Book Review - Visual Chronicles by Linda Woods and Karen Dinino

reviewed on papercrafts.bellaonline.com

Visual Chronicles: The No-Fear Guide to Creating Art Journals, Creative Manifestos and Altered Books

by Linda Woods and Karen Dinino
Publisher: North Light Books (an imprint of F+W Publications), 2006
ISBN: 1581807708 ; Paperback book: 128 pages
Reviewed By Kim M. Bayne, Paper Crafts Editor for BellaOnline.comproduct
Rating: ★★★★

If you fear exploring your creativity, but are still drawn to the idea of documenting your personal history through artistic journals or altered books, two sisters – authors of “Visual Chronicles” – will inspire and enlighten you. Sisters Karen Dinino and Linda Woods guide novice book artists through stamping, collage, painting and writing with simple journaling projects designed to open your mind to new possibilities.

Tapping into the full breadth of the typical creative psyche, Karen (the lawyer) and Linda (the artist) combine their innate, individual talents to explore the application of colors and shapes to the scribing of expressive text. From chapter to chapter, the focus of their book is clear – it’s all about “me,” but in a good way. Fear-busting chapter titles include “I Have No Time,” “I’d Have to Do It All Alone,” and “Nothing Happens in My Life.”

“Good grief! They read my mind,” I thought as I glanced through the Table of Contents. In fact, when I spied the “Entry Denied” brick wall made of a line drawing and rubber stamps, I knew immediately we were all on the same page – literally. I had embraced the “brick wall” motif previously by applying dimensional paint to an altered book cover, so right then I knew I’d found kindred spirits in these two authors.

Artistic inspiration and projects aside, this book is simply entertaining reading. You could curl up and read it with nary an embellishment or glue stick in sight. You’d still come away satisfied that you’d shattered a few mental myths in the process. For example, Fear Buster No. 5 – titled "I Don’t Have Any Ephemera" – simply says "Ladies, look in your purse." For those of us reliant on fanny packs and multi-pocketed vests, we still get the picture. Ephemera can be merely the stuff that documents your lives – ticket stubs, receipts and wrappers are evidence that we have experienced life. In other words, “Every day is an artful journal,” write the authors.

So stop lamenting that you are not an artist and can’t draw a straight line. Pick up a copy of “Visual Chronicles” and start exploring your life today.

Product Resource Guide
· Buy Visual Chronicles at Amazon.com
· Browse for more Paper Crafts Books at Amazon.com

Article Description: Can't draw a straight line but want to document your life? Here's some help...with lots of flair.

Book Review - Art Stamping Workshop by Gloria Page

reviewed on papercrafts.bellaonline.com

Art Stamping Workshop: Create Hand-Carved Stamps for Unique Projects on Paper, Fabric, Polymer Clay and More

by Gloria Page
Publisher: F & W Publications, 2006
ISBN: 1581806965; Paperback: 128 pages
Reviewed By Kim M. Bayneproduct
Rating: ★★★★★

These days, with so many books on the market, it’s rare when I can pick up a new paper crafts title and actually see myself doing the majority of projects. Even rarer when I actually start doing most of them shortly after browsing.

Before I came across “Art Stamping Workshop” by Gloria Page, I was my usual skeptical self. My paper crafts style is an eclectic mix of shabby chic and whatever found art I almost threw away. In other words, it’s unlikely that some cutesy project book will appeal to me. Guess what? Gloria’s projects are anything but “cute.” Think simple yet stylish, creative yet uncluttered, and best of all, you’ll come away with a ton of new ideas. For example, I loved her Magnetic Bookmark Card project (page 48) -- the card incorporates two paper bookmarks into its design, so this work of art is practical as well.

Gloria’s Workshop demonstrates everything from how to carve your own stamps out of soft-block carving material – her photographs make these 20 projects look so simple, even the novice won’t be shy about carving – to rubber stamping with Staz-On Ink right on rocks. I was so inspired; I started gathering rocks outside my home so I could decorate the yard. My creations, based on the River Rock project (page 90) must have looked great because a few of them went missing in a few hours. Oh, well!

Gloria didn’t stop at altering rocks, either. A ceramic white tile, a plain wooden frame from the crafts store, and miscellaneous fabrics all became the recipients of Gloria’s unique stamping style. And no corner was left unexplored...literally. Gloria even decorated scrapbook photo corners with stamped triangles. There’s enough in this book to keep an altered art mind busy for weeks, if not months.

