Under the Boardwalk, Altered Book Project

Here is a great altered book project I created, perfect for using vintage ephemera. images, mixed with modern day papers, inks, found objects and recycled items.

Under the Boardwalk was inspired by the history of boardwalk communities by the shore. It was inspired by my adventures to the Jersey Shore particularly Ocean Grove, Asbury Park, Seaside, and LBI. Vintage beauty pageants, and Victorian Seaside Splendor. By 1950's amusements and confections, candy apples, calliope music and summer nights.

If you love to recycle and use recycled items in your works, this is a great way to do that.

To make your own follow these instructions below: 

Materials:

• Sails and Shells Paper Pack, Canvas Corp.
• Seashore style ephemera, and vintage images, Lisa Kettell Designs
• Vintage or modern bingo cards,and wood bingo tokens Lisa Kettell Designs
• Chipboard style card stock, Canvas Corp.
• Basic office folders
• Paper Straws, Recollections Line, Michaels Stores
• Vintage style embellishments, 7 Gypsies
• Inks, Tattered Angels
• Found Objects: broken glass bottles, wood shapes, branches, cake balloons.
• Other: crepe paper, German glass glitter, tiny star fish, shells, muslin fabric, ribbon.cocktail honey combs stirrers,color clothes pins
• Tools/Glue: hot glue, hot glue gun, glue stick scissors, small paper hole punch, white floral wire

Directions:

1. Cut 2 pieces of the chipboard style card stock to 8 by 10 inches for the cover. Then cut out 4 pieces of basic office folders and 4 pieces of chipboard style card stock about 5 by 7 inches, for the interior pages,
2. Begin layering the cut interior pages with scrapbook paper from the Sails and Shells paper pack, Glue in place with glue stick.
3. Assemble all the pages together and punch 1 hole into the pages with a hole punch about 2 inches in from the top and another hole 2 inches from the bottom. Make sure you punch the holes 1 inch from the side. ( the side I'm referring to is the area where the book pages will have its binding.)
4. Thread each whole with white floral wire and twist around 3 small branches. This is your binding.
5. Start decorating the top cover with bingo board, scrapbook embellishments, paper straws, found objects, images, additional scrapbook paper cutouts,
6. Cut various strips of scrapbook paper from the Sails and Shells paper pack and cut fringe into them, then hot glue to the cover sides and interior sides,
7. Age ribbon, scrapbook paper and objects with inks from Tattered Angels.
8. Finally add the remaining embellishments: honey comb stirrers, ribbons, clothes pins and bingo tokens.

Tips/Tricks:

• Use old book covers or bingo boards instead of basic office folders or chipboard paper.
• Layer the whole cover with paper straws.
• Create these books with your kids or family on a rainy summer day.
• Turn this book project into a family vacation heirloom.
• Make a theme book. Example: fairies and pixies, flowerland, candyland, wizards, Santa Claus, etc.

I Hope you enjoyed this project and have fun making one of your own. If you do please post pictures and share, so we can all see the magic.  Stay tuned for more fun projects.

Thanks So Much,
Lisa :-)

Altered Composition Book

No matter where you go, you gaze eyes upon composition books, they are so cheap and in-expensive to buy, but let's face it, these diamonds in the rough need a facelift. A while back at CHA I assisted Beacon Adhesives on a project that Mike was teaching to a group which was altered composition books, using scrapbook paper, zip dry and flowers. I never finished mine, after a few months, I picked up my unfinished project and this is the result, a frou frou altered composition book with Dresden scraps, crepe paper, millinery and flowers.

