Sunday 17 June 2012

Industrial Chic And Men/Boys. . . . . . . .

I have been wanting to join in at Dragons Dream Tag It On for some time after seeing their link on May's blog. Must admit to feeling a little intimidated as the work over at Dragons Dream is amazing but I decided that there's only one way to develop and grow and that's to have a go! Their theme this week is 'Industrial Chic' which was quite difficult for me as I had to improvise with the industrial imagery part of the 'recipe'. I don't have anything that fits this ingredient so I decided to tackle the theme from the only angle I had open. I had a stamp which shows the construction lines used to develop industrial type drawings - hope this is a good enough link! Cogs and vintage browns was a little easier to achieve even if cogs are not my favourite thing!

Today is another week over at the lovely Hel's Sunday Stampers and of course I can't resist having a go. The last two themes Hel's came up with suited me perfectly as I was already working on an appropriate piece. So this week the theme at Sunday Stampers is Men/Boys and I'm hoping that this piece will fit there too. I asked my nearest and dearest if he thought this piece was 'manly' and he seemed quite convinced so I'll have a go and link it to the Sunday Stampers blog - fingers crossed!

I love working with metal tape and card so thought I'd use this technique on my tag - again! The difference this time is that the girly colours have gone out of the window and are replaced by a very masculine palette. See what you think:

The elements used to make the tag.

The completed tag.

The 'flowers' were made from white card covered with metal tape and die cut. The flower shapes were further embossed and along with the cogs, were coloured with alcohol inks. The flowers were shaped and screw head brads finished the look. One cog shape was combined with a flower shape to create an interesting effect. I added the stamped clocks as an additional industrial element - on the first photo, you can see that I've also stamped some barbed wire to fit in with the theme.

The tag background was created by embossing metal tape covered card and coloured with acrylic paints to achieve a metallic look.

The clock images were stamped and inked. The cogs were created as before. Instead of ribbon through the tag I coloured a split ring with alcohol ink to match the other elements and attached a little charm from a clothing label. The key and screw head brad finish the look.
The 'headdress' on the stamped image was created using part of a cog and an off-cut from a floral die cut which was embossed with distress powder and then coloured with gold mixative. Underneath the headdress you can see the walnut brown distress embossing powder which is there to represent hair. Another screw head brad was used to finish the headdress.

I love this image! Hopefully, the 'industrial' element can be loosely acquired here: technical drawing (now often done on the computer using CAD software) used lines to help construct a range of shapes accurately. On this Lynn Perrella stamp image, the construction lines can be clearly seen on right of the image. I couldn't resist adding a little girly touch with the red lips which was added with distress marker. The face was inked but this was removed in the eye region and the 'cheek' circles - this seems to make the features really stand out.

21 comments:

  1. Great tag I love the metal flowers. Thanks for sharing at Dragons Dream TIO. Elizabeth x

    ReplyDelete
  2. Another gorgeous creation Julia! Love the change in colour palette, and the metal tape just looks amazing. I still need to get out there and get some!! M x

    ReplyDelete
  3. Brillant Tag.. Julia I am so glad you joined us over at TIO... Please never feel intimidated about entering any challenge... You work is fabulous. I love the metal flowers.. the design is just AmAzing.. the stamps and elements are just perfect.. I love it!!! I hope you will join us each fortnight!! great pic tutorial also.. Hugs May x x x

    ReplyDelete
  4. Hi Julia this is a fabulous tag. I love the texture and this Lynn perella stamp is a favourite of mine. Your flowers are fabulous. Good luck in the challenges and thanks fir sharing x

    ReplyDelete
  5. Yep, I'd say this is both male orientated and industrially inspired! Love it Julia. Good luck with the challenges. Hugs, Buttons x

    ReplyDelete
  6. Fab tag Julia. I just love those metal flowers, lots of great detail and texture. xx

    ReplyDelete
  7. I have absolutely no doubt in my mind that you should have been playing along with Dragonsdream for years! I seriously love this tag and think you are incredibly talented! Thanks for dreaming with us at TIO x

    ReplyDelete
  8. I'm missing words, such a fantastic tag. Thanks for dreaming with us at TIO this fortnight.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Wow, this is a truly beautiful piece of work, love the metal flowers.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Loving this art piece Julia. Your work is fabulous. Hugs Rita xx

    ReplyDelete
  11. So glad you joined us at TIO - do come back, because this is just wonderful!

    ReplyDelete
  12. Absolutely stunning tag Julia... love the metal look loads. You are right, Julia is on the White album, it is about John's real Mum who left him when he was ickle... just thought I would share that lol Thanks for joining in with the Sunday Stamper x

    ReplyDelete
  13. Fabulous ink and paint effects, your tag looks amazing Julia! x

    ReplyDelete
  14. Fabulous tag. I love the metal flowers. Thanks for sharing at dragons dream tio

    ReplyDelete
  15. Hi Julia, this is a wonderful tag. Love the metal effect you have achieved on the background and flowers. Great idea with the cog centre for the flower. I think it looks very 'industgrial'
    Avril xx

    ReplyDelete
  16. A great steampunk tag Julia! Love the details.

    greetings, Alie :-)

    ReplyDelete
  17. WOW, this is stunning! Great job!

    ReplyDelete
  18. Awensome tag, it is really... WOW!
    Hugs from Slovenia!

    ReplyDelete
  19. WOO... this is yummyliscious!! I love all your bits and how you fitted them together, especially the flowers. Thankd for TIOing with us this time
    Frankie
    xx

    ReplyDelete
  20. Your attention to detail is amazing. Have you ever considered submitting your work to Stampington Co.'s Stampington Sampler magazine? I see this style in there all the time, and think yours is better!

    ReplyDelete

Thank you so much for taking the time to comment. Juliax