Steampunk Airship/Balloon

Hi everybody.  I needed a masculine birthday card and I thought I would use this fabulous airship cum balloon which comes in a set of steampunk stamps by Chocolate Baroque called Steampunkery.  These stamps are steampunk with a twist, a little quirky but very useful for male cards, though I think they can be appreciated by all and they are very detailed and fun too.

I started with a piece of white card about 5.75" square on which I stamped the image using Versafine Vintage Sepia ink and then I heat embossed using WOW Clear Gloss Embossing Powder.  I then stamped the image on to a piece of copy paper and fussy cut it out to use as a mask.

I then ink blended using a Visible Image stencil called Strobes, using a stencil brush and a couple of colours of Distress Ink - Fossilised Amber and Spiced Marmalade.  Keeping the stencil in place I added some clouds with a mask I drew and cut out myself, again using the stencil brush, and Broken China and Mermaid Lagoon DI.  Using the brush means you can add the colour very carefully and build it up to whatever strength you want, and I didn't want the colours to be too strong.  I think the colours do look more green than blue due to the yellow already added.    I removed the stencil and took the white off the Strobes and the clouds by adding more yellow and orange to them.  I then removed the mask and coloured the airship using a waterbrush and some Walnut Stain and a little Broken China mixed in to keep the colours in harmony with one another.

I finished by stamping a sentiment, again using the Versafine Vintage Sepia, and then added WOW Clear Gloss EP over the top before adhering it to a 6" square white base card.

Thank you for joining me today and I'll see you again soon.

I am entering the following challenges:

Stamping Sensations September Challenge -  I Spy something beginning with 'B' (Balloon, Blue sky, Birthday card).
Allsorts Challenge - Week 486 Water or the Colour Blue.  (My sky is a blue colour so hope this link to the theme is sufficient).
Watercooler Wednesday Challenge - Anything Goes.  (I was thrilled to be chosen as the weekly winner of this challenge).