Saturday 24 August 2013

Book of the Flowers

Hello everyone.  It's Alison (butterfly) here with a Book of the Flowers (any takers for the pun on the medieval Book of the Hours, then? - illuminated manuscripts to die for).


It's rusty, crackly, inky, glossy and made of beermats... what more could you possibly want?!


I started out with some blank beermats (coasters, if you prefer), and added torn book pages fairly randomly to each side.


Tissue tape was next, to add another bit of interest for the eye, and then a rough coat of gesso to soften the background text and images.


I used flower stamps from the Botanical Plate 1, as well as from Katy Fox's Encyclopaedia Botanica.


They're stamped in Sepia and Coffee Archival.


I gave them a gentle watercolour tinting with Distress Stains too, though I'm not sure that's still visible.


The final layer on the flowers was a thick layer of gloss glaze to give them a bit of a sheen.


I inked the edges of the pages with Vintage Photo and Gathered Twigs DIs, and added some Rock Candy Crackle Paint for texture.


Once that was dry, I inked the pages with various other DIs - Peacock Feathers is certainly in there, and Broken China, and I think Mowed Lawn, probably, too.


The quotes are stamped onto tea/coffee-stained tags, and layered onto the pages over some of my rusted muslin.  And I had fun doing some inky splatters too...  (You can see who said what at the foot of the post, if you're interested.)


The rusted muslin also takes centre stage on the front and back covers - a purely accidental floral background!


Where I rusted up the Idea-ology flowers, they left a masked version of themselves on the muslin, which seemed perfect to create the front cover.


I've added one of the Idea-ology Ornate Plates too, which has also had the rusting treatment (check out this post if you want to know more about that).


The back cover is made of some more rusted muslin, simply stuck onto the back of the coaster, and some rusted book rings bind the whole thing together.


For a more decorative fastening, I added some Distress Stain-dyed seam binding, and tied it in a big bow.

So that's your lot for today.  You've still got just about a week to join in with the August Challenge - Postcards, Travel and Holidays - here at The Artistic Stamper, so I'll hope to see you there... but for now I'll wish you a wonderful weekend, and happy crafting!

Quotes:
Flowers really do intoxicate me.
Vita Sackville-West

Just living is not enough - one must have sunshine, freedom, and a little flower.
Hans Christian Andersen

Let us dance in the sun, wearing wild flowers in our hair.
Susan Polis Schutz

Ingredients used:
Artistic Stamper stamps: Encyclopaedia Botanica; Botanical Plate 1
Distress Stains: Vintage Photo, Broken China, Faded Jeans, Tumbled Glass, Mowed Lawn, Peeled Paint
Distress Inks: Vintage Photo, Gathered Twigs, Peacock Feathers, Broken China, Mowed Lawn, Faded Jeans
Idea-ology: Ornate Plates
Tissue Tape: Sketchbook
Rock Candy Crackle Paint
Archival Ink: Sepia, Coffee
Manila tags
Seam binding
Multi-Medium Gloss
From stash: muslin, bookpages, beermats

42 comments:

Sid said...

Love he fabric dimensions you have achieved on this!

Von said...

Stunning work Alison :)
Von♥

mark gould said...

Absolutely beautiful Alison. U really love the rusty muslin. Brilliant stamp choices and accent colours xxx

Yvonne Garner said...

Fascinating project Alison! Just stunning!

Rita said...

What a fabulous book Alison. I love it. Really looks like a rare antique. Hugs Rita xxx

Brenda Brown said...

Fabulous book of images and quotes.
hugs {brenda} x0x

Elly said...

Wow, wow, wow....so much rusty yummyness. (:o)

Anonymous said...

That is beautiful, I love all the different textures.

Helen said...

Such a clever book made from coasters Alison! Love the rusty fabric.

Astrid Maclean said...

Great book Alison, my favourite bit is the cover with the white flower pattern left in the rusting process, such a piece of luck(careful planning by your unconscious muse?) that. It looks great with the rusted ornate plate.

Jenny Marples said...

Another beautiful project Alison. Love the rusted muslin and crackled edge to the pages. Great way to use coasters. Hugs, Jenny x

Deborah said...

A happy accident with the rust = and it's perfect for your book! I love the crackle too.

May said...

