Book Review - Layer by Layer - Collage Projects for Home Decorating

Layer by Layer: Collage Projects for Home Decorating
Publisher: Martingale and Company; (July, 2004)
ISBN: 1564775429
Paperback: 96 pages


Ready to expand your craftsmaking skills beyond the typical paper crafts project? Try applying collage to a well-worn or plain household item to give it new life. Take a boring wooden wastebasket, charger plate or clock base, decoupage a cut-out image or two, glue on a few embellishments, and apply your altered art skills to something the whole family can enjoy. That’s the premise behind Martingale & Company’s "Layer by Layer: Collage Projects for Home Decorating," a collection of 15 projects that tap into techniques near and dear to a paper crafter’s heart.

The projects in this paperback were created by multiple crafts artisans, rather than one author. There’s both good news and bad news with this particular compilation.

Readers can learn from the different techniques and tools used to apply materials to a variety of surfaces. For example, Saralyn Ewald favored pH Neutral PVA Adhesive and Spray Adhesive when layering background paper on her Collage Wastebasket (pages 9-12). By comparison, Genevieve A. Sterbenz preferred High-Tack White Glue and Matte-Finish Decoupage Glue when applying papers to a similar surface in her Travel Desk Box project (pages 77-80). Each approach produces a different look, increasing your personal knowledge of why you'd use one glue over another.

Is this book for beginning, intermediate or advanced collage artist? I’m not really sure. Some projects contain sparse instructions while others contain very wordy steps. I guess a mission statement of the targeted audience would have helped the authors gear their projects accordingly. But maybe the publishers wanted to address a variety of skill levels. Personally, I felt the book lacked consistency...and not just because of the varying difficulties among the projects.

Each of the 15 projects has step-by-step instructions and Designer’s Tip items in highlighted boxes. Not all of the tips are particularly insightful, as in "to reuse your foam brush, be sure to wash it..." A little obvious, right? In a few cases, the Designer’s Tip boxes were nothing more than filler.

Finally, if the editors wanted to create a collection of projects that all crafters could understand, they missed one important visual tool – step-by-step images. Sure, each project has at least one full-color photograph of the finished project. But the numbered instructions would have been infinitely clearer with the addition of thumbnails for each step. I’ve got to hand it to Genevieve, though. Her Cake Plate and Dome (pages 51-56) has detailed line drawings, complete with call-outs, to aid the crafter in positioning design elements. And Jill MacKay has a similar drawing in her Mosaic Candle Luminary (pages 41-45), along with its legend on tile colors.

By the way, not all of the projects in this book are based on paper crafting. You may have noticed that the last two projects use mosaic tiles. It doesn’t hurt to branch out of your comfort zone once in a while.

In summary, if you're looking for a book that meets one particular crafts interest or skill level, look elsewhere. But if you're looking for a book with something for everyone plus an eclectic mix of teaching approaches, this is a good choice.

Product Resource Guide

Buy this book at Amazon.com

Article Description: Transfer your paper crafting skills to home décor with this book for the collage lover

Project - Decoupage a Fantasy with Altered Tins

My family and I had just seen "Peter Pan (2003)" with Jason Isaacs and Jeremy Sumpter. The movie inspired me to decoupage a fairy-themed altered tin.

I decided to raid my daughter's "Art Cart" and use some of her art materials for this project. My daughter and her cousin worked on tins at the same time, and they enjoyed using products (like Elmer's) that they already knew and loved. If you decide to do a similar project, you may want to use professional crafter's glue for adhering the image and tissue paper onto the tin. It's up to you! ~ Article by Kim M. Bayne



