Monday, March 21, 2011

Put a Bird On It!

Any Portlandia fans out there? I decided that my egg was too boring, so I put a bird on it! I was messing around with the idea of doing a Steampunk Easter egg a couple weeks ago. I made one, but then couldn't figure out what to do with it. Today, I was experimenting with the technique I used in my previous post - trying (and failing) - to create a Steampunk look, and had an aha! moment. I chucked the ugly egg, and put this together.

My bird was created by adhering a copper sheet to Grungeboard, and then cutting it using Tim Holtz's Caged Bird die. After it was cut, I ran it through the Cuttlebug gears embossing folder. To hold the bird, a length of wire was threaded through two Idea-ology Sprocket Gears and inserted into the egg. The bird is affixed to the wire with a dab of hot glue.

By the way, this is a real egg! The technique I used to create it is too long for this post, so I may just pop a tutorial on here later this week. It sits on a nest of tangled wire which rests atop an old fuse.

When in doubt - put a bird on it!

33 comments:

  1. I agree about the when in doubt. This is so awesome! I love it...Cheers..Donna

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  2. This is sensational Shelly. Annette x

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  3. Oh, my word. This is AWESOME!!! I love the bird and the egg.

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  4. Fabulous piece of steampunk. I need some eggs. Wish I could blow my own like you did. Very creative. Tracy x

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  5. Wow!! This metal bird project really looks labor intensive. I don't know how much time you spent on this but it looks like it took awhile. Either way it's a stunning piece of artwork. And it has that Steampunk vibe that we all love so much. Thank you for sharing and inspiring.

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  6. I can't believe its a real egg! This looks amazing! Great job! I love it!

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  7. Oh, this is TOTALLY cool! I LOVE it! A Steampunked Egg..with a bird! lol!

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  8. So amazing! Very cleverly done, easter gone Steampunk, who'd have thunk!

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  9. Very, very clever and so amazing. It totally looks like real metal and that it weighs at least a few pounds. I'm in awe.

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  10. Now thats one frickin cool egg :oD and i love that you put a bird on it! saw the vid about a month or so ago and laughed my ass off, quality!

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  11. OMG, I thought the bird was totally awesome and then I got to the egg. You have got to show us how you did it. It's sensational!!!

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  12. Lol, that video is so funny! I have come to realize that birds are the way to go. I thought yours was really metal until you said otherwise~~great job! Connie :)

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  13. So...is this the 'ugly' egg...or is it a different one? This is so steampunk...amazing! (Where did you find "Portlandia"???)

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  14. Great piece: Love the colours and metallic textures.

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  15. Love the egg, Shelly! You sure 'put a bird on it'...lol;) Thanks for sharing, your art is Amazing!!!
    - DebbieK

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  16. I love this egg! I've decorated many eggs in different ways (goose eggs are the best) but never anything like this. I hope you do a tutorial as I'd like to try to make one.
    Alison J

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  17. That is one beautiful egg. Would also love to learn how you did the egg.
    Karen F

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  18. Amazing! This is so innovative! Your egg looks like it's made of pewter or some other metal--wow! And the bird is pure genius!

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  19. Wow, Shelly!! This is one of the prettiest steampunk creations that I have ever seen...not too over the edge...just right!

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  20. Great piece! So funny I just got back from Portland where I was visiting my sister and one of the things we did was sit and watch Portlandia. Laura

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  21. Absolutely Perfect! A work of ART!

    ~Linda

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  22. Wow! I'm not a big steampunk fan (yet) but this is way over the top cool! Would love another tutorial - you do such neat things!

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  23. Shelly this is fantastic - love your geared bird on top of his special perch!

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  24. WOW, Shelly! What a fantastic piece!!!!!

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  25. this looks awesome! keeping my eyes open for the egg tutorial! :)))

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  26. Shelly, that is THE coolest thing I have seen in a long time. That is a piece of art!

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  27. This is fabulous Shelly and I'd love to know how you did the egg!
    I absolutely love your Steampunk art!

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  28. How ingenious is this !!!! I could really see this on my table in my living room !!! Thanks for the inspiration. Love your blog and I'm now a follower :)

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  29. Fabulous! I love how the gear works for the bird's eye. This would make a good class.

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  30. Fabulous! This would make a good class. :)

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Thanks so much for taking the time to share your thoughts. I appreciate your comments so much!