Now about the images in this book…all very clear and well photographed, with great lighting. I had no problem seeing the up-close details of an artist’s journal embellished with stamped craft sticks or a star ornament stamped out of polymer clay. Gloria’s pages left nothing to the imagination, except of course, for how you’ll apply her wonderful techniques and style to your own original projects. And if you're at a loss for how to outfit your crafts area for these projects, the author has included a few pages with more than a dozen material ideas for carving your own stamps.

If you’re a paper person, fabric fanatic or altered artist at heart, take heart! There’s something here for you. From the beginner to the advanced crafter, you’ll find a new way to look at rubber stamping. Gloria’s book is well worth the time and price. But beware – once you pick it up, nothing in your house will be safe from rubber and ink.

Product Resource Guide
· Buy Art Stamping Workshop at Amazon.com
· Browse for more Paper Crafts Books at Amazon.com

Article Description: Learn how to carve your own stamps for unusual projects on a variety of surfaces

Project - Hide a Sweet Surprise in a Box Tag

I couldn't decide what to do -- make a gift tag or make a box. So I made two-in-one. Now I can decorate a tag to my heart's desire while still having a place to stash some goodies.


Miniature Box Tag for Valentine's Day

Materials & Tools

Template for miniature box tag

Brown craft paper, card stock or other heavy weight paper

Inkjet printer

Good pair of comfortable, teflon-like coated scissors, like Velvet Touch Scissors by Armada, or a craft knife and a straight edge

Paper trimmer, like 12" Portable Paper Trimmer Item #95987097 by Fiskars

Double-stick tape

Pigment inkpad, in Red

Cosmetic wedges or sponges for applying ink

Small piece of a brown corrugated paper

Handheld paper punch, like 1/8-inch Round Punchline Punch Item #52400 by McGill

Gold twist ties, from a bag of bread

Red buttons

Small brass heart

Red glitter glue

Small cheap paint brush for applying glitter glue

Small red feather

Adhesive dots

Small red miniature rose embellishments

Red and gold fibers for the tag hole

The Steps
Click to enlarge images. Click the back button to return to this article.)

1. Download the miniature box tag template from here.

2. Cut an 8.5 by 11 inch piece of brown kraft paper. Print the template on to the paper with your inkjet printer. You can run the paper through the inkjet printer again, upside down, if you would like to make two box tags -- one on each end of the paper.


3. Using scissors (or a craft knife and straight edge), cut out the template.

4. Using the Fiskars paper cutter (with the folding blade inserted), crease the template on all the dotted lines to make folding easier.


5. Lay the template flat so you can decorate it. Using a cosmetic wedge or sponge, apply red pigment ink onto the back of the template -- that is, the side to face out after you have folded the box.

6. Cut a small piece of corrugated brown cardboard to fit the width of the folded box tag's front.

7. Line the red buttons up on the corrugated paper and mark through the holes so you know where to punch. Punch small holes in the paper, then thread the gold twist ties through the holes and tie on the two red buttons. While you're at it, punch the hold in the end of the box tag. Now trim the ties close to the button so only about a half inch remains on each end.

8. Apply the small brass heart to the corrugated piece using adhesive dots.

9. Use double stick tape to attach the corrugated piece to the upper front of the box tag.

10. Apply red glitter glue to the lower half of the box. While the glue is drying, add pieces of the red feather. Allow the box to dry completely.

11. After the box is dry, fold the box into shape. Fold and hide the extra tab using double stick tape.

12. Using adhesive dots, add the miniature roses to the tab stub.

13. Add the fibers to the tag hole using a Lark's Head knot.

14. Fill the box with M&Ms, miniature kisses or other small candies. Give the tag to your swwetheart on Valentine's Day

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Product Resource Guide
· Most project photos on this page were taken with a 5.0 MP resolution KODAK EASYSHARE DX4530 Zoom Digital Camera
· Browse for Paper Crafts Books at Amazon.com

Article Description: Create a miniature tag with a secret -- sweet treats for your Valentine.

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

Technique – Make a Distressed Paper Tag

Having just finished decorating a cardboard box for a Michaels Arts and Crafts store demo, I felt something was missing. It needed a little extra oomph to finish it off and I knew just what was in order – a distressed tag of some kind. Sure, there are several ways to get this look, but for now, I've chosen something relatively easy...working with ink.

