Steampunk Pink

I apologize for my rather lengthy hiatus from this blog. My mate and I took a few days of vacation a couple of weeks ago and I've been scrambling to catch up ever since. At any rate, I'm back... and Happy May Day!

In honor of May, I thought I'd put a little twist in my usual collage-y, steampunk-y style. I love the steampunk look, but I wanted something softer, something to celebrate Spring and all of those beautiful little leaves and buds coming back to life.

I was also inspired toward doing something steampunk after I recently watched the movie Hugo. For anyone with an artistic eye, it is a visual feast. Total brain gluttony! It's also a very charming, moving story that's safe for pretty much any age group.

First of all, let's talk a little about steampunk. What is steampunk? In doing some research, I found some great stuff over at steampunk dot com. I encourage you to go there and dig around, but here is some of what they had to say, "Steampunk is a genre which came into prominence during the 1980s and early 1990s and incorporates elements of science fiction, fantasy, alternate history, horror, and speculative fiction ... Works of steampunk often feature anachronistic technology, or futuristic innovations ... based on a Victorian perspective on fashion, culture, architectural style, and art."

In the example above, I made the background using some really highfalutin technology. Bubble wrap. I swiped a pink inkpad across the bubble wrap and then put my cardstock on top of it and smooshed it down a little. Then I sponged some light green ink across it. All of the stamps I used came from Blockheads Paper Arts, and here are the links: Architecture Set, ATC - Honey Bees, and Victorian Invention.

By the way, I won the flower (used in the example above) just last month for featuring Blockheads' Blog Candy Banner on this blog. Honestly, I'm more than happy to do it. I've been a fan of Blockheads Paper Arts for a while now because they carry great products, have really good pricing, and excellent customer service. Plus they have an ace design team that blogs about all kinds of great techniques. I'm not just being sycophantic here, it really is one of my favorite places to shop.

My next example is pretty simple and self-explanatory. Again, I used stamps from Blockheads' Architecture Set and Victorian Invention. The optometrist glasses and number cubes are by Tim Holtz. Please don't ask me which set - all my Tim Holtz stamps have merged into one big collection, so I no longer recall which sets they came from. I also have no idea where I got that adorable swirly black paperclip - something I've had in my stash for years. Oh, and the gears are from an old Stampin' Up set called It's About Time.

For my third and final example, I used stamps from Blockheads' sets, Victorian Invention, Stargazer, and Grunge It Up. The flower is from the Botanicals set (long ago retired  from their catalog) made by Stampin' Up. I drew the stars myself. To give it a little extra pizazz, I used Liquid Pearls White Opal in the center of the flowers, and Stardust Stickles on the umbrella.

One of the reasons I love the steampunk look is that it's difficult to make a mistake. Most of my mistakes in steampunk end up being happy accidents and only add to the design. Give it a try, see what you come up with. Or, take your favorite style and go in a completely different color direction with it. You just never know what other world awaits you!

And now for some steampunk that is truly ahhhh-mazing!