Sunday, July 20, 2014

Altered Magazine Page

Sometimes when I get blocked or a little bored with what I'm doing I like to try something a little different for a distraction. I don't sell my work, and I'm not brave enough to give it away. It is strictly for my own pleasure, even though I'm sharing them here. Hopefully I'm not infringing on anybody!

 In this case it's a magazine page that I learned how to alter in several different classes. I should have used a thicker magazine page. It would have been easier to work with, nonetheless, I went with this one, just for fun. I gessoed everything on the page except the elements I wanted to keep. The only original elements left are the flower and the penguin, because I love penguins!


The clock was on another page. I tore it out and transferred it to this page with gel medium. I'm aware that the numbers on it are backwards, but I like it that way. There's a message in there somewhere!


A layer of titanium buff was painted over the gesso with a layer of white texture made with a rubber texture tool. This page is still a work in progress, but there is plenty of room to write down my thoughts and add other elements when I'm ready. I could spin a great tale about this penguin and the clock, and I may just do that one day! :)


This is the back of the page. I loved the scene at the top, but not all the stuff on the bottom, so I gessoed over the bottom half with white and the top with clear gesso. Now I can do whatever I want on it and with it! FUN!!!

Sunday, July 13, 2014

First Attempt at Making Jewelry-Earrings

I recently took an online basic class called Vintage Trinket Jewelry Making from Andrea Singerella on Jeanne Oliver's site. I took it on a whim, but I enjoyed it from much! This my first attempt at making a pair of earrings, very basic and simple...for her! lol

I'm not crazy about the wire that goes through my ears, but that's all I could find a Wal-Mart the day I looked. There wasn't much choice about the color of findings either. I already had these glass beads that I had bought at hobby lobby for another project a while back, so I decided they would be pretty to practice with.


The first mistake I made was putting the bigger jump ring on the ear wires and closing it up first. I would have had to open it back up to attach the bead, which would have weakened it and maybe cause it to break. They are not the strongest of findings to start with.

I threaded the bead onto a head pin and attempted to wrap the wire around itself while forming a loop to attach a smaller jump ring to. Needless to say, the wrapped wire doesn't exactly match on both earrings.

Anyway, not much problem handling these elements while I was working. The really tedious part came when I tried to attach a tiny #4 jump ring to connect the bead and the larger #6 jump ring on the ear wires. I lost count of how many times I dropped those little suckers! They would hit the table and then the floor. Several jump rings disappeared when they hit the floor. I have big hands to work on tiny stuff, so it got kind of nerve wracking for me, but I refused to let them get the best of me.

Once the whole earring ran away on the floor and it took me forever to find it!

Anyway, I persevered and got them done. Not perfect, nor even good, really, but wearable and fun, even if they dangle a little longer than I meant for them too. Plus I got some practice in how to handle my tools and findings!

I will be making some more, but the next time I won't be in such a hurry to attach the ring to the ear wire before it's time and I will have a little tray, box lid, or something to keep those little parts corralled! Lessons learned! :)


Friday, July 11, 2014

Altered MM Moleskine Journal Cover

A new Moleskine journal that I decided to alter the cover on before using it. As I frequently do, I forgot to gesso the cover first to seal it, but it's a hard cover, so maybe it's okay.


I started by picking up random papers, a piece of old lace, and a picture of my parents before they married and gluing them to the cover. I added some modeling paste to the left corner and scratched the word "Love" in to it with a brush handle. Just playing and exploring! 

That's wax paper sticking out around the edge...


I also added some dots of modeling paste with a rolled up paper, thinking I'd get a rose shape. Not! I added the blue dotted fabric tape to kind of pull things together. At least I thought it would!


Added some white and some pale violet smudges around and some Stablio marks all pencil in a few places.


It still needed something, so I found these pieces that I had cut from a piece of copper metal scrap left over from a doll house bay window top and glued them on. More marks all pencil, and I think I'm done! I can live with it, and it's now ready to doodle/write in when I get ready (I need to finish some of these wips first :o).


MM Altered Sketchbook Cover

This 9" x 12" mixed media altered sketchbook cover was inspired by Jeanne Oliver's class "Creatively Made" (link for her site on sidebar), which I am currently taking online. The first week is a lot of great advice about accepting our gifts and simple journal making. I LOVE making new journals!


This is not necessarily Jeanne's process. I tend to stray from the path set before me sometimes and work my own path in to the mix. Anyway, because the cover was soft cardboard I used white gesso to seal it. Sometimes I forget that part. :o


The blue denim piece with the modeling paste cross was left over from a different class, but it was on my table, so I glued it down, along with various papers and bits of lace for texture and let dry...


While it was drying I tried the technique of taking the ink off a magazine figure to paint, glued her down, and added a couple more paper scraps to the mix...


Then I got the bright idea to cover everything but the figure in titanium buff acrylic paint to harmonize and age it more. Yuck! What was I thinking?


I used a found stamp with yellow acrylic paint and a rolled paper stamp dipped in white and violet acrylics for the circles dotted around to add interest and texture, and I smudged some of the light violet around with my finger. The dress has been painted a pale yellow, and her skin/hair has been painted in, plus I added white dots with a gel pen, once the paint dried. Buttons have also been added to the cross. And music has been stamped across the page with a bought stamp from KaiserCraft.


Used a Stablio pencil and went over it with a damp brush to bring out the figure more. Hate it!


The dress has been painted a darker yellow and the white dots re-applied, under her feet is darker, more marks all pencil has been added in various places, the word "women's" has been brought out with pencil and the word "diaries" has been brought out with a Pitt Pen, the quote, "Of all possessions, a Friend is the most precious," by Herofotus, on a stamp by Kolette Hall, has been added, and the last thing added is a torn paper strip of music that I found in the floor when I started to get up. It was just what the upper right corner needed!

I still am not crazy about the pencil outline around the figure, but I can live with it!

Sunday, July 6, 2014

Altered Book Cover Journal-"Live, Love, Laugh"

I love making journals! This one was inspired by Jeanne Oliver in her class "Creatively Made".  It's not exactly like hers, and I messed up a couple of things and had to figure them out, but I got there eventually, and I love the finished journal!


Believe it or not, I've gotten over not being able to tear up a book! See! :) Covers from a book I wasn't going to read again. I'd rather they hadn't been black, but I went with it!


Inside covers after some altering, and I messed up the ribbon...


Pages made from random papers, canvas, wallpaper, etc., whatever I could fine; they will be altered


More pages...


More pages...


and more pages. I don't know how many pages of all sizes and textures I have, but it's enough to have a whole lot of fun on!


A ribbon holds the book together, a plastic button cover to tie it together, and a pic of me and my mama from 1949...


I thought it was finished here after I added the old leather, the inches, and the bamboo skewer sticks with the beads, but it still needed something...


I have a tendency to watch the demo video and take a few notes, then I don't look at it again as I do my project, which is why I often get off track. I did go back and look at the finished picture of Jeanne's journal though and loved the writing, so I did some writing on mine with a white gel pen and added another metal piece.

The beads on the bamboo skewers were handmade by me, the three little squares at the top are actually abstract "inchies" painted by me, the leather is from a belt my dad made for me years ago, and the metal pieces are bought pieces. I bought them a few years ago for something else and didn't use them, so here they are! The round one says "Peace" and the oblong one says "Live Love Laugh".

I know the ribbon doesn't really match, but it was handy. I'm not really liking it to hold the book together (I think the holes aren't really big enough for it), so I may, or may not, change it at some point. For now it's done...