Steampunk Easter Egg Ornament

I have to admit that I am NOT a "Steampunk" person. I do love doodads and whatchamacallits.  To collect. In a drawer. Or glass jar. To admire. 

This project started because we sell these chipboard gears in our store and they had been whispering in my ears for weeks!  I just had to use them.  We had also just gotten in a shipment of embossing enamels from Stampendous and I wondered how the chipboard would look with the enamels.  So I started to play.  I have no idea what part of my brain this project came out of but I really love the end result.  

The ornament is about to take a journey across the ocean to a very special person in New Jersey that loves Steampunk!!  I hope Toniann Carbone loves admiring it as much as I loved making it for her!!  

Although the gears I used in this project are made by a Brasilian company, and I was on the fence about whether or not to post this step by step. But, since there are plenty of companies out there probably making something like these gears, I went with it.  If you really want or need these, just shoot me and email and we can figure out a way to get them to you.  Or...maybe I will just add them to my Blog Candy.  

Supplies Used:

Gears Stencil by Mary Beth Shaw for StencilGirl Products

Chipboard Gears in different sizes and shapes

Heavy Duty Kraft Paper - I used a 300 gr./140 lb paper

Nested Eggs Nestabilities Dies by Spellbinders (S4-264)

Dylusions Ink Sprays by Ranger in Fresh Lime and Calypso Blue

Metallic Copper Eyelet

Versamark Embossing Ink pad

Glossy Accents or Diamond Glaze

Stampendous Embossing Enamels Used: Aged Black, Aged Silver, Shabby White, Aged Aqua, Aged Scarlet, and Aged Copper

Stampendous Champagne Crushed Glass Glitter

Die Cut Machine (Big Shot, Grand Calibur, Cuddlebug)

Big Bite or other tool to set an eyelet

Ranger Heat Gun

Copper Chain

Step by Step:

1.  (A) Die cut and emboss the largest of the Easter Egg dies using a die cut machine and the 140lb cardstock.  (B) Lay the Gears stencil over the egg and spray the part of the stencil that you want to see.  Using a paper towel, roll it over the spray to remove excess ink.  (C) and (D) Do this on both sides.  I used a mixture of Calypso Blue and Fresh Lime Dylusions Ink Spray on one side and just the Calypso Blue on the other.  (E) Make hole for eyelet using a Big Bite or other eyelet setting tool and set eyelet.

2.  Using the chipboard pieces you have, play around with them, move them around the egg, until you get the look you want.  In my case, I wanted a few layers of different designs and sizes.  I went with the largest on the bottom with the smallest on the top.  The photo below shows how I want to arrange my pieces after I emboss them.  They are not yet glued down.

3.  Now to emboss.  Using a Versamark Ink pad or another embossing ink pad, get each piece very wet. Then pour one of the embossing enamels over the whole piece, remove the excess powder, and then heat emboss with the Ranger Heat Gun.  I prepared each piece and set aside.  Then I went back and heat set them all at the same time.  Also, for the solid pieces, I used embossing enamels on both sides because I knew the other side would be seen from the back.  

4.  Now to glue the pieces down to the egg. Using Glossy Accents or Diamond Glaze, apply DABS on the back of each of the base pieces and glue to the Egg front.  When dry, turn the egg over and trim the pieces with a good scissor so they are not hanging off the egg (save these pieces for another egg).  Then apply the next two layers with the Glossy Accents.  But do not trim these layers.  When all your layers are glued down, put some glossy accents in the holes in the top pieces and slip a copper brad in each of the holes.

5.  Apply Glossy Accents around the front rim of the Egg and then pour the Champagne Crushed Glass Glitter.  Remove excess and put back into the bottle.  Set aside and allow to dry. Then do the back side.   Slip a copper or other chain through the eyelet and you are ready to hang this up for all to enjoy.

This would also make an amazing Christmas Tree Ornament!!

Hope you guys liked this post.

~Michael