My Faerie Tale Altered Book

I've started another round of altered books. My theme - Faerie Tales. These are the sign in pages. What I'm having each player do (there are 12) is choose a faerie. Then they have to write about why they choose that faerie!! They can add anything they want to the pages just as long as it doesn't interfere with anyone else's page. Here are the faerie pages, I'll upload mine as soon as I finish! I think they will LOVE this - at least, I hope they will. I think this was a pretty clever and original idea for sign in pages. :O) The pages are all in order too, so as you scroll down, it's like flipping the page.

Stampboard

StampBoard is pretty cool. Here is one that is the size of at ATC (2.5 x 3.5). I used a direct to stampboard inking with versa magics blues and greens, then I used a davinchi lady stamp that i have and stamped her in black staz on. Heat set with my blow dryer because my heat gun died :O( then used the tool to scrap away the color I had added so where I scrapped - it's white. I put magic tape around the outside edges and dipped it in purple glittler - you know how I like to make things sparkle!

I tried to make her whole head stand out from the backgroud and then just accent her features and hair. I made 2 more for my "Art By The Month" group. I hope they like it!!!

These Hands

Hello, I did a really cool swap where our Hands were the size of the book. I did the covers and my own pages. Since there were only 5 participants, including myself, doing 5 sets of left and right hands, front and back and all origionals was not that difficult.

This is the cover, the inside has everyone who participated on each finger. They are made out of very thin cardboard, or chip board and just hand painted. Everyone has the first letter of their name and the 'H' in hands done with flexible wax and the rest are stickers or hand done.

These are my outside pages. I call my spreads "Eclectic Oriental" LOL!!! I used Stamp Zia's oriental chop stamps, and then just lots of asian emphemera that I had lying around. Each page is a little different depending how many of what I had. I really liked the fortune cookie sayings a lot, they were perfect for the fingers. I used Stampin Up brushed copper cardstock - SU has the BEST cardstock hands down!





And these are the insides. I really like them, I used lots of silver and verdigo embossing poweders (they made such a mess in my living room - my vacuum has never been prettier!) I used Stamp Zia's Ginko and Luna Moth Stamps, and filled them in with puffy fabric paints.

They were a bit time consuming, but that was mainly in the planning, I had a lot of fun though. Can't wait to see what comes back!

Spring Seasons Spreads

Hello, I've been at it again, here are my spring spreads for the season's round robin. This is the first page of the spread. It's on the right side of the book.











When you flip the page, you see the full spread, here is the page on the left.




















Here is the page on the right.

And here is the page on the back. What 'Who Has Seen the Wind' poem is one that I had to memorize in the fourth grade!

Loop and Ladder Bracelet

My very own, loop and ladder bracelet. I did this at The Queens Ink with a wonderful teacher - Anne Townsley. It took be about 12+ hours, but I had a lot of fun, and I can't wait to show this baby off!!

Altered Puzzle Pieces

These are some altered puzzle pieces. They were a lot of fun to do, cheep to get and look great as pins, or put back together in a puzzle. The single peices were all part of one swap. 12 of us got a 12 peice puzzle and mailed out 11 of those to the other participants in the group. We had to choose a color and put that on the back of the peice as well as which side up the top. (I choose "cool colors") This swap was called Texture Puzzle. The goal was to have some sort of touchable texture on each peice. I used either UTEE or gesso and paint as my textures to use. It was fun!! Then there is one whole puzzle I did some time back thrown into the mix here too.

Puzzle Piece

Here's an ATC that I made today. I made 10 of them for a swap I'm in. I used black cardstock, then painted swishes of lumiere paints. Stamped the card in brilliance and stamped the puzzle pieces with staz on and then painted over with some lumiere paints. Hope everyone likes it!

Winter Spreads

Another spread completed!! I received 3 books from across the pond last week, and I've completed one spread for one book out of the three so far. I only did one spread because I used 5 & 1/2 pages of the book!
These are for the Seasons RR I'm in. I don't want to bog down the next lady, so I'll send her a book every week or so and that will get the group going again. Can't wait to finish this round and get my book back!! I miss it...sniff...sniff...

I WON I WON I WON I WON I WON I WON!!!!

This is about 7x9 and in my living room!! IT's not a card, it's on 2 peices of mat board.

Click here: http://www.rubberstampsclub.com/winners-march06.html

Vintage Spreads

Sniff...sniff... these are the last two spreads for one of my Round Robins. I'm sad that it's over, but it was great. We had some awesome themes, I think the "In a Galaxy far far away" was one of my favs...I really had to go find stuff for that one! Oh and the beatles book!

This spread was done with me aging the papers with walnut inks and embossing powders. I used handmade paper and the chick is on a transparency held by those cool paperclips. The right side is all cut out. About 15 pages worth, and the middle thing is a pin that i found in a thrift store, I covered it with those micro beads for texture, and added fringe to complete the page.

When you turn the middle thingy over, you get the travel part of the vintage travels page. I used tons of misc stuff, stickers, mirrors, papers, aged the book part of the paper, and embossing powders for texture.

