Monday 26 March 2012

Altered Book pt 4 !

Well, I've finally got around to decorating some pages in my Altered Book that I'm doing courtesy of Elizabeth !! Who is in fact wonderfully helpful and a fantastic tutor! Thanks to her I have the courage to try one of these, and I'm thouroughly enjoying every minute of it!

As you can see by the photos the "Vintage Ecclectic" theme went right out the window!! lol....Instead I just decided on a techniques theme , it came about by accident really  after doing the inside cover pages. I tend to just 'go with it' when doing projects rather than planning, it's just the way i work really. I tend to use what I have because I'm a bit strapped for cash most of the time so will make do with what's there rather than buying if I can gewt away with it!

Anyway... here's a photo the inside cover pages....(please excuse the ginormous bulldog clip, but the page kept closing so I needed somethng to hold it open while photographing it)





I stuck down some thin card/thick paper..... coloured it using Alcohol Inks, Distress Inks and oversprayed with some Glimmer Mists, I then used a stencil from my stash and some Distress ink for the words and just outlined them with a fineline marker. I wasn't really too fussed if I got the letters straight or not... I tend to like the grungy / messy look anyway as I think it lkind of gives it some character!



These are the next two pages....

 These are the "Technique" pages.... This is where I played with Gesso!!! I stuck down the pieces of paper that were cut from the Niche at the back of the book, again wasn't fussed if they were the right way round/up or down!! I used Gesso for glue...not sure if I will use it again for glue or not because the pages are rock solid! We'll need to wait and see how things progress though! I may just end up using it for prepping the pages. I haven't prepped ALL my pages yet simply because I'm not sure what I'm going to do so I will prep them as I go along.

anyway...after using the offcuts and sticking them I coloured them using Distress Stains. I drew 'stitches' with a black Pro marker because I wanted a kind of patchwork look....I just 'filled' each piece with what I'd been doing to the pages if you get my drift! The tag is done using off cuts, distress stains and the 'naff' phrase is written in black promarker!

I think I will go with the techniques theme though, it's kind of fun experiment with things and waiting to see the end results! It's a great way to get practice on certain techniques and also try some new ones

So once again I'd like to thank Elizabeth for her patience in preparing these tutorial for us all, especially as she is having sooooo many problems with Blogger just now!

Take care everyone and thanks for dropping by,

Jackie x







5 comments:

Julia S-W said...

Hi Jackie. My friend BJ is doing this course too - I couldn't find a book in time and now I seem to be doing too much else! Yours is coming on a treat - I like it when things have that 'grungy' edge so if letters are upside down who cares! I shall look forward to seeing yours progress too.
Juliaxx

PS Hope your 'appointments' you told me about went well and that you're getting sorted! Hope the interview went well too! xx

BJ said...

Hi Jackie, I'm that friend BJ! I just popped by to see if you'd got started and by golly you have! Love the Altered Book page, I do like grunge. The patchwork is great too especially as you have utilised the the offcuts from your niche. I bet Elizabeth will be chuffed you have used them too. If you fancy joining us on UKPC it is linked on my blog. Can't wait to see your next pages. BJ

SandeeNC said...

I love your grungy look, the stenciled letters are an aweosme idea, might have to "borrow" it, it's so cool seeing everyone's progress, although my gesso'd pages are super soft, we might have to comapre brands? waving hi from the hills of North Carolina :)

Bleubeard and Elizabeth said...

I really loved the pages you created with gesso and your end page, too. I laughed at the gesso comment, too.

BJ was right. I am a gal who can't seem to throw anything away IF I can find a use for it. And as for strapped for art supplies right now, I have to say you have a TON more supplies than I have. I don't own any Promarkers, Distress Ink, or those cool stencils. So I'm sure you will do FINE in this class with the supplies you already have. After all, I'm the Queen of Free, so you can think that way, too!

As for gesso, my first gesso page was very stiff, but I used a brush to put the stuff on. This week, I made some art and used a faux credit card to spread it. I was surprised how much softer it was this time around.

I'm off to check out your next post.

Ann B said...

Hi! I'm a classmate i nthe AB course. Love the gesso patchwork pages, a brilliant idea. Great quote as well. My gesso pages are about the same hardness as my gel medium (used Golden and credit card spread on both of them.)