Altered notebook

Today I have an altered notebook that I would like to share. 

I was inspired by this month's mood board over at Dusty Attic. 

Ironically enough, I had a Dusty Attic notebook sitting in my stash just waiting for some paint and chippies.

How did I do?

I made the background using one of those Tattered Angels paint systems. Remember when we all just HAD to have them? Yeah I finally bust one out to mimic the barn in the photo. The bauble on the side is a cork from my collection of corks. Yes girls....you know you have them. I've always wanted to make SOMETHING with them and this is as good as anything else right?

The butterfly is a spellbinders die and is cut from the metal sheets from Add A Little Dazzle. 

I wanted lots of layers and goopiness and stampiness and just good fun. And of course....I love to layer my canvas.

The clock is a DA chippie that I have been hoarding and I've covered it in Lindy's embossing powder in Spanish Moss gold.

Since notebooks get a lot of wear and tear on the back cover, I used the paint and left it plain

well, about as plain as THIS FABULOUSNESS CAN BE!!!!

Hope you enjoyed my latest and greatest. If you're looking for a little inspiration, check out the monthly mood board at Dusty Attic.

{{hugs}}

Andiepants

eP blog hop and challenge

Welcome to eclectic Paperie’s ePlay Challenge – Push Your Boundaries!  We’re altering our challenges in 2014, creating one, month-long challenge, increasing the prize drawing, holding a design team blog hop, and including a product discount with each new challenge!  Check out the details below:

·         We’ve combined our two challenges into one, announced on the first Thursday of each month.  This gives the design team more flexibility with challenge topics and projects and allows you more time to enter! 

·         We’ll also feature a product each month, and during the first day of the challenge, you’ll receive a discount on the featured product….be sure to check for the special code! 

·         Our prize drawing is increasing from $15.00 to a $25.00 gift certificate and the winner of each challenge will be announced on the last Thursday of each month and will be featured on the eP blog. 

·         Each month we’ll hold a blog hop featuring the beautiful artwork from our design team…just scroll down to the bottom of the post for all of the links!  Talk about inspiration!!

Our challenges are about encouraging you to explore your creative journey and inspiring you to step outside of your comfort zone.  When you submit your artwork, share a unique card, scrapbook or journal page, a canvas, home décor project, or anything that you’re excited to share!  We’re looking forward to crafting with you!

Today’s special is on Liquidtex Gesso and for one day only, you can save 10% on a bottle of gesso…perfect for all of your altered projects!  Simply use code GESSO03 when checking out.

This month’s challenge is altering a book.

It was just my luck that I had purchased a book from the restore while pursuing with my crafty friend last winter. I had this little gem sitting up in a cupboard just waiting to be unleashed into something fantastic...and this challenge was it!

I was chatting with said same crafty friend regarding this challenge and it struck me...I would make a tablet cover!!!

The first question is...can this book cover a tablet. If you go online to check dimensions you will find that tablets come in EVERY size under the sun. IS NOTHING STANDARD ANYMORE PEOPLE?!

*composes herself*
Anyway...I found that my book was too small to cover any sort of apple tablet and too big for a kindle...but the Nook was JUST RIGHT :)

I started by removing the innards of the book. Just take a utility knife down the inner edge on the inside of both the back and front cover. The entire book should come right out of the cover. Mine was glued in a couple of spots so I did have to slice through the glue.

Then I covered the entire outside in gesso. This is to get a really good seal on the book so the spray will cover nicely as well as create a base. Gesso can be used as a paint but was originally intended as a base. Ever notice the canvases that you purchase are white? (or sometimes black) but when you purchase canvas material it's cream colored and raw? Well, those canvases that you purchase on a wood frame have been pre primed with gesso (oooooo...and the light bulb goes on)

Anyway...enough with the art lesson...moving on

I then flipped to the inside cover and measured and sketched what I needed and where I wanted everything. Here's a bit of a note...I created a spot to attach altered ribbon in order to tie the 2 halves together but decided instead to go with magnets as a closure. If you don't have magnets, use an awl to punch holes through the book cover and attach your ribbon as a closure. Super cute and you can make it coordinate too.

Once I punched my unnecessary holes (haha) I then began to adhere pieces to my cover in layers. I decided the front would be much more decorated. I added lots of washi tape, a doily, and some adorable embellie pieces from eP. Check these out:

Petaloo Color me crazy silk
Petaloo Color me crazy straight cut
Maya rd wooden ruler
Maya road flower centers

I know the title may seem a little cheesy but hear me out. So I called my girlfriend and found that she had a nook. I said "great...You are getting a handmade gift." She replied "I love gifts for no reason" to which I responded "it's not for no reason, it's because you're my friend". So, cheesy yes, but it has meaning.

