Tuesday 14 March 2023

You Have My (Steampunk) Heart


Hi everyone, today is my dear husband’s birthday so I would like to share the card I made for him, using some stamps from the latest Lavinia release which I bought during my recent jaunt to the Lavinia shop. Today’s card is a bit of a mash up of inspiration from a couple of Jo Rice tutorials along with one or two of my own ideas, and a few adjustments to cater to the stash I have available. 

As soon as I saw Jo’s tutorial Steampunk Romance I knew I wanted to use the 3D heart idea for this birthday card, but as I always make him an 8” square card I opted for the large size heart rather than the small one. 


I cut a 6” square of white stamping card and created a faux wood grain background by dragging Distress Oxide ink pads across the page. Jo recommended 2 shades (Lost Shadow and Vintage Photo) but this time I added a third into the mix - Stormy Sky - which I felt really added to the driftwood vibe. I lightly stencilled over some areas with more Stormy Sky and Vintage Photo DOX and the beautiful “Divine” stencil, then stamped the heart in Twilight Versafine Clair.  As I was going to cover my base heart, I then did some more background stamping using the lovely “Background Script” stamp which has hearts in amongst the text, and a new texture stamp around the edges. I stamped a variety of cogs around the heart using various colours of VFC and 1st/2nd generation stamping to give some depth, then stamped a couple of cogs in 2 corners using Versamark and heat embossed with copper embossing powder.  I blended some Uncharted Mariner DOX around one side of the heart to add shadow and Vintage Photo DOX around the edges to add depth, and edged with gilding polish to add some sheen. I added some white Posca pen spatter then matted onto dark brown card stock  with a metallic sheen and pearlescent blue card stock, then my card base.


I made a 3D heart following the basic steps in Jo’s tutorial but with some variations in the inks used and decoration. I stamped the large heart 4 times using Twilight VFC and heat embossed - this was so that I could colour with Distress Oxide inks without covering the stamped detail.  I coloured the hearts with blended Uncharted Mariner DOX leaving them lighter towards the centre, and coloured the cog detail on each one with a Copper Sakura Stardust pen. I scored 3 of the hearts and glued them together to form “wings” then added some faux spatter using a white gel pen (real spattering would have been too messy and unpredictable), attached it to the card front then stamped the sentiment onto separate card, cut out and attached. I don’t actually own a birthday sentiment in an appropriate font for this style, so I used this AALl & Create sentiment which is a fab vintage typewriter font.


Before attaching my image panel to the card base I also decorated the inside of the card by stencilling, and stamping a small heart.  I deliberately didn’t decorate the envelope this time, as I didn’t want to give any clues as to what the card inside looked like!


I can honestly say this card took hours to make, but I’m very happy with the end result and really hope my husband will like it! I'm absolutely thrilled with the results I'm getting with the new Lavinia stamps, and think I will be using them regularly in future.

Stamps: Lavinia Heart Large, Heart Small, Cog Set 2, Cog Set 3, Background Script, Texture 2; sentiment - AALl & Create #531 Textured Florals;
Media: Tim Holtz Distress Oxide inks (Uncharted Mariner, Stormy Sky, Vintage Photo, Lost Shadow); Versafine Clair (Twilight, Pinecone, Warm Breeze, Morning Mist); Versafine (Vintage Sepia); Versamark; clear and detail copper embossing powders; Cosmic Shimmer gilding polish (Warm Copper); Sakura Stardust pen (copper); Posca pen (white);
Tools: Lavinia stencil - Divine.

Challenges I would like to enter:

Country View Challenges (March)Birthday Card For a Man - TOP 3
Happy Little Stampers: Stencils (March) - Anything Goes With a Stencil
Mix It Up #64 - Anything Goes with option Distressing
Mixed Media Lovers #23Focal Point (2nd entry) - TOP 3
Sparkles #161For Men Only - TOP 3
Word Art Wednesday #585/586Anything Goes (5th entry) - TOP 3

My husband is in work today, so yesterday I baked him a chocolate cake with chocolate orange icing to take in for his colleagues (but with strict instructions he needs to cut me a piece!!). We’re not doing anything particularly special for the “birthday boy” this evening as it is a school night, but I hope we might get out for a meal and meet some friends at the weekend. 

Take care and thanks for visiting.
Hugs,

14 comments:

brenda said...

The dimension heart looks so effective Pauline and like the 'soft' approach to steampunk, it's a style I always approach with trepidation.

B x

Rainey's Craft Room said...

Happy Birthday to your hubby Pauline, hope he has a fab day even though he's working. A gorgeous card in my favourite Steampunk style, those Lavinia stamps might have to just land in my basket next time I visit their website :o)
Lorraine

Diane said...

Fabulous masculine card, I am sure he will treasure it!
Thank you for joining our challenge at Stencil Fun!
Diane SF Co-Owner
{Nellies Nest}
{Stencil Fun}

Corrie Herriman said...

Fantastic card ! Thank you so much for your contribution to our March challenge ‘birthday card for a man’ at Country View Challenges! Corrie x

Becca Sadler said...

Love the heart on your birthday card! Thanks for sharing at MTTC! --Becca

jolanda creatief bijtje said...

very beautiful
Thank you for participating in our focal point challenge
until next time
greetings jolanda bongers
dt mixed media lovers

jolanda creatief bijtje said...

very beautiful
Thank you for participating in our focal point challenge
until next time
greetings jolanda bongers
dt mixed media lovers

crafty-stamper said...

Fabulous masculine heart -love the beautiful 3-D heart and Steampunk theme
Carol x

Creaine said...

So glad you’ve joined our challenge at Mixed Media Lovers! I just love what you’ve made. Hope to see you again next time.
Blogowner: Ine http://creaine-cards.blogspot.nl/

Ellibelle said...

This is simply stunning, Pauline. I just love everything about it! Wonderful details on the background and gorgeous heart in 3D! The typewriter letters are fabulous and maybe I need to get them!! I recently bought that cute Penny Black typewriter mice stamp and how perfect would this font be!!
I imagine your husband was thrilled with the card! Belated Happy Birthday wishes!!

marlies said...

Waaaauw! Hartstikke mooi wat je gemaakt hebt! Zo leuk dat je meedoet bij de Mixed Media Lovers!
Marlies, DT

Sarn said...

What a fantastic masculine Steampunk card for your hubby.
LOVE that 3D heart and all stamping etc.
Hope you have a great weekend of celebrating. x

pearshapedcrafting said...

What a fabulous dramatic card! I bet your hubby loved it, hugs, Chrisx

Monika Gulyas said...

Gorgeous masculine card!!! I love the dimensional heart in the middle!!! Thank you for joining the March challenge of the Country View Challenges!