Okay, this is spread is a little bead happy!! I called it "memories of old" There just tons of old stuff on it. Old pic of people dancing, which I aged myself, old stuff on the Cd, The backgroud is this thick ribbon i found, which i heat set and it got all holey and aged looking, and the beads are just for fun!!

What have I done....

I started my own group on yahoo....

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/thealteredartgroup/

I'm really excited about it!! If you're into altered books swaps, or anything altered art, chunky books, card swaps, atc, come check us out. It just started, but we are going to be doing an Altered Book Round Robin. Choose your own theme, BUT it's a technique book!! Ahhhhh, how cool is that? Ton's of techniques in whatever theme you choose. I chose fairytale.. It's going to be so much fun!!

Copper

Altered Journal

Here is the front of an Altered Journal I did for a swap. I sent this to someone who really inspires me and sends me some of the most beautiful swaps.

I'll post the inside cover and the back as soon as blogger allows me too!!

In a galaxy far far away...on the front and back of a CD anyway!

This one's for you CM, I hope you like it!!

Faerie Cd front and Back

Another one I didn't want to give away....

Life is better today :O)

Okay, I feel much better today. Eyes are okay, I'm back to working on my swaps. I've even done a couple today that I think are pretty good!! Check 'em out:

This is a spread I did for a Beatles book. I picked my favorite song, Blackbird, and did an abstract painting.



Here's the tag I made for the book, I added fibers after I scanned it:

And here is a Dance Cd I made for an altered cd swap. It didn't scan very well, I almost don't want to mail this one!! This cd is the one making up for a cd I didn't really mean to send out. I hope she likes it!!


Will add more stuff later!!!

I need a hug and some chocolate....

Okay, I think I have now completely screwed up so many things, i don't even know what to say, every time I try to say something, i just sound rediculous. For instance - I've sent swaps out the weren't completed. What the hell? That's not me. I'm behind on a few swaps because I just can't seem to get inspired. I keep joining new ones because I can't resist and I keep thinking - my muse will come back...and hopefully it will bring my brain back with it!!

I don't know what the real deal is with me these days...i think it's the migranes. They're horrible. I went to the eye doctor, she said bifocals...bifocals at 25 (in may)...rough. So I got bifocals, I had them a week...getting kind of used to them, but not really. I can't consentrate on my swaps to long because it hurts my eyes, which hurts my head...which makes me want to cry because doing the swaps is my own personal therapy (can't afford a real one, that would take up my art money).

I do have an appointment with the opthmologist - eye surgeon, because my eye doctors thinks there is some serious issues with my eyes - high pressure...blah...blah...blah...migranes....my eyes ache... I hate the eye doctors, I hate what they put you through....I can't even put drops in my eyes...hey, some people hate needles...i hate eye doctors. Ben is going with me to hold my hand...i love him.

Last weekend, I couldn't find my car charger, I had someone trying to hook up with me for some fun stamping or just hangin out time, had to rely on emails and hoped she got them so she wasn't thinkin i was ignoring her. Found my cell phone charger after the weekend, in the same place i always put it so I don't loose it. !!?&*?!!

I don't get it. I want my normal brain and my normal patterns back. Damn it!!

I'm staying home this weekend to get my swap life back in order, i have a beatles altered book, some cds to alter and some cards to make...they will get done...and they will be fabulous!

Two more Chunky Book Projects Done

These are my chunky pages, the left is the front, the right the back.

This one is for 'Angels Amoung Us'

This one is for 'The White Chunky Book'

Yeah, there are other colors, but they help to bring out all the great vintage white colors!

More of what I have been up to these days...

This was for an ATC swap called Doors, Windows and Portals.

These were some altered Cd's I was doing.

This is just a really cool glue resist doen with watercolors.

I'm Back!!

Hi everyone, miss me? A lot has happened since December. I've moved into a bigger and better apartment, with a hallway, and a bedroom and a bathtub!! Oh and closets - 3 HUGE closets!! One with a built in shoe rack - very cool.

I've also been working 12 hour days - TAX SEASON. Not to bad, this was my first and it's going pretty good. Lot's of clients, lots of hours = lots of art spending money for me!! Tax season is starting to slow down now, which is good. It's nice to come home and the sun is still out, even if it is ready for bed.

I've still made time for my art. Although I'm getting a little upset about some of them. I'm in a cd swap that is really not the level I was expecting. Luckily, I'm in another one which the work is a lot better. That's the thing though about swaps, you don't know what you're going to get!! Unless of course you know the reputation of the group...I didn't!! :O)

The Round Robins are going the same way, one group I find the art work to be fantastic, the players are timely, communitive and nice to talk to! The other group, I haven't seen a book in 3 months. And apparently we have someone hording 3 books for whatever reason... and has had one book since the end of last year. Stuff like this is very difficult to deal with, and it makes Round Robins so incredible hard for the lot of us who are honest and are willing to partake.

I've also been involved in some awesome chunky books. The themes were: Angels Amoung Us and White. The White was challenging, but I'm very happy with what my end result was. I'll upload them soon. I'm just joing a chunky book called - Ya Ya's!! I'm so excited about that one, my Ya Ya name is Queen Giggle Box!! I just see a ton of fibers and beads hanging off these pages. Another very cool project I was asked to join is an altered wine journal. More to come on that.

Happy Altering!! Copper