Recycle day

I got an Anthropologie catalog in the mail yesterday.  After looking through it I had the thought that it just seemed too good to go to waste in the recycle.

So today I took it down the hall to my work room and made something out of it.
I covered every other set of pages with gesso.  This is one of those things where you need to be doing something else at the same time...paint gesso, walk away for 30 minutes, paint another page, walk away for 30 minutes. I got the laundry done and unloaded the dishwasher.

Once dry, I sewed the pages together (with the non-gessoed pages back to back).   Hummm...does that make sense?  Basically I just want two pages together to make them sturdier.

 Here is my first set of gessoed pages.

I sprayed the page with water, then added a thin coat of Aqua Dabber paint.  Let it dry.

So you're probably not suppose to put Distress Stain over paint since it's not porous but I'm going to anyway.  Pumice stone is my color of choice.
Just wipe it on while squeezing the bottle.

I was drying the page with the Heat Tool and then I thought I might get a cool pattern if I used a brayer, so I did.

Love it...that worked even better than I thought it would.

After drying, I let it cure for an hour while I worked on some other stuff.  One of which was drawing an oval shape on the computer and printing it out.  I cut the oval out of the paper, then used it as a template to cut the oval out of plastic packaging material.

I set aside the plastic for now...i'll come back to it though.

I placed the paper oval on the page and used some Pumice Stone Distress Ink to color around the oval.

 When you remove the paper, it looks like this...

I needed to add some detail to the center so this time I use the paper I cut the oval from (notice how I taped it back together at the bottom?).

I stamped over the paper mask with Coffee Archival Ink to create an oval with great texture.  The stamp is from the SA Mixed Media set.

I know this next part might look kinda strange so hang in there with me.
I squeezed out a bit of Tarnished brass Distress Stain onto my craft mat.  Then took a paintbrush and painted around the oval (I know, now I have made an ugly egg, lol).   I added a bit more Tarnished Brass DS to the craft sheet, but this time I added a spritz of water to dilute the stain.  Using the diluted stain and my paint brush I was able to create the small flicks of gold paint over the page.

I sprayed the painted oval with a mini mister, then stood the book up so the paint would run.  Distress Stain look might look dry but all you have to do is add water and comes to life again.  Of course the pattern in the center is not effected because I stamped it with Archival which is waterproof.

 When I thought it was enough, I patted it with a paper towel to pull the color off the page.

Time to dry.
Oh, that looks good...take that crazy egg.

So this is why I wanted an oval shape.  I thought it fitting that the page be about HONOR today since it is 9/11.  This leaf reminds me of honor.

I picked up the leaf from under this beautiful tree when I visited the Australian War Memorial in June.  Such peaceful grounds that surround the memorial... a feeling of reverence.

Now back to the page in progress...
Remember I cut the plastic oval?  Here is where it comes in.
I decided to cover the leaf rather than glue it to try to preserve it longer.
I used a craft pick and a piece of cork and just poked all the way through the plastic and the page.  Super Easy.

I used my favorite Mini Fasteners to secure the plastic.  And no, I'm not worried that the tiny metal legs from the brads are on the other side of the page.  It will give me a challenge to overcome when I get to that page.  I like a challenges.

Now I need the word, Honor.
I used a page from Kraft Resist Paper Stash.

 

I inked it with Distress Stain in Tarnished Brass, Rusty Hinge, and Dusty Concord....same method I used in my last post.

 

I only needed a few letters so I cut pieces of the paper to fit over the letters on the Word Play die.  Remember, when using an alphabet die you have to have the paper face down or the letters will be backward. 

Side Note: I also cut another piece of paper stash to cover the entire die.  I figured I might as well cut an entire alpha for later since I am running the die through the machine anyway (Wordplay is a steel-rule die from Sizzix Alterations which means you can cut Grungeboard or chipboard with it).

 

Once letters were cut, I inked the edges with Black Soot then adhered them to the page.   A little black pencil gives a bit more detail.

To finish up, I added the chitchat words, 'embrace peace' onto the plastic over the leaf.  I also used Archival Ink in coffee (add the ink to the stamp with a quick swipe instead of a full inking up) to stamp a number/letters block  - SA School Desk stamp set.
Side Note: Before drying with a Heat Tool I used a blending tool to smudge the stamp image and blend it into the page a bit. 

 my favorite little corner.

Well, once again I can't seem to do a tutorial without 37 pictures.
I am excited to see where this Anthropologie book takes me.
I guess we shall see together.
cheers!
paula

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