Steampunk Skull "Thoughts" Notebook

I love Steampunk and I love skulls, so when I saw Stampendous!' new Steampunk Skull rubber stamp, I knew that I wanted to create something a bit more permanent than a card with it.

Here's my decorated spiral notebook.

Stampendous!® Products Used:

Steampunk Skull Rubber Stamp

Cling Clock Collage 6x6 Rubber Stamp

Cling Crackle 6x6 Rubber Stamp

Aged Silver, Bronze and Teal Frantage Embossing Enamels

VersaMark™ Ink by Tsukineko®

VersaMarker™ Pen by Tsukineko®

Tuxedo Black Memento™ Ink by Tsukineko®

Mixed Media White Paper

Splotches and Diamond Plate sides of the Quest Texture Cube* -- You can still find this stamp online.

Other Products Used:

Spiral Notebook from Staples.

Copic® Markers:

   Skull (bone) W1, E40, E41, E42, E43

   Skullcap (metal) C0, C1, C2, C4

   Brass Bits: Y21, Y23, Y26, Y28

   Light bulb: Y08, Y35, FY1

   Tubes: BG72, BG75, BG78

Cosmic Copper and Starlite Black Brilliance Ink Pads by Tsukineko®

Warm Breeze VersaFine Clair™ Ink by Tsukineko®

Black Media® Gesso by DecoArt®

Chain Die by Elizabeth Crafts

Frame Chain Die by The Scrap Man

Roxy Mini and Roxy Mini Shadow Dies by QuicKutz

Turquoise Stardust® Glitter Gel Pen by Sakura

Black Dimensional Foam Squares by Scrapbook Adhesives® by 3L

Instructions:

1. Use Tuxedo Black Memento ink to stamp the Steampunk Skull.
2. Fussy-cut and edge with a dark marker.
3. Color with Copic markers. 
4. Add a dot of Turquoise Glitter Gel pen to one of the teeth. Set aside.
5. Spread the metal spiral binding of the notebook apart and pull out the front and back covers.
6. Use Black Media Gesso to paint both sides of both covers. Set aside to dry. Then blast with the heat gun to make sure the gesso is totally dry. If it blisters a bit, it's cool. It'll just add to the texture.
7. Place the Clock Collage stamp rubber side up on your work surface. Ink the stamp with the Warm Breeze VersaFine Clair ink and press the front cover onto the stamp. Carefully smooth your hands over the cover to get a good impression. 
8. Remove the cover from the stamp, flip over, sprinkle on Teal Frantage Embossing Enamel, dump the excess, and heat set. 
9. Ink the diamond plate part of the Quest Texture stamp with VersaMark ink and stamp the clear areas of the notebook.
10. Sprinkle Aged Silver and/or Bronze Embossing Powder onto the wet ink, dump the excess, and heat set.
11. Repeat step 10 as needed to completely the coverage. 
12. Use a VersaMarker to add dots and dashes to any open areas of the cover and heat emboss with any of the three colors of embossing enamel.
13. Use Roxy Mini and Roxy Mini Shadow to cut black cardstock for the title.
14. Repeat step #13 three times, then glue three levels of each letter together to make it dimensional. Let them dry.
15. When the letters are dry, press each Roxy Mini letter onto the VersaMark pad, put the letter into the Aged Bronze Frantage Embossing Enamel Jar, shake off the excess, and heat set.
16. Press each Roxy Mini Shadow letter onto the VersaMark pad, put the letter into the Aged Silver Frantage Embossing Enamel Jar, shake off the excess, and heat set.
17. Use glue to adhere each Bronze-embossed Roxy Mini Letter to each Silver-embossed Roxy Mini Shadow letter. Let dry.
18. When dry, use strong glue or heavy duty gel medium to adhere the title letters as shown.
19. Using the Frame Chain Circle die, cut black cardstock three times, then use glue to adhere to create a dimensional Frame Chain Circle. Let dry.
20. Using the Chain die, cut black cardstock three times, then use glue to adhere the layers together. Let dry.
21. When both the Frame Chain Circle and Chain die-cuts are dry, press them into a VersaMark pad, then sprinkle with the Aged Brass Frantage embossing enamel. Dump off the excess and heat set.
22. Use foam adhesive squares and glue to adhere the Steampunk Skull to the Frame Chain Circle, then adhere to the front of the notebook as shown.
23. Use glue to adhere to chain to bottom of the notebook as shown. Let dry, preferably overnight.
24. Place the Cling Crackle 6x6 Stamp face up on your work surface. ink the stamp with the Warm Breeze VersaFine Clair ink and press the back cover onto the stamp. Carefully smooth your hands over the cover to get a good impression. 
25. Remove the cover from the stamp, flip over, sprinkle on Teal Frantage Embossing Enamel, dump the excess, and heat set. 
26. Repeat Steps 9-12 to complete the back cover.
27. Replace the covers to the notebook and close the spiral binding.

The Frantage Embossing Enamels added such great texture and shine. I really wish you could see it up close!

Thanks for visiting today.