wings of time

Hi everyone, today I am on the Gypsy Soul Laser Cuts Blog sharing an ATC shrine I call "wings of time." From the moment I set eyes on the GSLC ATC Shrine-Time, I envisioned a Fornasetti face within the circular clock area of the door, but I was unsure where I would take it from there. I put off working on the project for a while and finally decided that it would be best to simply start and see where it would lead... I apologize for the lack of process photos in this post, it seems once I started working, I was so intent on creating that I forgot to stop and capture all the steps. My hope is that my description is easily understandable.

I begin by painting all the pieces of the ATC Shrine-Time black. Then I locate the image that I intend to place within the clock face. I trace the outermost edge of the circle (clock) shape onto the graphic and fussy cut. A piece of black cardstock is adhered to the reverse side of the image so that when the door to the shrine is open, it will appear as a solid plane. Before adhering the face piece, I emboss the clock hands on the shrine door. This is easily accomplished with a VersaMark pen and gun metal embossing powder. I heat set the powder on the exterior surface and then complete the same process on the inside. I let the embossing cool and then adhere the image that has been cut to size in place.  Once the iconic image is set in place, the project seems to direct itself.

I know that at some point I would like the shrine to be functional, a place to store artist trading cards. For this reason, the interior of the shrine is not embellished with protruding objects. Everything inside is kept fairly flat. The rear panel of the shrine is covered with a piece of black and white tweed pattern paper. I ink the paper with hickory smoke and milled lavender distress ink to coordinate with the Fornasetti image. A sentiment is layered onto wilted violet oxide-inked cardstock and attached to the back panel reading "REMEMBER YOUR WINGS."
A stamped and colored butterfly is attached to the solid black circle on the inside of the shrine door. The butterfly's body is an embossed clock hand from the GSLC Steampunk Shape Set.

The Rear of the shrine contains a Gypsy Soul Laser Cuts Butterfly of Gears. I love this chipboard piece. It is sold as a set of two identical butterflies, I am only using one for this piece, but I already have a plan for the second butterfly.

The butterfly has been painted with seedless preserves distress paint and then dipped in wilted violet oxide ink to create a beautiful finish. Some of the steampunk cogs and gears are embossed, as well as the body, and tips of the wings. I use the same method that was used for the shrine's clock hands, a VersaMark pen and gun metal embossing powder. When the embossing has cooled, Ideaology metal embellishments are adhered to the butterfly with collage medium. Once the collage medium is dry, the butterfly is attached to the rear panel with collage medium and set aside.  A big chat "FLY" sticker is inked with wilted violet oxide ink and then attached below the butterfly.

I secure a ball hitch through the circular opening on one of the clock hands of the shrine door. This becomes a knob that allows easy access to the shrine's interior. I also emboss four wooden beads and attach these to the base of the shrine to raise it up off the surface it stands on. The crown atop the shrine is another piece from the Steampunk Shape Set. This set has so many pieces, I find myself reaching for it often to use on my projects. The crown has been colored with wilted violet distress oxide and then splattered with seedless preserves paint. The tops and back side of the crown has been embossed with gun metal embossing powder.

I really like the way that this ATC shrine turned out. The Gypsy Soul laser cuts store has many different ATC Shrine styles from nautical, to steampunk, and everything in between. It's definitely worth checking out! I hope that you are inspired to create something of your own, perhaps something that you have put off because you are unsure of how it will turn out. You will never know if you don't start somewhere.

Thanks so much for stopping by the blog today,
 I really appreciate you taking the time.
~Ann


supplies used:
DecoArt acrylic paint: black licorice
Distress Archival ink: dusty concord
Distress collage medium: matte
Distress ink:
 dusty concord, hickory smoke, milled lavender, seedless preserves, wilted violet
Distress oxide ink: wilted violet
Distress paint: wilted violet
Emerald Creek embossing powder: gun metal
Gypsy Soul Laser Cuts:
ATC Shrine - Time, Butterfly of Gears, Steampunk Shape Set
Tim Holtz Ideaology: ball hitch, big chat stickers, gears, pen nibs
Tim Holtz/Stampers Anonymous Stamps: Flutter (CMS294)
VersaMark embossing Pen
Wagner Studio Precision Heat Gun