"S" IS FOR "SCREW IT"

Well, here I am again fulfilling the role of Guest Designer at The Sisterhood of Snarky Stampers, one of my favorite challenges. It seems like each time I do this, the challenge (or Edna) throws a new kind of wrench at me that requires research, and this time around is no different! It's SOSS#235 - "S is for Steampunk".

Wikipedia:  "Steampunk is a subgenre of science fiction that incorporates retro futuristic technology and aesthetics inspired by 19th-century industrial steam-powered machinery. Steampunk works are often set in an alternative history of the Victorian era or the American "Wild West", where steam power remains in mainstream use, or in a fantasy world that similarly employs steam power."

I pretty much knew this, but how to interpret it into the making of a card - a snarky one for that matter - took me to hundreds of Pinterest examples, mostly far beyond what my skills or supplies might render. It seemed like I might need to consider metallics and cogs and gears and rather gritty backgrounds. It also required a trip to my local craft store where I found some Tim Holtz images.

When a predominantly CAS designer considers Steampunk, it's definitely a clash of styles! But, without further ado, here is my take on what might be termed "Snarky Stamp-punk":

I started this with some scraps of printed paper that I've had in my stash forever - those pages that used to be included in the card making magazines. I trimmed one of them down with a stitched edge die and blended Tim Holtz gears stencil with brown ink. Over that I stamped his watch gears with VersaMark ink and gold embossing powder, grunged up the edges and attached it to the face of a brown card base, along with a printed kraft page as a mat. I wanted the sentiment to appear to be a manufacturer's plaque on an old steam engine or part, so I gold embossed the sentiment (Unity Stamp Company #IB-815 "Screw It") on a scrap of woodgrain copper metallic card stock and die cut it with one of my oval dies. I die cut a second oval from some bronze card stock and attached the two ovals with a couple of copper brads. I then attached the ovals to the face of the card with some dimensional foam. It seemed like it needed a bit more, so I bent a length of brass florist's wire through one of the holes in the die and coiled the ends with a small paint brush handle.

I used a bit of coordinating lighter-weight paper to line a Kraft A6 envelope on which I had stenciled and stamped gears, and when the envelope opens a Victorian gentleman peers out from the inside of the envelope.

Here's Edna in all of her steampunkiness!

Sisterhood of Snarky Stampers: SoSS #235 - S is for Steampunk