Steampunk?

I want to thank those of you who left kind words and messages for me during my recent illness.  This is the first time in over six years I haven't posted daily.  As my friend Scott, who was diligent in keeping me hydrated and OFF the internet said, "the world didn't stop when you didn't post."  He was right, of course, but I felt I let a lot of people down.  For that I apologize.

Since I'm trying to get back into the swing of things, I thought I would share another Art Journal Journey entry using Jo's from Let's Art Journal theme which is Something New.  I actually started this before I got sick and finished it tonight.

I'm not sure you can see the plastic, which is #6 that I normally save to use instead of the higher priced shrink plastic.  It is about six inches square (6 sq inches, or 15,24 sq centimeters).  Today, I'm not shrinking it.  Instead, I'm creating a new technique.

I also have a never before inked set of red rubber stamps my dear friend Chris sent me that she bought at Paper Artsy.

You can see I'd already inked this

and this before I decided to show the stamps.

Next I decided to color the reverse side, but my handmade shimmering mists didn't cover that side like I thought they would.  I knew I couldn't use a heat tool to speed the process along, so it was one of those hurry up and wait situations.

I decided to grab an image and some lace.  I laid the pieces out on the reverse side (the side that had the now dry mists).  I hated it.  I had to come up with something new.

I wanted to tape the image and lace to the page, but I didn't like how it looked.

That's when I grabbed some acrylic craft paint and covered over the side I had stamped before.

Back to the drawing board and out with the new stamps once again.

Once more with the large image, but this time I chose a smaller image to offset the large one.

In case you are confused, I have turned the plastic over and have stamped the reverse side to what I had stamped previously.

After numerous mistakes and setbacks, 

this is what the "front" side looked like with the tape on it.

This is the reverse side.  Perhaps you can see a bit of lace showing through the bottom right.

I'm finally pleased with how it turned out, but I had to rethink the project several times.  Once I almost gave up, but now I'm glad I persevered.

Thanks so much for joining me today with this brand-new-to-me project I created for Art Journal Journey.  I hope to see you there, too.