Altered Tin Materials List
· Discarded Altoid's or Other Breath Mint Tin (Size: approx. 2.5 by 3.75 by .75 inches)
· Self-Adhesive White Mailing Label, Rectangular, large enough to fit the lid of the tin
· Scissors or X-Acto Knife and Blade
· Expired Plastic Credit Card
· Elmer's Washable School Glue No Run Gel, or you can use your favorite clear-drying professional glue, like Diamond Glaze
· Color Copy of Fairy from Favorite Book, Reduced (Size: 2 by 3 inches)
· Small Paintbrush for Applying Glue in Small Places
· Acrylic Craft Paint in Purple
· Purple Tissue Paper, Torn into Small Pieces
· Marvy Metallics Marker in Purple
· Wing Stickers cut from dragonfly on sheet of Sandylion Sticker Designs
· Elmer's 3D Washable Jumbo Paint Pens (Gold, Purple, Silver, and Aqua Glitter)
· Elmer's 3D Washable Jumbo Paint Pen (Gold Glitter with Star and Heart Sequins)
· Gold Puffy 3D Star Sticker
· Tiny White Glass Micro Marbles
· "Believe" from Hallmark Cards Word Stickers
· Matte Acrylic Sealer Spray

The Steps

For starters, I "cheated" a little and covered the top of the tin with a label. That became the base for applying all the other materials I added later.

1. Peel the backing off a plain white self-adhesive mailing label. Lay it "adhesive side up" on the table. Place the mint tin "top down" on the label. Use the back of a spoon to "burnish" the label onto the lid and smooth out any bubbles.

2. Use scissors or craft knife to trim the extra label that extends beyond the lid. You can trim it to fit down the sides of the lid or remove the extra entirely.

3. Trim around the fairy image. Using a plastic credit card (one that has expired or a promotional one received in the mail), spread a thin layer of glue on the label. Carefully place the fairy picture on top of the glue, smoothing it to remove any wrinkles. Set aside to dry.

4. After the fairy has dried, you're ready to paint. Using a small paintbrush, apply a thin coating of purple acrylic paint on the sides and top of the lid, covering all but the fairy image and a small border around her. Go take a break while the tin dries -- again! (smiles).

5. Glue torn tiny pieces of purple tissue paper in selected places on top of the acrylic paint, pushing the pieces up in spots to create texture. Don't cover the acrylic paint entirely -- the mix of paint and tissue on the lid will create different shades of purple. With a paintbrush and some gel glue, I glued both sides of the tissue to make it appear somewhat translucent. Go for a walk...while this dries.

6. With the purple metallics marker, create a cloud-like outline around the top of the lid. If you like, you can apply metallic marker to the sides of the lid, too.

7. Embellish the fairy's hair with gold glitter glue.

8. Cut the wings off a holographic dragonfly and apply them to the back of the fairy.

9. Extend the wings "out of frame" by brushing on aqua and silver glitter glue. Before the glue dries completely, add dimension to the wings by sprinkling on tiny glass beads, using a spoon to control placement. If you wish, you can add more gel glue on top of the marbles to create a softer look for the wings.

10. Apply the large gold puffy 3D star sticker just above the fairy's head. Enhance the star with gold glitter and gold glitter with stars and hearts. As you apply the glitter, paint in an arch to resemble a shooting star.

11. Tear the edges of the "believe" sticker. Place the sticker on the lid just under the fairy. Add gel glue and micro marbles on top of the word. Don't worry about the word becoming cloudy. When the glue dries, the word will be readable.

12. To cover the torn edges of the word, tear and glue tiny pieces of purple tissue paper around "believe" to frame the word.

13. If you just can't stop yourself -- like me (wink wink) -- add purple glitter glue in strategic places on the lid and on the sides of the lid.

14. Let dry overnight. The next day, protect your elaborate creation using a matte acrylic sealer spray over the entire design.

It was a challenge to stop altering this tin because I'm very fond of the subject matter. Even after I had completed it, I wanted to go back to add more glitter, but I moved on to other projects -- thank goodness!

Product Resource Guide
· Buy your craft supplies at MisterArt.com
· The project photo on this page was taken with a 5.0 MP resolution KODAK EASYSHARE DX4530 Zoom Digital Camera

Related Links
· Free Class: Altered Tin Class by Jen Kinton-Bailey, on ARTChix Studios
· Altered Altoid Tins
· Altered Tins and Boxes

Article Description: Take a discarded mint tin, tissue paper, glue and glitter and you´re off to Neverland.