Fairy Altered Book

Sometimes the greatest ideas come in those wee hours just before falling asleep.

This is one of those …

I have been wanting to make an altered book for many years — decades, actually — but I never had the courage to try. But, when I moved, I “found” an old copy of Alice in Wonderland. The book had purple on the edges of the pages and was such a nice copy that I couldn’t get rid of it — even though my daughter had written on many of the pages. And, with the perfect book in hand, I knew it was time to attempt to make an altered book.

It took me awhile because I wanted to allow plenty of dry time and I had to carefully think everything through, but it wasn’t difficult.

To start, I covered the inside of the cover in paper. Then, I cut out a few pages at the beginning (to get to pages filled with text). Next, I rolled a few pages and glued them down in the middle of the open book. Once that was dry (I was afraid of messing things up, so I did a little bit each day, allowing for plenty of dry time) I used Ranger’s Glue ‘n Seal to paint the edges of the pages on the right side so they would become one solid block.

Next, I traced the interior piece of one of the Globecraft Memories frames and began cutting an oval out of the book. I used my Fisker’s craft knife and continued to cut in sections until I made it all the way to the bottom of the book. I then coated the inside of the oval with Glue ‘n Seal and added some paper and ribbon.

Then, I covered the exterior of the book in the same paper and added a tassel and metal plate that I’ve been carrying around for years …

Back on the inside, I decided I wanted to soften the white pages a bit, so I added some Distress Ink and discovered an awesome technique …

The Distress Ink doesn’t show where the Glue ‘n Seal was. Doesn’t it make for a great look?!?

Next, I wanted to make a place for my fairy to sit, so I used some paper, Glue ‘n Seal, Clearly For Art (by Wendy Vecchi, Studio 490) and a Tim Holtz/Sizzix die to make some flowers. I also pulled out some leftover Prima flowers in a variety of colors and sprayed them all with Adirondack Color Wash in Butterscotch and then a thin coating of Perfect Pearls Mists in Heirloom Gold. The flowers were a variety of green, pink and purple and I love how different they all became with the same treatment. Here’s the inside with the fairy (I used Glue Dots to attach her.

Next came the Globecraft Memories frame … I covered them with paper and paint and attached them together. I still needed a bit of space between the plastic globe and the fairy, so I added a couple layers of dimensional foam.

Then it was just a matter of embellishing … I added some ribbon, some more handmade flowers (some made out of the pages of the book I took out), some more Prima flowers that I dyed and a couple of metal embellishments. I also made a butterfly the same way I made the flowers (paper, Glue ‘n Seal, Tim Holtz/Sizzix die & Clearly For Art) and added some wire antennae. Finally, for some added girly charm, I glued on several Dew Drops from Robin’s Nest.

I love the depth inside the globe. Isn’t this the perfect addition to any girly room?!

Fairy Art

Last May, at the Great Lakes Mega Meet, I discovered a new product and promptly fell in love … Globecraft Memories. The globes come in kits with chipboard frames that can be layered around a globe — which is perfect for 3-D items.

It’s taken me a while, but I finally put one together using some wonderful products from Art Glitter.

 

This one was particularly challenging to photograph because of the reflections in the globe, so I’ve included some close up photos to help you see all of the dimension and sparkle in this project.

First, I stamped the fairy (from JudiKins) three times on X-Press It Blending Card and colored each image with Copic Sketch Markers. Then, I cut the three images out and used foam adhesive to attach them together for dimension.

I thought her dress and hat should be really special. I imagined the dress as layers of beaded fringe, so using Designer Dries Clear Adhesive with the Ultrafine Metal Tip, I covered her dress and hat in Small Glass Beads in Clear (810) from Art Glitter.

Then, I added Microfine Winter White glitter (711) to the spots on the wings and her socks. Since this glitter is transparent, the color shows through underneath.

I wanted her to have a bit more sparkle, so I added Microfine in Poupon (717), which is also transparent, to the place where her wings come out from her body.

While that dried, I turned my attention to the frame.

I wasn’t in the mood to trace, cut and sand, so I decided to ink the frame instead of covering it with paper. I used Rusty Hinge Distress Ink to cover each piece. Then, I used stamps from Tim Holtz and Studio 490, along with Ranger Archival Ink, to create pattern.

