Fun with deco books

These are pages I did in Sweetpea's Altered Ego's deco book. It's an accordian style book and the paper is black. On the front page I stamped a 'squiggle' background in Starlight Silver Brilliance ink. Then I stamped a shrine image on a piece of pearlescent glossy paper. I had to heat emboss the image since it wasn't drying on the glossy paper. I cut out the center of the shrine and then stamped the 'joy of being' image on a separate piece of white cardstock. The image is from Paper Artsy and I'm a little disappointed in it because there is much more detail to the image that just doesn't show no matter what type of paper and what type of ink I tried. I added a little color around the image by sponging Aged Mahogony Distress Ink. To add just a touch more color I used gel pens, that I received as a gift from Pea, to color the flowers.

And here's the back of the page. Pea loves basic grey paper; don't we all!!! I used the paper as a background and then stamped an image with some background 'squiggles' on one piece. I had just purchased those stamps on Saturday from Lost Coast at a stamp show in Milwaukee. The 'art' quote I've had for some time. And then to finish it off I attached some metal alphabet pieces.

I think Pea will like it!!! But the book has to travel to 3 more people before she gets to see this in person. Sorry Queen Pea!

Tall and Skinny Book

The CCSwaps group is working on another chunky book. This time it will be Tall and Skinny (3" across by 7" long). Sweetpea's theme for this project is animals and people, but the twist is to exhibit them in unusual settings or situations. Here's a scan of the front and back of my page; I really am ahead of the game on this book since it isn't due until the beginning of May.
I used scrapbook paper on the front page and stamped the moon and stars in Brilliance Starlight Silver. For the back of the page I sprayed Aileen's color mists onto the cardstock and then stamped clouds and the mountains after the paper dried. See that cute golden retriever flying in the upper left of the back page???? That's my Molly!!! I just had to work her into this project!

Deco Book Page

The deco book project on Next Generation Stampers has been such fun, we've started to pass them around in our Altered Ego's Group. I am the first to work in Maggi's book. She chose a handmade book she received in a swap and the cover of that book has a Da Vinci image, so I decided to follow that theme. This is my front page. I had stamped the image twice to create the additional image of the man and then attached him to the page such that he will spin around.

Here is the back of my page for Maggi's Deco Book. I continued on with the Da Vinci theme. The background is alcohol inks. Next I stamped a script stamp and some foliage with sepia brown versafine ink. Then I stamped the main image and the 'Dream' stamp with black india ink. To finish off the page I added the same peel offs along the side that I had placed on the front page.

Another deco page completed

Lucky me....I received another deco book from the Next Generation Stampers group!!! I started with my paints...Golden Fluid Acrylics. I'm just a novice with these, and with painting, but I'm happy with how the background turned out. Then I looked through my many stamps to find some that would work well in this tiny book. I added a couple of peel offs to the corners... and, it's done. I did add some dots along the bottom of the pages with my gel pen, but they don't show up in this scan very well. I hope the owner of the book likes the pages!

Shaving Cream Background Technique

Another beautiful background technique!!! I've always wanted to try this one, but it took a 'kick in the butt' from Trish to get me to DO IT!! Here are the some of the results of my shaving cream backgrounds; I actually have 16 different pieces of background from this one experiment. I kept adding different colors of reinkers to the shave cream after making 2 pieces so I now have lots of wonderful color combinations. Trish suggested using hair mousse, but I found shaving cream to be cheaper, so that is what I used. And the added bonus with this technique is the velvety feel of the paper!!! I love the result of this technique, and I think the next time I may try less reinkers to see how they look with more cardstock showing through.

My Deco Book Returns Home

Here's MY Deco Book; it returned home just last week and I just finished working on the cover. I chose one of the 'Little Beauties' I received in a swap and that is what guided me to the colors I used on the cover. The book is very small and resembles a matchbook. This was a wonderful swap. Thanks to those special artists who contributed to my book.

For the back of my deco book I used another of the 'Little Beauties' I received in one of the swaps on the CCSwap group. I thought the saying was appropriate for this little book.

This is the matchbook opened. I listed all the artists who contributed inside the front cover. This was a great swap and I think I was the first to have my deco book come home. .... probably because the book only has 6 pages!

Here are the fronts of all 6 pages in my book....FANTASTIC!!! Starting at the top left and moving to the right and down the artists are: Trish Bayley, Fiona Davis, Dawn Gold, Adrienne Goodenough, Ria Vaneman, and Kathy "Sweetpea" Beringer.

Here's a picture of the backs of all 6 pages in my deco book. Starting at the top left and moving right and then down they are: Trish Bayley, Fiona Davis, Dawn Gold, Adrienne Goodenough, Ria Vaneman, and Kathy "Sweetpea" Beringer. Aren't they GREAT!!!

Deco book page spread

Lucky me!!! I got another Deco Book in the round robin we're having on Next Generation Group. And here is the page spread before I send it on its way to another participant in this swap. I finally used some of the stampboard I have. And I used a new inkpad I just purchased....Brilliance Pealescent Chocolate...what a luscious color!!!

Textured Gesso Background

Another cool background technique was posted by Trish....the textured gesso. This is a great one and I'm so glad I'm journaling these as I know that I'll forget about some as time passes. The next time I try this I want thicken my black gesso a bit to get more texture. And I think it would be great to add some pigment powders to the acrylic paint before it dries. I only tried silver and gold metallic acrylics and blue and pink pearl acrylics, but the options are endless!

Deco Book Round Robin

I finally received my first deco book to work in from the round robin happening on Next Generation Group!!!! Hurray!!! I was decorating the page right next to my friend Adrienne who had already created a beautiful oriental theme. So I decided I wanted to coordinate with the theme and the colors she had already used.

I loved the style of the handmade book I was working in. And the pages that were already decorated were fabulous. I'm sure the owner will love it when it returns home to her. But I can't tell you who the owner is yet....we want her to be surprised when her book comes home.

Food Labels - Art Quest Challenge

I didn't think I was going to like what I created, but I surprised myself!! I used a piece of patterned paper that I didn't even like, but added my new color mists that just arrived from Outside the Margins. Since the tea bag packaging reminded me of my 'yoga style' stamps I used them on the piece. After taping on the package pieces from the herbal tea I decided to add a some accent with some sparkly gel pens. I sure like what the color mists did to the patterned paper!!