Materials
-Composition book
-Scrapbook paper
-Scrapbook tags, labels
-Dresden scraps or vintage images
-Millinery and paper flowers
-Chipboard lettering
-Crepe paper
-Ribbon and trims
-Glues: zip dry, kids choice, liquid laminate, decaupage medium
-Tools: scissors
-Clear glitter, green flocking 

Directions
1. Coat one side of composition book w/zip dry, place scrapbook paper onto it and push to secure, then coat the spine and other side of the composition book with more zip dry and scrapbook paper.
2. Attach ribbons to the borders of the composition book leaving about 12 inches on each end in order to tie a bow.
3. Pleat 3 yards of crepe paper streamers, fold in half and twirl into a circle shape, glue in place with kids choice glue.
4. Apply decaupage medium to millinery flower leaves, sprinkle green flocking onto it, let dry.
5. Begin layering your composition book with Dresden scraps and images, trims, ribbons and millinery.
6. Apply liquid laminate to the images, let dry, apply more to the crepe paper and sprinkle clear glitter onto it.





Now you are ready to begin writing inside your composition book, perhaps write down your bucket list, your craft ideas, your thoughts or your dreams.
xoxo
Lisa

3rd Annual Witches Tea Party, Book of Spells

Come Join us for the 3rd Annual Witches Tea Party at Piddlestixs, located in Historic Lafayette, NJ, this years project is the Book of Spells.

Come create a spellbinding vintage book of spells using a variety of vintage, found and new objects, resin, parchment, clay, metals, broken jewels, all sure to add some magic to your day.


To register send an email to me at:
lisakettell@yahoo.com
or at www.artoperanj.com

For payment options please contact me!
xo
Lisa!

The Altered Book: Art Doll Chronicles


Hello All,
On March 15, 2009, I will be teaching an altered art book class called:
The Art Doll Chronicles at the Summit Visual Arts Center from 10am-4pm, if you are interested sign up at the summit visual arts center, limit space of 15 students!
Sum Visual Arts Center, Workshop Sign Up

We are going to create vintage books with faux gilded covers, reminiscent of the most elaborate of royal opera books, each page is going to tell a story of your adventure in a secret Doll Land or Story Book Land, the pages of your book will be 3-D with handmade dolls sewn/glued to each page, or layered with dimensional silhouettes, backed by sweet distressed writing papers or piano papers. There will be an exploration into your creative mind during the whole class, with a question: What inspires you and how can that inspiration bring you into your own artful World.

I will have books from vintage opera to eye candy filled chic, romantic, doll house and my own for the class to gain inspiration from, while working. We will also embark on a mixed media/1920's doll illustration, 1920's Dennison doll making, book binding, altered art techniques, distress techniques. You will receive a template of vintage doll and storybook illustration that you can leave with and study for future projects. This turn of the century illustration had simple lines, and such cutesy attributes, so easy to duplicate and turn into your own style.

I'll be supplying most of the supplies such as papers, fabrics, images, ribbons, trims, glitter and more, along with goodie bags and some other surprises, revealed in the class. However students are encouraged to bring their own images, fave paper or fabric, stickles, glitter, etc that they could use in addition to the supplies I will be bringing.

Main techniques that will be taught:-Bookbinding
-Paper Piercing
-Rosettes: the art of folding
-Paper millinery flowers, learn to make your own
-Doll and Paper Doll making
-Altered Art and Collage Techniques
-Making your own silhouettes
-Basic Storybook illustration and Mixed Media illustration
-Vintage Art Techniques

I'm working on some various examples: Silhouettes with glitter and creamy colors against lettered writing pages and German Crepe paper doll book example, the painted version book, and the Living Opera Theater Book, etc.

Hope to see you there for some artful fun and magic!
Lisa!
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the Summit Visual Arts Center site reads:
The Altered Book: Art Doll Chronicles
Sunday 10:00 am - 4:00 pm

Bring your childhood dolls and storybook classics to life. Create a book with vintage tones and classic elegance with the use of basic book binding, altered art, sewing, doll making and other artful techniques. Each page will resemble a vintage story book, a doll house, and a fairytale theatre with 3D elements and miniatures. Work with designer papers, rich fabrics, vintage trims, crepe paper, tinsel, rhinestones, doll parts, images and other fun supplies.