Art Recipe: Flames of Love...

Hi there lovely people!
I hope you are ready to forgive me my absence on the blog in the last days - but i have to confess that working on new classes, teaching in France (huge hugs to the wonderful group from Miramas!) and finally getting ready for Version scrap in Paris took over 90% of my life.
Today I'm back, hoping my new Art Recipe will cheer you up and make your creative juices flowing - just as it made with me! Ha!

I've mentioned many times I love to collect and buy old or interesting objects (or both!) of all kinds. Some of you know the story of two wooden rabbits (!), milk bottles and a crate or my new "adopted relatives" I found in the antique store in Glasgow. One of my big weaknesses are vintage books - especially with beautiful old illustrations, typography, handwritten notes and hard covers which make them perfect for my art journals. I love decorating them and I love creating inside of them, changing these  forgotten, unwanted pieces of paper into something new, artistic and very personal. This is the example of one of "these" books.

I loved this brown cover from the first sight and I was hoping I will find a way to show it natural beauty. Then the idea of using the "flaming heart" came to my mind and the whole process happened very quickly!

I was looking for the colours matching the color of the book and  finally combination of Art Basics Black Gesso and Silks in 2 tones of brown was the solution. To add extra aged look to it I've used Art Extravagance White Crackle Paste - and I loved the effect!

Now the book will turn into something special - the cover is waiting... I'm really tempted to use it as my next journal. Or maybe I should alter it also inside?

Here is my Art Recipe  - enjoy!

Here is the whole process - step-by-step:

1. I've taken an old book with a beautiful brown cover. I loved it so much I didn't want to change it completely - so I've just planned to alter the front of it adding this amazing heart from new Prima "Relics and Artifacts" collection by Sandra Evertson. I've started with Art Extravagance White Crackle  Paste applied with a palette knife directly on the cover. When the paste was wet I've placed the heart directly in it and left it all in a warm place to speed up the crackling process.

2. Next I took some of my Mechanicals - numbers, metal late and cog and some cute screw and nail heads from Junkyard Findings collection, I added some fabric tape to the composition and glued all the metal elements with a bit of Art Basics Modeling Paste. It's great adhesive for dimensional elements!
When the Modeling Paste was dry I've covered the heart and crackled paste with a thin coat of Art Basics Black Heavy Gesso to make it darker and prime it before painting. I dried the gesso with heating tool.

3. When my gesso was dry I started adding some derails: small pebbles, Art Ingredients Glass Beads and Micro Beads. Art Basics Soft Gels are great glues for this purpose - simply apply them in the selected places and sprinkle the beads over. After drying they will be permanent!

4. When my pebbles and beads were securely glued I added a bit more of Art Basics Black Heavy Gesso on the top of them and after a moment I was able to paint the composition with some brown metallic acrylic paint. My choices were 2 colours of Silks: Autumn Leaf and Nutmeg. I brushed them on the top of the heart, metal embellishments and crackle.

5. Final touches were done with 2 colours of Iridescent Silks: Gold and Green. They added extra light and more colour tones to my book cover. After drying I varnished the whole front of the book with a coat of Art Basics Soft Matte Gel for extra protection.

And this is it! I hope you are now inspired to visit your local antique shops of flea markets and "adopt" and old book or two... they will be grateful for changing them into art and giving them a "new life" - I'm sure!

For your convenience here are the products - all available in our Mixed Media Place Store:

I wish you all a great, creative weened - and make sure you will come back on Friday to check out next great tutorial by my amazing Creative Team!
Sending hugs!