Steampunk Professor

It is tima again for a new challenge at The Funkie Junkie Boutique Blog and this time it is an easy one - Anything Goes.

We are going with an 'Anything Goes' theme for this challenge and are looking forward to seeing your vintage/shabby chic projects.

I thought it might be fun to go Steampunk this time and use stamps from the Tim Holtz Professor set. This set seems to have left the shop but the main image can be found on the Professor 2 set, which is available.

I got going on this and completely forgot to take any process photos - blame it on Covid confinement and my brain turning to mush. Here is how it came together:

- I started with an 8" square canvas panel that I covered with White Gesso. For this one I added an open wooden frame to the back. I thought this could provide a way to hang to canvas panel although I usually just suggest 3M Command Velcro holders, which work really well. They tuck the canvas panel against the wall while the added frame will allow the panel to sit away from the wall.

- The next step was to paint the whole canvas with Buff Acrylic Paint (Dina Wakley).

- The Professor and three other images from the stamp set were stamped with Jet Black Archival Ink (Ranger) on tissue paper and then glued to the canvas.

- I used Jet Black Archival Ink to add some stenciling with a stencil called Measured (Tim Holtz) and some Texture Paste to add dimension through a stencil called Blocks Small (Dylusions).

- At this point I decided that the buff paint was lighter than what I wanted so I sprayed the whole canvas with Gathered Twigs Distress Spray Stain (Tim Holtz).

- I did the assemblage part of this in a backwards way because I had intended the canvas to be light and the bits and pieces to be dark so it took way longer and was really messy. Since I have a mixture of metal and wooden pieces, I gave everything a coat of White Gesso and then followed that with a coat of Iced Coffee paint. I should have glued everything in place after the Gesso was applied and before I sprayed the canvas with the ink because then I wouldn't have had to add the Iced Coffee paint but I wasn't thinking that day - or many others right now to be honest.

- After the Iced Coffee paint was dry, it still wasn't dark enough so I added some watered down Umber Acrylic Paint (Dina Wakley).

- Next I glued all the pieces to the canvas - there are gears, screws, washers, charms, buttons and all sorts of electrnoic bits - and then touched up any light spots with the Umber paint. If I had Gathered Twigs Distress Paint, I would have used that and then topped it with the Umber paint.

- The next step was to make all the bits look somewhat rusty. To accomplish that I rubbed a variety of wax pastes on with my fingers - Matte Wax Paste in Patina Green, Rusty Brown and Rusty Red (Prima) and Oxynite and Rose Quartz Treasure Gold Metallic Paste (Connoisseur Studios). I used a soft cloth to buff them and just kept adding the pastes until I got a look I was happy with. You will notice when you go to the shop that there are not many colours of Matte Wax showing right now but check out the March Pre-Order section and scroll down where you will find a number of luscious new colours available to order.

- After I was done with the pastes I decided the background was a bit plain so I masked the bits and pieces off and sprayed and dripped some Tarnished Brass Distress Spray Stain (Tim Holtz) over the background.

I had fun making my Steampunk canvas and hope it will inspire you to join us for the Anything Goes challenge. The challenge can be found HERE and runs until 11:55 pm EST on Tuesday, March 16th.

Supplies list:

Stampers Anonymous Tim Holtz Stamp Set - The Professor 2 CMS395
Stampers Anonymous Tim Holtz Layering Stencils - Measured THS012
Ranger Tim Holtz Distress Spray Stain - Gathered Twigs TSS42310
Ranger Tim Holtz Distress Spray Stain - Tarnished Brass TSS42549
Dina Wakley Media Acrylic Paint - Umber, 1 oz Bottle
Prima Marketing Matte Wax Pastes - Rusty Red, Rusty Brown, Green Patine
Silver and Bronze Tone Key Set
Ranger Jet Black Archival Ink
Connoiseur Studios Treasure Gold Wax Pastes - Rose Quartz, Oxynite
Dina Wakley Buff Acrylic Paint
Dylusions Blocks Small Stencil
White Gesso
Wooden Gears, Steampunk Buttons, Hardware and Electronic Parts, Charms