Collage Canvas Tuition

We've been busy beavers over at Altered Art Alchemist. Here are three girls who wanted to try their hand at collage canvas.

Pictured far right Kathryn, Sarah and their cousin. Each girl chose their own decoupage paper, scrapbook papers to create their own masterpiece. They did extremely well, and I loved their final pieces. Well done girls! Wonderful.





Then we've got Kaye and Leanne, two others doing our Friday evening class. Here we have 'altered' the story of Romeo and Juliet – they do get married after all – you can see the wedding bells above their heads.

Victorian All-in-One PC

For those who ever wondered what steampunk is, well take a look at this:



This is made by Jake von Slatt, and in his words: "The inexorable march of technology has rendered my 4:3 aspect ratio 19" LCD mod and my pump-less water cooled PC obsolete, so when I saw a 24" wide screen monitor on sale for $299.00 I grabbed it with the intent of making a Victorian All-in-One PC.

If you want to see and read more, just scroll down to my favourite links section and click on Steampunk.

Decopatch

Aren't these just beautiful tissue papers.



We are having many new products coming into our stores. Be sure to be charmed with these beautiful decoupage tissues from Decopatch. These tissues are made in France and are beautiful. There I've said it THREE times now!





Some of the items produced:

Origami Box - Prima Marketing

We recently had a Prima Marketing promotion in our store. Us girls (myself, Angie and Tracy) each had a project to complete and teach for the evening. Mine was an origami box. To see more details of this promo visit our blog: www.scrapbookersdelight.blogspot.com

Closer detail of the box:



Some of the product being used, pearl wire sprays:



More variations on the theme using papers from Basic Grey and Daisy D:



Other products used on the above boxes also included door knobs by 7 Gypsies, diamantes from K & Co, and lots of ribbon and trim. Here we are having some fun.

Anagram Bookshop Prague

I just had to show these beautiful paper sculptures from this bookshop. I don't know who the artist is, but the work can be found at this website here

Glimmer Mist Demonstration

And of course, what they look like when the Glimmer Mist is applied:



Here's me, demonstrating the product from Tattered Angels: Glimmer Mist. It's a great product all sparkly and it glistens under the lights. This demonstration was at our store's Fancy Pants Promo which you can view on our blog at scrapbookersdelight.blogspot.com



This time using the brayer for an unusual effect:





Or just spraying direct and then using the heat gun:



You can find more about this product either by visiting our stores, or www.mytatteredangels.com.

Toy Box Circus

This toy theatre (theater) was created by Tatjana. Two of my clowns had been accidently broken in my store, so I couldn't sell them and they needed a home.

From the two clowns, Tatjana developed a home for them. It was a theatrical piece, which she aptly named Toy Box Circus. This is reflecting an olde world charm, that of childhood dreams and fantasies, something we both like specialising in. We have also used Mamelok relief die cuts which have been glued onto card, then cut out and glued on to the piece.

Also when you look at the clown you will be able to see a parrot on its shoulders. That's such a fanciful touch Tatjana made there. You will be able to see that we have also eclectically used other products, like Alice in Wonderland's rabbit, shown here jumping out of a box:

This little scene is of two clowns on the tightrope (i.e. Krylon thread).

This is a closer look at the top of the toy box circus, where the carousel animals are riding. You have to use your imagination like a child to appreciate the 'static' movement going on here.

More detail of the clown holding the balloons. The papers being used here are predominantly from scrapbook manufacturers.

And the view from the bottom: the clown is holding a ukelele (doll's accessory/miniature), also there is a wooden laser cut train set, and around the edge of the threatre (theater), wire pearl sprays have been used to represent the stage lights, dark blue mulberry paper with silver leaf has been podged onto cardboard as the base:

This is the upper right view. We have used Karen Foster's circus stickers and more of the Mamelok Press die cut reliefs:

And the final piece, all of it viewed together. It's quite magical transporting you there.

King Arthur's Tales

This is King Arthur's tales with a difference – a collaged difference! I own several copies of King Arthur, etc; but have not yet read any of them, I spend all my time observing the artist's work.

So, seems I haven't read the book, I've 'altered' the story line with my own storyboard book.

The book is still unfinished ... I've run out of time to work on this one ... or my inspiration has flown away from it. I'll come back to it later and re-post the next 'altered chapters'.

Fabio

One of my staff members (Jade) was having her 21st birthday party, and she had a theme, where everybody had to wear a mask. So that was a semi major undertaking.

The mask we made was a collaborative project: I designed it, Ann Na helped, Alana helped and Tatjana helped. And viola we named him Fabio. Once he had been worn, well what else can you do with him, so up he went onto his own mount and framed for everyone else to enjoy!

And thanks Fabio for the night out (he ended up being my date, as my husband had to look after the kids, and wasn't keen on wearing a mask either!).