WOW...Love it Alison, the rusty look is amazing...Fabulous images & colours...Beautiful! very clever work... Hugs May x x x

chrissie said...

Amazing! Very clever ideas and lots of them

Love Chrissie xx

Amanda said...

Wow!! Stunning!!
Love
Amanda x

Paula Whittaker said...

wonderful creation

Redanne said...

Hi Alison, what mastery of the rusting technique! Love the way the flowers worked their magic on the muslin. Such a great use of beer mats too. Love this creation. Hugs, Anne x

Julie Lee said...

Just fabulous! I can't believe these are beer-mats! This is so precious and exquisitely beautiful! The rusty muslin is wonderful. I love the Vita quote too! Inspirational, Alison! Julie Ann xx

Jaya Raghuvanshi said...

wow! wow! wow!! this is gorgeous! I love the entire rusted look of this book!! thanks for sharing...

Jaya Raghuvanshi said...

wow! wow! wow!! this is gorgeous! I love the entire rusted look of this book!! thanks for sharing...

Chris said...

Very beautiful Alison, the rusted fabric looks amazing and the stamping throughout gives a wonderful vintage look to everything. Chris x

cathylynn said...

Wowzers! This little album is fabulous. Magical pattern in the muslin and fabulous altered coasters. Pure genius! Love it all!
Hugs, Cathy-Lynn

Mary Elizabeth said...

Oh how beautiful Alison! I am so glad I took a moment to hop over here and see what was inside this wonderful album. The pages are just inspirational ... I have got to get into my craft room today and play. Love the textures and images and colors and ... the list goes on. Love this. -- Mary Elizabeth

Candy C said...

Alison's work is always so beautifully done and inspiring. This little mini book is just gorgeous. Love the colors and all of the technique. <3 Candy

Unknown said...

Stunning book Alison, love it.

Cocofolies said...

Really gorgeous rusty and bloomin' mini-book, I love it!! And I love your highlighted accents on the corners and flowers using Gloss Glaze and this beautiful Crackled paint... x

Nan G said...

I'm blown away with the beauty of this mini book, butterfly!

Kelly said...

I always love books like this and yours is gorgeous! I love the rusty muslin and the Gloss Glaze on the edges. I need to check that product out. Very beautiful and soft color palette. Very beautiful and thanks for sharing your techniques.
Hugs Kelly

Janny Jager said...

Fabulous work Alison.
Greetings Janny

Dorthe said...

It`s amazing dear Alison,- so love your rusted pieces and fabrics, the crackle is gorgeous, and those flowerstamps, so beautiful...a fantastic little bear-mat-book!!!
Hugs,Dorthe

Monique said...

Lovely book, beautiful stamping. The rusty, crackly, inky, glossy and made from beermats remark made me laugh and yes it's true, what more could you want =)
xx Monique

Carol Q said...

Fab Alison. Very in depth project as usual. Love the rusted muslin

Maggie said...

Wow! Gorgeous book of flowers love it, so much texture and colour has been achieved a beautiful keepsake Alison.

MaggieH

Hettie said...

This is absolutely stunning Alison. Love it!
Hugs
xx

Inkypinkycraft said...

Alison, as always you never disappoint, this is gorgeous , the colours, textures and details make this another gorgeous make! hugs trace x

pearshapedcrafting said...

An absolutely amazing little book! Love that whole rusty look with the turquoise distress inks! Chrisx

Dianne said...

This has my heart beating so fast,my wings flapping, OMGOODNESS I adore it, I looooooove your beer mat books and this one is the BOMB****, all rusty, crackly, inky, glossy and made of beer mats, nothing makes this magpie happier, thanks so much for making this Butterfly it has made my week, can't wait till you feature it on your blog too, have a wonderful week...

Titbelsoeur, mixed-media addict said...

your book is amazing !!!

Artyjen said...

Beautiful work...amazing rusty effect too.
xoxo Sioux

Bonnie Irvine said...

Alison, this is delightful. The various textures and lovely rustiness are amazing. I love the beautiful colour palette and all the inky goodness. Those stamps are fabulous and make wonderful focals for each page. Very cool.

kateri said...

It really does look like an old book of secrets. Wonderful technique. It's beautiful.

Marjie Kemper said...

Totally fabulous! Love all the different finishes and the beautiful stamping.