TFJ: Hats off to Our Men

- February 23, 2024

Hello and welcome to this week’s TFJ inspiration ave blog. Our theme this week is “hats off to our men”. Here I have decided to create a grungy steampunk birthday card.

If you would like to see a step by step tutorial click the link here for a full video tutorial.

Supplies used for this grungy birthday card include: Idea-ology ephemera. Sizzix 3D embossing folder typewriter, distress black heavy stock, Sizzix alpha numeric theory, distress crayons black soot, crushed olive, cracked pistachio, and salvaged patina, distress mica spray stains holly branch and decayed, distress colored pencils lumberjack plaid, prize ribbon, vintage photo, scorched timber, and tattered rose, collage medium, decorative tape, and metalic cardstock.

For this card I wanted to go the grungy route. I started with a foundation of distress black heavy stock and the Sizzix 3D embossing folder typewriter.

To alter the cardstock I will be using distress mica spray stains decayed and holly branch and distress crayons black soot, cracked pistachio, crushed olive, and salvaged patina.

To start I spritzed the cardstock with the distress sprayer and added distress mica spray stains decayed and holly branch. I then spritzed the cardstock several more times to get the pigments moving before drying the cardstock with the Ranger heat tool.

Below is the dried cardstock with mica spray stains.

Next to add a layer of grunge I smudged distress crayons to highlight the lows and highs of the folder. I started with black soot to darkens up some of the letters. Then I added crushed olive, salvaged patina, and cracked pistachio. I smudged the distress crayon with my fingers.

For the main focal point I decided to feature an Idea-ology portrait. I decided to alter this with some distress colored pencils. The colors I used include prize ribbon, tattered rose, vintage photo, and scored timber. I colored the portrait and then blended to color out with the Ranger distress watercolor brush.

Below are the are finished watercolor results.

To put the card all together I decided to do a bit of collage with Idea-ology ephemera. I picked neutral pieces and included a dial to add a steampunk vibe to the card.

To finish off the background of the card I added some decorative washi tape to the edges of the card.

For the sentiment I die cut Happy B-day using the Sizzix alpha numeric theory. I then die cut the letters out of Idea-ology metallic cardstock. Before die cutting I added some double sided stick tape to the cardstock.