A representative of FiberScraps, makers of the E-Z Walnut Ink used here, demonstrated her approach to this technique for me at a crafts trade show. She provided me with a sample bottle for use in this article. I really like using the product because it is not messy at all. The ink bottle works well for stamping and stippling, too. Now don't limit yourself to just using Walnut Ink. Check out the FiberScraps site for more shades or rummage around your existing inkpads for some interesting color combinations. I sure did!

My Materials & Tools

Manilla paper hang tag(s), available in different sizes from office supply stores

Bottle of Original E-Z Walnut Ink #FS-102 2 Oz. Bottle with dauber applicator by FiberScraps

Memories Acid Free Dye Ink Pad in Sand by Stewart Superior Corp.

Brown, copper, gold and silver pigment inkpad combo, like Ultimate Inkpad Paintbox², in Precious Metals #13010 by ColorBox/Clearsnap

Compact Mini-Iron^TM by Clover Needlecraft

My Steps
Click to enlarge images. Click the back button to return to this article.)

1. Take a standard paper tag, any size, and remove the string.


2. Gather your ink supplies. Pick any combination of beige, brown, walnut and/or earth-toned inkpads, re-inkers or ink bottles with daubers. You can even use sponges with any ink to get the look you want. The choice is up to you.


3. Crumple the tag in your hand, perhaps starting by simply folding it in your palm. Continue to crumple the tag at different angles. Be gentle and selective when crumpling -- too many creases and your design may look too busy or muddy when the tag dries.


4. Flatten the tag somewhat. Using a direct-to-paper inking approach, apply the beige or sand inkpad directly to the hills or creases of the tag. You want to create a little three-dimensional contrast between the different shades of brown, if you can.


5. Grab one of the brown pads from the inkpad combo and apply it to the tag as well.


6. Dab the brown applicator ink on the flat valleys or uncrinkled areas of the tag. Depending on how much of the original tag color you'd like to remain, you can apply a light coat of this wet ink or a heavy coat for deeper color saturation.


7. Highlight here and there with one of the copper pads from the inkpad combo. You might even brush this color on the edges of the tag to create a "halo" effect. Try a bit of gold ink, if you're bold.


8. Let the tag dry overnight, out in the open. I've experimented with sandwiching an inked tag in between paper towels and I've experimented with putting the tag out on the porch. Try different drying approaches for different looks.

9. The next day, if you'd like to set the ink and make the tag flatter, iron it on low heat using a press cloth between the iron and tag. Now many crafters suggest ironing crumpled tags, including well-known artist Tim Holtz, who was seen antiquing tags for a Distressed Tag Journal Project on the Carol Duvall Show. In my box project, I didn't bother to iron the tag because I liked the crinkled look better. Eventually, I ironed my distressed tags for other projects, though.



I really like the Clover Mini-iron, mainly because I didn't have to set up the ironing board to use it and the small head meant I was less likely to burn myself. Don't let the small size of the tip fool you -- it does get hot! If you don't have a crafts iron, you can use a clothes iron as long as you don't plan to use it on clothes anymore. You never know what your iron will pick up and transfer to your favorite shirt, so don't risk it! I remember using a good iron on a project, only to transfer some unwanted bits and pieces to a shirt the next day. Well, I learned that lesson the hard way.

10. When you're ready to add your tag to one of your paper crafts creations, tie your distressed tag to some fiber (or tie some fiber to your tag). Either way, you're ready to embellish.

You can use your tag on a greeting card, on a scrapbook page or, like in my example (see below), hang it from a paper box.


Project Tips

When crumpling your tag, don't study it too much. Be random and let the creases fall where they may.

Create a watermark using a rubber stamp, clear ink and clear embossing powder. Apply these before you add any brown ink to the tag. Your clear image will appear ghostlike or ethereal.

You can add beads or buttons or bits of lace to your tag, if you want. Mix it up with different additions to your antiqued creation.

For more tips on distressing paper, be sure to visit the Rubber Art Stamping site. Editor Cecile Pryor has two articles on "Getting The Old-Fashioned Look."

