Man Up

Hi all!  Thanks for dropping in.  A bit of altered art today, my entry for La-de-dah's challenge My Mojo Monthly which, for June, is titled "Man Up!" - Oh, would that I could... but I've not interpreted it that way for the competition, you'll be glad to hear!  

I had such fun with this - lots of firsts for me, crafting-wise: first metal paper, first altered photo frame, first time I've been able to let some of my lovely Tim Holtz cogs escape from my hoard onto an actual project!


How's about a little 'before-and-after' to start us off?

Yes, from a bog-standard, white, plastic, deep photo frame (another bargain pick-up from a Czech pound-shop type place) to this.

The outer and inner walls are covered with papers from BoBunny's brilliant Weekend Market collection.  You can see it in another form on this album, as close followers will remember (it's okay, there's no test at the end).


It looks as though it's a combination of two papers from the collection, one the rulers, and the other the distressed chintz wallpaper, but in fact it's the front and back of the same sheet, called Rulers.


(What is it about old wooden rulers?  They're so beautiful, and rugged - like a good man, then!)


It's the one slight frustration with the BoBunny (and many other scrapbook papers) that they are double-sided... it means you have to CHOOSE which one of the two you want to use or - ah, I see now what they did there - buy extra pads so's you can have both.  Hmm, clever.


Used in smaller amounts, as here, though, you can have your cake and eat it.

I'm particularly pleased with the inner top of the frame, where the word motors appears right next to the motorcar!

The slogan is also stamped on to a piece of the BoBunny paper, using a little alphabet set I got for less than a pound from The Range (love a bargain).



I wanted to add a little slogan, some words to suit the challenge... and this just came out of a little bit of pondering about what it means these days to be a 'real man' - a very vexed question all round, I think.  For my penny's worth, Real Men Do Cry!


The front of the frame is covered with the metal paper which, as I said, I was using for the first time... it is so cool!

I got mine from PaperArtsy (funkiest of scrapping supply sites) It's metal sheeting on the one side, backed onto paper, so it's easily manipulated and stickable-down.  I ran it through the BigShot using the TH Gears Embossing Folder to get the lovely deep impressions.
  
Unfortunately, I discovered that - of all the things not to have with me - I had no black acrylic paint in my supplies, which most of the online tutorials recommend using. 



I had to work with a very dark brown acrylic and some Black Soot Distress Ink to get the metal grunged up; also lots of sanding (with - shh - a nail-file) to add to the texture.

I'm also pretty pleased with my first proper bit of fussy-cutting (what used to be called decoupage, but I love the soundscape of the new phrase, all those nice hissy, spitty consonants, and tender little u u vowels - well, in my accent, anyway) around the gears within the frame.

I hope in these pictures you can also see the dimensional depth I worked for within the frame.  The back 'wall' is a paper from DCWV's Tattered Time Mat Stack (that's Die Cuts With a View, in case you're taking notes at the back) with lovely shiny cogs and gears.  Next layer forward is my slogan, stuck to the back of (next layer forward) the metal paper cogs and gears (extra one up in the top left of the frame too), and then forward to the front of the frame for my stamped, enamelled embellishments.  (And the clock and the car are on double padded tape so that they even come a step forward of the frame too.)

I'm dead chuffed with these embellishments because they're basically so simple to make, but I think they look great.  Indulge me in a few extra photos while I try to get the glossiness over to you!

All three are Tim Holtz stamps, stamped on to plain Kraft cardstock using Staz-On black ink, and burnished slightly with Vintage Photo Distress Ink.  Then I've used the Melt Art UTEE powder over the Versamark Watermark ink, heat-embossed, to get the thick, glossy enamel effect.  I didn't even have to do more than one coat because the UTEE really does do what it says on the tin - it is Ultra Thick Embossing Enamel!

Please also admire the fussy-cutting on the chaps to the left... I'm getting better at it, slowly.  The hands on the clock are TH's Idea-ology Game Spinners attached with a long fastener.

Get that gleam!

Ooh, shiny!










It's okay... calm again now.  As I said, I really had fun with this one!

I like the rugged, aged look on the corners, burnished with a bit of Black Soot Distress Ink.

I like the concentric circles falling backwards into the frame.  

I like that, from the sides, you get a view of one paper on the outer frame and the other paper on the inner frame.  

Basically, I quite like it.  

Hope you do too.

Thanks for taking the time to take a look.  Now go off and have a good cry somewhere - it's ok!




Last words today go to Zsa Zsa Gabor... I'm saying nothing...

I want a man who's kind and understanding.  Is that too much to ask of a millionaire?
ZZG

Macho doesn't prove mucho.
ZZG