Figure it out

My dad celebrated a "round number" birthday recently but didn't want to make a big thing of it. So I decided to use number punches rather than featuring BIG numbers on the card!

I started with a loose explosion of turquoise courtesy of some Brusho and stenciled brickwork over the top with white pigment ink. The script is stamped with Distress (which kind of disappears over the pigment ink - nice effect if unexpected!).

The big cog is a couple of die cuts stuck together for a bit of body (I didn't have a chipboard shape of the right size and I don't have a suitable steel rule die to cut my own - if you own the die that cut this cog, you'd be OK to cut your own from something like mountboard).

I used metal stamps and a hammer to emboss dates around the edge of the cog, added a little sand texture paste in some areas and dots between the dates with glue. Once those hardened, I painted the whole thing black and then dry brushed acrylics over that base layer (metallic Espresso and then Bronze) to bring out the textures. The texture paste gives a corroded or rusty texture under the paint which you might be able to see better on the close-up view.

I brushed out excess paint on a bit of scrap card before dry-brushing the cog and that got used to make the matching dots - I just punched/die cut circles and domed them out with a stylus tool. A few tiny turquoise nail art gems, a stamped sentiment and wonky stitching finish it off.
 
I thought this would still fit the current That's Crafty challenge which is to use numbers/figures on your project, even though the numbers are fairly subtle rather than in your face. Lots of the supplies I used are available from That's Crafty, too!

Stamps:
19th Century French Script and Essential Messages by Hero Arts

Paper: Bristol Board

Ink:
Tim Holtz Distress ink by Ranger (Blueprint Sketch)
Adirondack pigment ink by Ranger (Snowcap)
Memento Luxe by Tsukineko (Tuxedo Black)

Other:
Brusho (Turquoise)
Dutch Dubadoo stencil (Bricks)
Cog die cuts
Metal punches
Decoart acrylic paints (Black,  Metallic Espresso, Bronze)
Decoart Texturizing paste (the sand ones in the current Media range would be perfect)
Nail art gems
Sewing machine and thread 

Thanks for stopping by!