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Reading and Viewing Recommendations

Tag Creations, a special issue of Paper Crafts magazine

Tags Reinvented: New Approaches to Creating Scrapbook Tabs, by Erikia Ghumm

Its All About Cards And Tags, by Nancy M. Hill

An Altered Journey with Tim Holtz (DVD), Studio: PageSage

(Using) Walnut Ink, by Beverly Seymour (Author), Suzanne McNeill (Editor)

Product Resource Guide
· Order your E-Z Walnut Ink at FiberScraps
· Find Manila Shipping Tags
· Clover Mini Iron
· ColorBox Pigment Ink Pads
· Walnut Ink Antiquing Solution 2 Oz Spray
· Tim Holtz Distress Ink Stamp Pads
· Most project photos taken with a 5.0 MP resolution KODAK EASYSHARE DX4530 Zoom Digital Camera
· Browse for Paper Crafts Books at Amazon.com

Article Description: Need an altered style embellishment to enhance a greeting card or paper maché box? Try antiquing a paper hang tag for that shabby chic look.

Getting Organized - Sort Your Ephemera

I wish I had all the shelves, drawers, cabinets, totes and containers I would ever need for paper crafting. But like many crafters, my storage solutions are often seat-of-the-pants and at the expense of aesthetics. Sometimes I just don't have the money, time or patience to find one more container for one more project.

I started "bagging it" when I began participating in crafts swaps. A crafts host would announce a theme -- say, celestial artist trading cards -- and I would start hoarding related ephemera (i.e. stars, moons and planets) in a gallon-sized, zippable plastic food bag. If I had several swaps in mind, I'd have a bag for each.


Ephemera Sorted by Theme

For labeling, I chose a temporary fix. Rather than write directly on the bags with indelible marker, I'd create a small label on plain paper and adhere it with clear packing tape. I'd fold a tiny end of the tape back onto itself to create a tab for easy removal. When I finished making the swaps, I removed the label and saved the bag for the next theme. Soon I gathered materials in anticipation of themes. Now I have a bin full of different bags, waiting for the creative muse to strike.

But sorting by theme doesn't always meet my needs, I've found. There are days when I'd rather do art based on color or texture. One day I was in the mood for everything Egyptian, but I didn't have enough ephemera on this theme. After rummaging through my bags and bins, I pulled together lots of gold and metallic items, which satisfied my artistic appetite.


Ephemera Sorted by Type or Color

Another nice thing about "bagging it," is the portability. I can grab exactly what I need for a crafts session. It saves lots of time in pre-class preparation.

What have YOU done to organize your crafts space? Let me know!

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Additional Reading

More Ephemera, by Beth Cote, Suzanne McNeill

Product Resource Guide

Words Ephemera, by Hot Off The Press

Vintage Ephemera, by Hot Off The Press

Buy your craft supplies at MisterArt.com

Wholesale Arts & Crafts Supplies

Most project photos on this page were taken with a 5.0 MP resolution KODAK EASYSHARE DX4530 Zoom Digital Camera

Article Description: Are your paper crafts ephemera, found art and other materials taking over your life and home? Try this quick fix.

Project - Make a Mini Book From Found Materials

At the coffee shop the other day, I found myself eyeing yet another paper coffee sleeve. You know the ones. They're brown cardboard, to protect your hands from the heat, and imprinted, to advertise the business. Most coffee sleeves are either corrugated or embossed with a design, making them perfect for paper crafts. The next time you finish a latte at Starbucks, remove the sleeve from your coffee cup to take home for this project.


Mini Book From Found Materials

Materials & Tools
A. Basic book construction

Brown paper grocery bag, from your favorite supermarket

Paper trimmer, like 12" Portable Paper Trimmer Item #95987097 by Fiskars

Brown cardboard coffee sleeve, like one purchased with a drink at Starbucks

Good pair of comfortable, teflon-like coated scissors, like Velvet Touch Scissors by Armada, or a craft knife

Bone folder, for creasing folds in the mini-book's pages

Handheld paper punch, like 1/8-inch Round Punchline Punch Item #52400 by McGill

Black twist tie, from a bag of bread

1/4-inch hole punch

Pencil

Metal ruler or straight edge

B. Outside Collage (Front Cover)

Torn paper scraps

White glue or acrylic adhesive, like Perfect Paper Adhesive in Matte by US ArtQuest

Small cheap paint brush for gluing

Small feather

Copper or burnt orange colored glitter, like Ultra Fine Pumpkin #56 by Art Institute Glitter

Embossed copper tag, cut from copper sheet or scrap

Glue dots, like Craft glue dots by Glue Dots International

Earth-toned fibers

Faux tooth-shaped beads

C. Inside Collage (Pages, Center Spread)

Torn paper scraps, again!