This is him without the flash.

Antique Road Show

It's time to dig out your antiques, kiwiana, heirlooms, art and bric a brac to be evaluated by professional valuers.

Saturday 5 April 12 p.m. to 2 p.m. Ngauruhoe Street, Mt Eden (Mt Eden Village, near Altered Art Scrapbook Shoppe) is the annual Antique Road Show. Valuations live on stage, alongside a myriad of Victorian styled street entertainment for the whole family to enjoy.

Highlights include the dancing monkey, string quartet, shoeshine boy, badminton gents, flower girls and the hilarious tea service of Great Aunt Myrtle and Dear Cousin Arabella.

It's a day for music, dancing, market stalls, fun and entertainment to raise money for the Maxine Van der Velden Charitable Trust and Scholarship. There'll be Victorian characters, urchins, flower sellers, sport for gentlefolk and fun for the kids.

We aim to collect over $5,000 for this wonderful cause, dig deep and help us to help a young Auckland person to pursue their dream.

Maxine was only 19 years of age, when she was struck by a drunk driver and killed in October 2004. We continue her memory and honour this life that was cut short.

We will be assisting with this trust by donating a beginner's class fee heritage page, sold on the day at our shop towards this cause; however, materials and consumables will still need to be purchased.

Sighs of Love

This collage canvas has been created by Tatjana (she works in the Mt Eden store). She also enjoys story telling in her work, and is another romantic at heart too! So those who like reading pictures for story and meaning, here is her three piece collage canvas. We're not going to tell the story, you can read it through the images.

Scene One:


Scene Two:


Scene Three:


The apple makes her feel better, nice ending.

Completed art work: (Two views one on white background and the other on black background)



Yeah, one girl got the guy, the other one didn't.

Alchemist - word/meaning

Okay, I’m a person that plays with words. I will often explore the subtle meaning of a word, and see if I can contextualise that word and then transport it into another environment (i.e. the context). This is what I did when I rebranded my shop Altered Art Alchemist.

However, I was well aware of the negative connotations of the word alchemy, and had a prick of the conscience to use another word, but ploughed on ahead anyway. Now, I should have listened to my conscience as it appears the word has offended some. And another point to bear in mind, is that when people are unsure of a word, it can create a bit of fear, and they will avoid such things. For this reason I am removing the word Alchemist from the shop name.

The shop isn't about alternative science or anything such, hence the images are of artist palettes, bottles of stuff (but that’s bottles and jars of gels, pastes, and glazes for sale). I did, however, start getting a new customer base of people who thought I should be selling this and that, for it matched the name of the shop, however, that isn't what the shop is about, it is just about paper crafting, altered art and scrapbooking, nothing more.

I was using the word alchemy in the context of ‘transforming an object into something special’. That was the idea behind it, transforming found objects, books, canvasses, photos into altered art pieces that were then special and treasured.

So to keep everyone happy the shop is: Altered Art Scrapbook Shoppe.

Easter Decorations

Well, we have been having fun at Altered Art Alchemist making Easter decorations. These can be either for the dining table or hung as a mobile.



The little Easter eggs are made from paper clay (Paper Delight). After moulding them into shape, we then decoupaged various scraps of pastel type papers (we used one of Brenda Walton's range with Crafty Secrets Pastel pad). The thicker paper needed to be spliced a little. Then we dipped parts of the egg into clear micro beads.



The larger egg (our dinosaur egg!) was just made from scrunched up newspaper, this was then taped, then a layer of tissue applied all around it, before decoupaging again with Brenda Walton's papers, we also added her range of dimensional stickers as well. Further embellishments were added, such as Kindy Glitz glitter and lots of ribbon.

They are really easy to make, so have fun, and it's a great way of using up those scraps. Also I'm sure your kids will love helping you with these ones, ladies.

In Celebration of Pre-Raphaelite Women

This was an empty chocolate box, and now serves for a purpose – for some of my jewellery.

These images are from the story Camelot. The artists featured are some of my favourites: Rosetti, Millais and Waterhouse.

I have used K & Co's Amelia Wildflower in gold (Brenda Walton) paper.



The box opened:
(Here I have used K & Co's flocked paper by Brenda Walton, plus some beaded trim).



This panel of the box has smaller images of Camelot scenes overlaid with mica sheets to highlight them. It also has a ribboned pansy - just for fun.



Inside the box, the compartments (without the jewellery):
(Here I have also randomly added some tissue.)



And the back of the box – another story is unfolding here. I like to use an eclectic mix of stories. (and again more tissues randomly added.)

stilettofied Cowgirl

Okay, this is a bit quirky. A bit of romance, and a bit of adventure.



This work is a painting on canvas. It also has a suede cut out of a semi stiletto boot on it, with a cowgirl spur. It's fluffy and feminine.