Next, I used Designer Dries Clear Adhesive to adhere the fairy and the globe to the background, and then to attach each of the frames to the top.

For accents, I covered some Grungeboard flowers from Tim Holtz with Vintage Glass Glitter in Chocolatta (624). (you could use cardstock or chipboard to make your own, if you need to). I glued those to the frame and then found a few dried flowers in my garden and added them. Once the adhesive was dry, I added a bit of twine from May Arts and some additional glue underneath to make it all stay put.

I love the juxtaposition of the Vintage Glass Glitter with the dried flower pods …

(TIP: It takes a bit more time to adhere Designer Dries Clear Adhesive to glitter than it does to other surfaces. So, I took my time and watched television while I held each flower in place and waited for the glue to set. It does adhere beautifully, it just requires a bit more patience than we are used to.)

I covered some additional Grungeboard die cuts (of butterflies and dragonflies) in Ultrafine Halo (230), Ultrafine Sand (68) and Ultrafine Sage (122) and adhered them around the frame.

Finally, I added a few brads and pronounced it finished.

(I received Art Glitter products in exchange for this post)

 

Gardening with the Fairies

Wow. It’s been a while.

This is the busy season in my real job and I had several other deadlines and the Great Lakes Mega Meet and well, it just seems like a lifetime ago since I last blogged.

Although I haven’t been blogging, I have been crafting … and when you keep crafting, but don’t blog, you have lots of things to share!

One of the things I finally finished was my fairy garden, well the indoor one, at least.

If you read the Livingston County Daily Press & Argus, you know that I recently did a story on one of the latest trends — fairy gardens. I had intended the story to be only about outdoor fairy gardens, but when I went to the fairy store to interview the owners, I fell in love with the indoor gardens, as well, and had to make one of my own.

It took several weeks to figure out what I wanted to do and then to locate all of the materials to do it. Although I wouldn’t consider it done, because it seems like one of those things that will continue to evolve, it is done for now.

I started with a glass bowl. For the base, I covered a piece of floral foam with moss, wrapping it like a present using Art Glitter Designer Dries Clear adhesive to hold it in place.  Then, I filled the side of the bowl with decorative rocks.

The gazebo was purchased (plain) at the store, Heavenly Scent Herb  Farm in Tyrone Township, if you live nearby. I used a few packages of Prima flowers and vines to decorate it — again, using Art Glitter glue to adhere everything. I just took my time and held everything in place for a few seconds before moving on and I had no trouble with things staying stuck.

The dangly inside was made with a bead from Maya Road. I used a Hero Arts background stamp with Staz-On ink and then added a bit of Art Glitter to it.

The little flower pots were also purchased at Heavenly Scent, but I didn’t like the color of them. So, I painted them with Ranger Paint Dabbers, in Espresso and Gold, to achieve the patina I wanted.

The larger pots were decorated with Ranger’s Liquid Pearls.

I then added some silk flowers, a rock from the beach, eggs and tiny birds — all found at the craft store.

The fairies have picks that can be used to stick in the foam so they stay in place. But I wanted the little baby fairy to sit on the flower, so I used a Craft Glue Dot to hold her in place. Since I should be able to scrape the Glue Dot off of her bottom, I’ll be able to move her when I want. I used the same technique to hold the bird in the little boy fairy’s hands.

So, what do you think?

Fun with Alcohol

I have been wanting this stamp by Judi Kins for months and finally broke down and bought it. I imagined it warm, sunny and sparkly.

So, for the next challenge for Scrap Wars, I created a special tag to go with this special stamp.

Our challenge was to make a standard tag and use acetate somewhere on the tag. I decided just to make the tag from acetate.

I used Judi Kins Embossable Window Plastic to make the tag and added Tim Holtz Alcohol Ink to the back side. I then stamped the image on the front and heat embossed it with Zing embossing powder.

When I got done, I decided I didn’t like the fairy’s flesh colored in yellow and orange, so I used a Q-Tip and some blending solution to remove the color. In retrospect, an Alcohol Ink Pen filled with blending solution probably would have worked better.

I then added glitter to the backside, so it didn’t get in the way of the details. I used glitter and clear glue by Art Glitter.

Some eyelets and beads (by Maya Road) at the bottom and a ribbon up top completed the look.