wait to see YOUR steampunk piece!