White glue, once more

Cancelled foreign postage stamps

Pigment inkpad, like Really Rust Classic Stampin' Pad by Stampin' Up!

Brown and gold pigment inkpad combo, like Ultimate Inkpad Paintbox², in Precious Metals #13010 by ColorBox/Clearsnap

Small artistic rubber stamps, like Dawn Houser's Faux Foreign Post Cancellation Marks, by Inkadinkado

Black solvent inkpad, like Jet Black by StazOn

The Steps
Click to enlarge images. Click the back button to return to this article.)

A. Basic book construction

1. The main items you'll need to make one mini-book project are one cardboard coffee sleeve and (pieces of) a brown paper grocery bag.


2. Cut pieces of the grocery bag into 2-inch by 4-inch pieces. Make 4 pieces per book.


3. Use one of the page spreads as a template. Using a pencil, lightly trace the page spread on the smooth side of the coffee sleeve.


4. Using a ruler and the pencil, draw a border around the page shape just slightly beyond the page tracing. About a 1/4-inch distance should do it, if you have the room. Now trim your book cover. You can see in the photo that I used a pair of scissors. You would get a straighter line with a metal straight edge (ruler) and a craft knife.


5. Using a bone folder for precise creasing, fold the cover and each of the grocery bag pages in half.


6. Nestle the pages together. Hold everything steady and punch four holes in the folds. Hint: Punch the pages as a group separately, then use the pages as a guide to punch the cover. You can always try the "grit-your-teeth and punch it all together" technique, but I attempted it and failed, so you've been warned. (smiles)


7. Cut a black twist tie in half then fold each piece.


8. Push one tie half into a set of adjoining holes, then twist the ends together on the back of the book spine. Repeat for the second set of holes.


Your mini-book is now assembled. Now it's time to collage on your "found art" creation.

B. Outside Collage (Front Cover)
9. Refer to the finished project pictures (top of page) for layout suggestions. Now select and tear your choice of paper scraps for collage. I chose a palette of earth tones, with beige and brown mostly.


10. Using a paint brush, apply white glue liberally to the backs of your paper scraps , then apply these scraps to the book cover randomly.

11. You can use any embellishments you like to collage on top of the paper scraps. I added a small feather, some glue and copper colored glitter.

12. I embossed a tag, cut from a piece of copper, by burnishing the design with a bone folder and a real penny. I added earth-toned fibers to the tag then tied faux tooth beads to the yarn ends. I adhered the tag to the cover with glue dots.

C. Inside Collage (Pages, Center Spread)
13. Refer to the finished project pictures (top of page) for layout suggestions. Tear some paper scraps, again! Open the book to the center page spread then collage these scraps with White glue and a paintbrush.

14. Select a few cancelled foreign postage stamps and add these to the pages with white glue. I used three stamps, each from a different country. If you can't find foreign postage stamps, you can buy them on eBay.


15. Rub the rust, brown and gold inkpads onto the pages and postage stamps, until you achieve the desired shading.

16. Using the black inkpads and rubber stamps, stamp faux cancellation marks on top of the postage.

Check back often for other versions of this project, or better yet, sign up for our newsletter and I'll include a note when I've updated this page.

Project Tips

Choose pieces of the grocery bag with printing on them, to add some personality to the pages of your book.

When tracing your cover , try to align the middle of the book pages with natural folds in the coffee sleeve. This will save you time and frustration when folding the cover in half.

Collage isn't meant to be exact, so go with your gut when applying paper scraps and embellishments. Position embellishments at contrasting angles for a less "studied" look.

When selecting a black inkpad, choose wisely. For black, I prefer pigment or solvent inkpads, rather than dye inkpads. Hint: Look at the package! I like StazOn Jet Black, even when I don't need a solvent ink for paper, because it's vivid and tolerates lot of ink layering.

