"Les Papillons" Pages 8-

Hi, Everyone,

Thank you everyone for your wonderful comments on my art book, "Les Papillons".
Below are photos of the final 8-12 pages and the back inside cover.

The black bark pattern, ink splatters, and hollyhocks are all made by daubing black paint through various stencils.  All the butterfly images were all found on google and attached to the pages by gel medium transfer.  On the bodies of the butterflies are metal clock hands, game spinners, picture hangers, and decorative nuts all attached with heavy gel medium.  

The black cup rings and ink splatters are both made by daubing black paint through stencils.  This time on the bodies of the butterflies are decorative bolts, antique typewriter keys, and memo pins.  The decorative handwriting is my own.  To create it, I used a long tipped bottle filled with 2/3 fluid matte medium and 1/3 black paint.  The fluid matte medium thins the paint so it flows out of the bottle easy enough to write with, while not making the paint transparent.

The diamond and ink splatters are both made by daubing black paint through stencils.

Don't you LOVE the antique monocle on the body of the last butterfly!

Finishing the Pages:

BEFORE attaching any of the metal embellishments to the book, I wanted to antique the pages.

To give the pages that aged brown look, I made a mixture of 1/2 glazing medium with 1/2 brown paint and painted two facing pages at a time.  I let the glazing mixture sit for 30 seconds then I began removing the glazing in the centre of the pages with a baby wipe working my way toward the edges.  I used a lot of baby wipes to scrub the colour into the putty on the pages and removing most of the colour from the centre of the pages.  The entire book was done like this.  

After the pages were antiqued with glazing medium, I attached all the metal embellishments with heavy gel medium on the bodies of the butterflies.

To seal the pages I painted Fluid Matte Medium (which is clear paint) over all the pages.  This will protect the putty from flaking off.

To protect the pages even more and to create the soft supple feel of leather, I rubbed a thin layer of Dorland's Wax over each of the pages as well.  I absolutely love the feel of the pages.

To bind the book I placed all the pages on top of each other, poked holes through all the layers with a Big Bite, then laced ribbon through the holes and tied a bow on the outside spine.

This is my favourite art book to date!

The cover is folded back and clipped revealing the metal filagree.  I love the acetate wings over the butterfly image on the postcard as well as the heart shaped keyhole on the body of the butterfly.  In my world all books need book jewellery so to finish off the spine are three colours of antique ribbon with a beautiful key dangling off.

Have fun creating!

"Les Papillons" - Pages 4-7

Hi, Everyone,

Today we are continuing to look at more pages from my latest art book, "Les Papillon".

The diamonds and hollyhocks are paint through stencils.  Again I added butterflies to the pages by doing a gel medium transfer.  On the bodies of the butterflies are metal embellishments attached with heavy gel medium.  There are so many metal embellishments available at Treasured Memories starting at only $0.50 so how could I not use metal!

The script is my own handwriting using a fine tipped plastic bottle containing a mixture of 2/3 fluid medium and 1/3 black paint.  Treasured Memories is getting these bottles in very soon.  I see them flying off the shelf because they are so fun to use in your artwork.

My next post will show you the last few pages of the book and describe the top three finishing layers of the book.

Have fun creating!

"Les Papillons" - Inside Cover and Pages 1-3

Hi, Everyone,

As promised in my last post, I would like to share with you some pages from my latest Art Book entitled, "Les Papillons".  Below are photos of the Inside Cover and Pages 1-3.

The diamond and ink blot patterns are paint through stencils.  I used a 1" round flat bottomed paint brush and lightly pounced the paint over the stencils so the paint would not seep under the stencils.

All the butterfly images used in my book were found on google.  I attached them to the pages by doing a gel medium transfer, letting the gel dry overnight, then removing the paper with water.

Since I always use metal in my projects, at the top of the page is a medal medallion and in the bodies of the butterflies are a pen nib and a clock hand.

The bark lines on the left and the measuring tape strips are also paint through stencils.

The writing on the left is my handwriting.  I bought a long tipped bottle from Deserres and filled it with 3/4 fluid matte medium and 1/4 black paint.  The fluid matte medium is fluid clear paint which allows the paint to flow easily through the narrow tipped bottle without making the paint transparent.

In the bodies of these butterflies are two Tim Holtz embellishments.

My previous post talked about how I built up the actual pages.

More photos of the inside pages to come.

Have fun creating!

"Les Papillons" - Outside Covers

Hi, Everyone,
Over the past few weeks I've been taking an on-line workshop entitled "Metamorphosis" which introduced me to glazing medium, fluid medium, and Dorland's wax.  I will show you photos of my finished graffiti black and white piece in future posts.

As you know, my style is vintage grunge.  I create art with found vintage treasures, discarded items, and revamped packaging.  I love adding metal embellishments and butterflies to my projects as well as using materials in my art that were not meant to be used artistically.  These items can be found in hardware and home building stores, the Recycle and Reuse Centre, and second hand stores.

I've used drywall compound and drywall mesh tape in my art journals, on canvases, and canvas pages for some time now.  The putty is much less expensive than flexible modelling paste and is very easy to work with.  Because my house is in constant repair mode, drywall putty is always handy.

The past few days I've been in my craft room working on my latest Art Book entitled "Les Papillon".  Below are the front and back covers.

 

"Les Papillon" started off as 4 pieces of canvas covered with drywall putty and clear gesso.  It evolved into a beautiful soft book with the look of plaster and the feel of leather.  I will show you the inside pages I created in posts to come.  I absolutely love how this book turned out.

Have fun creating!