Thursday, October 30, 2014

Mixed Media Altered Book Page with StencilGirl Stencils



Jessica Sporn here to share a spread in one of my altered books.

I started with a spread that had a postcard sent to me by Corrine Gilman on the left side and book pages on the right side.


I decided I wanted to do a variation on a technique from Marjie Kemper s fabulous workshop at Art is You in which we used three tags to make an art journal page.  So I cut three pages on the right side of Corrine’s post card so that my manilla tags would fit snugly in the book.  On the right full page that you see here, I glued down some leftover papers from Marjie’s workshop.


I trimmed my three tags so that they wouldn’t stick out of the side of the book, and trimmed two of them so they wouldn’t stick out of the top or bottom of the book.  Then I pulled out my Namaste stencil and pounced the mandala design on the three tags, centering it on the middle tag. 




Because I wanted to cover the tags with the mandala design, I repositioned the stencil, and used my cosmetic sponge to fill up the “white areas” with more of the stencil design.




I got so in the zone at this point, that I forgot to take pictures of the tags’ progression.  But I glazed over all three with a mix of 1 part glazing medium, 1 part Golden Quinacridone Nickel Azo Gold fluid acrylic paint, and 1 part Golden Indian Yellow Hue fluid acrylic paint.  I buffed the edges of the tags with Distress Walnut Stain ink, and Ranger Black Archival ink.  Then I spread Wendy Vecchi’s black embossing paste through the hand on the Namaste stencil.  I did this for all three tags.  




I set the tags aside to dry, and turned my attention to the right side of the spread, where I had collaged the leftover paper.  I cleaned my brush on it (the one that had the glazing mixture), and also rubbed it with the Walnut Stain Ink.  Then, using an ink dauber and Ranger black archival ink,  I stenciled the text from the Namaste stencil onto the paper that was on my work table.  It was already pretty marked up with all the colors I had been using, which suited me just fine!  I used a black sharpie marker to go over the text and darken it up a little.  




After distressing the words even more with the Walnut Stain, I cut them out and adhered them to the page using Matte Medium.  I used the mandala from the Namaste stencil to create a border on the right and left of the page.  I used black paint to paint the backs of the tags, which I adhered to the three pages in-between the two spreads - one tag on each strip.  (I used tacky glue to adhere them, and added a strip of Washi tape for good measure!)




To give the words from the Namaste stencil even more definition, I wrote over them with my Versamarker, and sprinkled on clear UTEE (Ultra Thick Embossing Enamel).  



Here is the book with the three tags adhered.  
You can’t tell that there is a design underneath.



The three tags give the illusion that they are all one page.  But as the reader turns each tag, the words are revealed:






I hope this post gives you some inspiration for using the Namaste stencil  and also for altering a book.  You could also use this technique in your art journal.  For more altered book ideas, please visit me at my blog.  

I have one extra tag for one random commenter!  Leave a comment below to be considered.  For an extra chance, leave me a comment on my blog too.  




Thank you to Stencil Girl for inviting me to post today.  Namaste!



Visit Jessica's Blog HERE.

9 comments:

  1. This is awesome! I love how this turned out... the layering on the tags is really beautiful, and the look of it in the book is very cool. I'm going to have to try this for sure! Thanks!

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  2. I love your tags! I like how they reveal the message a little at a time :)

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  3. I love the idea of using the tags this way Jessica-and will def. do this! I just bought a special planner (We'Moon -Gaja rhythms For Womyn) for 2015 with large coil binding so I can add to it all year. I can already see adding lots of tag pages:)

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  4. Great work Jessica. LOVE your stencils.

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  5. Gorgeous Jessica- love those warm browns! I must get my stencil out and get busy!

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  6. Replies
    1. gillwatson(at)mailbox(dot)co(dot)uk

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    2. What a fantastic spread! I love the tags. The whole thing just works so well.

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  7. What a gorgeous page! Thanks for the shout-out, J. Your hand stencil is FABULOUS and looks so dramatic in black. Off to pin to enjoy another day...

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