---

Additional Reading

Making Mini Books, by Sherri Haab

The Bookmaking Kit, by Ann Morris, Peter Linenthal

More Making Books by Hand, by Peter Thomas, Donna Thomas

The Essential Guide to Making Handmade Books, by Gabrielle Fox

Product Resource Guide

Buy your craft supplies at MisterArt.com

Wholesale Arts & Crafts Supplies

Most project photos on this page were taken with a 5.0 MP resolution KODAK EASYSHARE DX4530 Zoom Digital Camera

Article Description: Millions of paper coffee sleeves are thrown away every day in local coffee shops. Save one to create a collaged handmade book.

Project - Recycle a Planter into a Shabby Chic Treasure

Later this month, summertime will arrive officially. I've started to think about creating more decorative items for my patio, including a few planters.

A friend was cleaning out her closets and asked me if I'd like a metal planter she was about to throw away. Someone had painted flowers on the planter's outside. The design wasn't my style, but I thought I could probably recycle it into something more appealing.


Altered Book Pages on a Metal Planter

Materials & Tools

Metal planter

Low-tack painters masking tape

Book pages, like those removed while working on an altered book

White tacky glue

Cheap paint brushes for adhering the glue

Walnut-colored pigment ink, like e-z walnut ink by FiberScraps

Purple acrylic paint

Sponge brush

Glitter glue

Spray acrylic sealer, like Crystal Clear Acrylic Coating by Krylon

Tacky tape

Lilac ribbon

Flat-bottomed colored marbles

The Steps
(Click to enlarge each image. Click the back button to return to this article.)

1. This is the metal planter I'm planning to decorate. Let's get started.


2. Mask off the top and bottom edges of the planter, right on top of the acrylic paint. You can also use a new planter -- one that's unpainted -- if you're concerned about covering up someone else's artwork.
Fold the tape back onto itself to leave a small tab. This will make it easier to remove the tape afterwards.


3. Remove several pages from a discarded book. If you enjoying altering books and have alrady removed some pages, no'w your chance to do something useful with them. Tear the pages into threes. You'll use the top and bottom thirds of these pages.


4. Brush glue on the surface of the planter and on a piece of torn page. Notice that I am aligning the page margin with the masking tape. The tops of the pages go on the top, while the bottoms of the pages...you get the idea. This technique creates a plain border around the container. Overlap the torn pieces, to create an altered look and cover page numbers. To seal the edges, apply more glue on top of the pieces, but sparingly, please. Hint: you'll stain the paper later.


5. When you have covered the middle of the planter, all the way around, let it dry. Now remove the masking tape carefully.


6. Create an altered look by using brown pigment ink to stain the pages. Hold the ink dauber in place to create darker sploches of color here and there.


7. Crafting is a creative process, so I often change my idea halfway through a project. After surveying my work so far, I decided I wasn't satisfied with the original design after all (not even a smidgen). I covered the planter with more paint. If you started with an unpainted or new planter, you may not need to do this, but you may want to paint the planter anyway. It's up to you.


8. After the paint dries, you can decorate more, if you like. Not one to stop at simplicity, I added glitter glue with blue flecks. Maybe it doesn't really go with the shabby chic theme, but I couldn't help myself. I love glitter! You, on the other hand, can forget it, if you choose.


9. To protect the design, spray the outside of the planter with an acrylic sealer, as noted in the materials list above. I chose a glossy sealer, but you might prefer a matte finish.

10. Using strong double-stick tape, attach a piece of ribbon around the planter. Adhere flat-bottomed marbles to the ribbon with the same tape.

Altered Book Pages on a Metal Planter

The Moral of the Story: Never throw anything away, I always say. One woman's trash is another woman's treasure...or at least has some potential. And because I can never leave well enough alone, in the fall, I might recycle the planter again into a back-to-school design.

Project Tips

After staining the pages, try sanding them to give the design a more weathered look.

You can substitute other colors of ribbon and paint.

Play around with the position of the ribbon on the planter, before you adhere it with double-stick tape. Once you add the tape behind the ribbon, it will be difficult to reposition it without ruining the altered page "cummerbund."

If you prefer a more rustic look, substitute colored raffia for the ribbon.

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Product Resource Guide

Buy your craft supplies at MisterArt.com

Wholesale Arts & Crafts Supplies

Most project photos on this page were taken with a 5.0 MP resolution KODAK EASYSHARE DX4530 Zoom Digital Camera

Article Description: One woman's trash is another woman's treasure, in this project that uses altered book pages on a recycled metal planter.