Every once in a while I come across a collection that may not be my usual go to theme / style, but I could not resist this Mists Of The Toolbox collection from Craft O’Clock when I saw it in my local craft store.

Over the years I have accumulated a great variety of ‘steampunk’ and masculine style dies. So I pulled them out to accent the hot air balloon I had chosen from the “extras” collection cut aparts. Yes, I hate fussy cutting, but these are absolutely worth it. So that the focal piece can appear more seamless, I inked it with Tea Dye distress ink, then used a gold pigment ink pad and ran it along the edge to give it just that little extra pop.

To add a little pop of color I distressed a panel of embossed cardstock in a patina green color I had in my scraps. It was just enough to break the monotony of all the neutrals but still keep with the theme.