Thursday, February 26, 2015

Art Notebook Cover


I decided to make something for the fun of it while I am staying indoors and trying to keep warm.  I try to make notes of the products I am using in projects as I go along so that I can keep the clutter at a minimum as I am working but have the information available to do my blog posts without having to dig everything out again.  I found these great composition notebooks for 50 cents each at WalMart and decided to jazz one up.

I started by coating the cover, front and back with a coat of Liquitex Gesso.  Once dry, I added some Golden Molding Paste through a Heidi Swapp Harlequin stencil in random spots.  I also added some drywall tape in other random spots.

Next I covered the cover with alcohol ink from Ranger.  I used a blend of Wild Plum, Eggplant and Copper Mixative in some areas and a blend of Lemonade and Peach Bellini in other areas.  Once it was dry I gave the cover a watered down coat of Gesso and then spritzed it with some Pegleg Pete Purple Moonshine Mist from Lindy's Stamp Gang.

Next I did some random second generation stamping using Jet Black Archival Ink from Ranger.  The stamps I used were from Tim Holtz Ultimate Grunge set and from Wendy Vecchi's True Art set.

Next I started to collect some embellishments and alter some of them.  The letters are a mix of chipboard from my stash and wooden letters from Dollarama.  I gave each one a coat of Gesso and then I painted them with Orchid and Wild Orchid Acrylic Paint from Americana and Purple Pearl Metallic paint from Deco Art.  I used a Recollections script stamp and some Ranger Deep Purple Archival Ink to add some interest to a couple of the letters.

The flowers are a mixture of roses from Wild Orchid Crafts, a wooden piece from Dollarama, a Recollections daisy and a silk flower that I took apart and painted.  One flower layer was painted with Wild Orchid and the other was painted with Purple Pearl and then rubbed with some Festive Berries Distress Ink from Ranger.  I added a dollar store pearl to the centre of one flower, a button from my stash to another and a tiny rose to the last one.

I altered a little metal frame and a filigree medallion with some Wild Plum and Eggplant Alcohol Ink.  I painted a little metal butterfly that was a gift from my friend Pamellia with Purple Pearl paint.  I added some beads, gems and cup sequins from my stash.

Finally, because the Gesso and other media made the covers warp a bit and want to pop open, I added a button to the front and back with a string closure.  The string is attached at the back and finishes at the back  One suggestion is that you make sure that your string will wrap around the back button a number of times to determine what length you need.  I just wrapped mine around twice and cut it only to discover that it has a tendency to spring loose.

I am going to enter this project in the following challenges:

Artist Trading Post Exchange - Alphabet Soup
The Mirror Crack'd - Album/Journal Cover
Inky Chicks - Flowers
Altered Eclectics - Anthing Goes (must be altered item or mixed media)
Rhedd's Creative Spirit - Altered Item/Mixed Media

12 comments:

  1. WOW Cec, this is absolutely stunning!!! So many gorgeous details and I love the textures and colors you used! Just fabulous!!!

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  2. Wow Cec, gorgeous!!!!! Love all the vibrant colours, you did the background with alcohol inks, wow! Good score with the wooden letters from Dollarama, I think I need to take a little trip up there! Beautiful arrangement, love the little filigree butterfly! Just such an incredible makeover, love it! hugs :)

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  3. A gorgeous cover for your book Cec and a good idea to take notes as you create a project. Thank you for joining us at the ATP Exchange this time.
    Yvonne xx

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  4. What a gorgeous altered notebook cover, so pretty and rich with dimension and texture! Thanks for playing with us at Altered Eclectics!

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  5. This is so beautiful!! Absolutely loved it, Cec!! :)
    Cheers!
    Suchi xx

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  6. Love the gorgeous colours. Lovely project. Thank you for joining us at Altered Eclectics this week. Judy DT

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  7. The cover looks gorgeous, Cec!

    And I do that too - take notes of materials I used on projects so I can tidy the desk and start a new one before I write the posts.

    Thank you so much for playing along with us at The Mirror Crack'd!

    Claudia x

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  8. I love what you've done to the cover of this Cec, the colours is just so cheery and bright and the shimmer... yum!! LOVE IT !! xx

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  9. Amazing transformation, love the Finnabair style you have used and some great colours too :-) x

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  10. Really fab cover Cec! Lots of texture and gorgeous colour! I need to follow your example and take notes before I clear away - I usually end up not clearing away until there isn't enough room left! Thanks so much for joining us at ATP Exchange. Juliax

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  11. Lovely to see you Cec. Hope things have calmed down a little for you now?

    What a gorgeous piece. I love the way your letters travel around the centre instead of the normal way of reading left to right, and there is so much delicious detail.

    Thanks for sharing your fabulous piece with us

    Lin
    The Mirror Crack'd

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I love to hear what you think about my work, so please leave me a comment.

Thanks!
Cec