 

From here I sprayed the entire piece with Dylusions sprays in Calypso Teal and Vibrant Turquoise. Yes...I realize I use turquoise a lot, but when I decided to make this for my girl I called and asked her what her favorite color was...guess what she said. *sigh*  If you look closely in the above picture you will see little pink flower gems. This is one of my most favorite techniques to do with Luminarte glazes. Because they are a glaze, they are see through which means you can color rhinestones any color you want! Isn't that great?! Since my color scheme was going to be varying shades of blue and teal with orange accents, I decided to color the rhinestones with Spiced Pumpkin silks glaze in order  to turn them orange. 

Here is my final cover:

I also used Tattered Angels glimmer mist in Patina and Aquamarine for the added shimmer to the misted portions. The glazes were applied in layers starting with Teal Zircon, Guatemalan Green, and finally Sky Blue. 

You can really see the iridescence of the silks.

After coloring with sprays and mists I added a large rub on to the back and binding that was in my stash.

I wasn't expecting the orange. It was a nice little surprise.

I used a Prima stencil for the back

I hope this inspires you to make something super awesome with your altered book. I had so much fun with creating this cover that I ran out of time to cover the inside with paper. LOL

Make sure you hop through the other DT blogs to see what fantastic creations they have come up with. 

And don't forget to hop over to the store to grab your discount on gesso (along with a few other mooooost have items of course) so that you can play along for the chance to win $25 in the store.

Hugs

Andiepants

Wendy Vecchi embossing paste and a Swirly Challenge

Welcome to December!!

WHAT?!

I know right?!

At any rate...mojo took a vacation and now she's back. It's been a really tough month creatively, however I got the privilege...nay the honor...of chaperoning for my 2 oldest boys electronics weekend for boyscouts. 

How on earth does this relate to scrapping?

Well, one of the committee members happens to be a scrapper too (and a pretty great gal to hang with), so she and I were talking one year and decided that the chaperones would scrap while the boys played with their electronics (aka video games). 

Of course walking into a full on weekend after a month's hiatus and no mojo is a pretty daunting experience. Never-the-less I emerged with this:

My brother was just married in June and what a better Christmas present than a home made inspirational canvas for him and his new bride to hang in their home. 

This was also the project that I was able to use for the eP 12 days of Christmas. We were promoting Wendy Vecchi embossing paste...and just what do you think is ALL OVER this canvas?

Make sure you click on my shopping link on the right to head over and check out the special deal for the day!

I adore the combination of colors on this canvas and the way the colors seep into the embossing paste. The tree is actually a piece of Fab Scraps Chipboard from an odl Swirlydoos kit! Crazy huh?

I used Prima's Finn line of vintage papers for the background with TH tissue paper, some washi tape, and some drywall tape. All of my paper flowers are hand cut and made and the zipper flowers are from a roll purchased from Melissa Frances. 

The brown tones on the lower right side are the Donna Downey Unity stamp that I purchased through eP. It's gorgeous but I was a little disappointed that it ran. I do love the shadowy look witht he stark stamping of the black images. What a contrast.

For the lettering I spritzed with smooch so they would stand out from the background a tad. Again I used another piece of Finn paper for the letters which is where the font you can see peeking here and there came from. The quote is actually from a stamp set that I own but I don't remember whom they are quoting.

I finally decided to pop in over at Swirlydoos and see what was going on with my swirly sisters. 

When I saw that my girl Kim was hosting a challenge...I knew I had to join in. What better way to keep the mojo going?

For the November swirly girls challenge we had to use everything but the kitchen sink. No less than 4 different mediums and it had to be inspired from your fav artist. Of course my fav artist is Finn...always has been.

She posted a blog post about a new blanket she bought and fell in love with that inspired her pages. How ironic that I just bought a new fluffy Sherpa blanket that I am in love with too!

This would be my color inspiration for my LO along with Finn's style:

The brown Dylusions spray turned a tad bit rusty colored on this LO but I still love the rust feel of it. All the layers, and the metal, the chipboard, the paper, the pearls....plus that photo!!! Cutest kids EVER!!! (If I do say so myself)  I forced them out to Stepping Stones Falls for a photo shoot one night after school. It was getting dark fast but they all were very good sports. From the photos I have deduced that mommy needs more work with her camera.

I hope you enjoyed the re-emergence of my mojo. I still haven't shared all the lovely creations from my weekend with my eP cronie Erin in WV so there will be lots of blogging to come.

{{hugs}}

Andiepants