More Spooky business

More Spooky Business 

By Sue Smyth 

Alchemy 
My projects this month all feature toys or things purchased
items, I have looked at them in a different light
and included them in a work with a theme.

Lately I have become quite addicted to altering books, and

I like to go with "it" when creativity strikes.

So I will bore you this time with 2 more books. 

The first one is Alchemy, as in the ancient

method of medicine and healing. It will 

fit nicely into my collection now.

One of the emblems of medicine is the snake dating back 

to Roman times, due its affinity to the Roman god Mercury or 

the Greek god Hermes. I wanted to include them, so I have

used small plastic snakes here, so I found just the 

thing in the toy section of Kmart of all places. It

is amazing what you can find if you look with 

an open mind.

The perfume vial, is an old one I was given years ago

but to make one yourself you could use a 

small glass one you can source in cheap shops 

and wrap a filigree trinket around it for a 

very medieval look. I have tucked 

a little dyed muslin and moss under it.  

I have cut a hole in the hard cover and ripped the pages

underneath to form a cradle for the bottle. This 

will mean less chance of breaking, later.

I have actually burnt the paper around the edge

with a fire lighter wand. I love the look, just be careful

if you do this, and keep a cloth handy to smother 

any flames !!! or a fire extinguisher!! 

The snakes have been painted black, I use matt black spray

paint, then rub over with inka gold paint, gold and purple, or

any colours you want. And I have added a 

metal handle, I always like the look of a lock or 

handle so the book looks as if it should be locked or secret lol.

The head is a resin piece I made myself, and again

paint it black then rub in inka gold..I have added 

a jewelry finding as a crown and dyed muslin for softness or hair

depending on which way you look at it.

This is a layered piece, I have started with 

the chipboard feathers, and a filigree trinket, then a resin piece I have made,

then tucked in some butterfly wings. To finish I have added a

gold jewelry finding to the top and a plastic pendant.

With a small brush add inka gold to the areas you want for a 

colourful shine.. 

The title to my book is chipboard alpha, adhered

directly to the book, and painted along with the background.

When done, I have rubbed over with copper inka gold 

to highlight it from the background. Then I have

added liquid pearls to the alpha, like they

are actually nailed to the cover, very effective I think.

Down each side, after I have applied texture paste to the cover

with a bubble stencil, I have attached 1 cm strips of chipboard.

Then I have adhered acrylic dew drops, to resemble larger nails.

See my Mini tutorial on the cover below 

Sting 

My next book has another theme, it is called Sting

after the dagger, and has a pirate theme.

The dagger is a plastic kids toy, and the pirate

coin came in the same pack.

Both are spray painted black and rubbed over 

with gold inka gold.

I have cut a chipboard clock in half and adhered each

half to the top and bottom of the 

cut out cover.

Again like the first book I have torn out the pages 

around the knife, and burnt them.

I have tucked died muslin around the knife to 

hide the rough edges.

I love adding a lock to the side of my books, this time

I have hung a small tassel from it.

The pirate trinket adds to the theme, and I have 

scattered gold coins and buttons around the

cover, they then have been painted 

black and rubbed over with gold inka gold.

Altered Coffin 

My third project is a little altered coffin, not something

you say everyday lol.

This is a MDF piece which I will pop on 

my Halloween table.

The base is decorated the same as the books.

with a layer of texture paste applied over stencils.

while it is wet I have added some chipboard shapes, in this case cogs.

Then it is painted with black gesso and rubbed over with 

assorted metallic inka gold  

I have added some dimensional stickers to it,

the Owl and the Wicked sign,

The centre piece is a resin frame and 

a metal Hogwarts badge, which I found in 

a souvenir shop. 

You can see the cogs around the sides here, and the 

braid that is affixed to the sides.

The feathers are painted black with matt spray paint,

then I have flicked a little Stampendous aged gold 

emboss powder over top and heat set.

This gives a hint of gold over them.

The Hogwarts badge was silver, so I have 

rubbed gold inka gold over top to match it in

with the feathers.

Then I have added the spiders and 3 d stickers to finish, 

with one of Shakespeare's quotes, one of my favourite from Macbeth

This is the first step in altering a book.

You can cut a hole out from the cover, using a template 

and sharp blade. 

In this case I have added the chipboard and acrylic dew drops 

to the sides.

And I wanted a interesting spine, so I have used here

a sushi mat. Make sure you glue the twine

connecting the bamboo first so they do not unfurl too much.  

When the texture paste is dry, paint it, this time

I have used layers of black gesso, then yellow and finally red

dylusions paint.

The I have dry brushed black gesso over the top again.

This may seem like a lot, but it is all about the layers 

of colour and each colour will show through in 

small pieces here and there to give the cover tremendous depth. 

Then start with gold metallic spray, I have used a prima spray.

as a base. Then rub in inka gold, in your favourite colours. 

Adjust the colours as you go to match your trinkets,

by spraying a little here and there as needed.

The feathers are sprayed matt black, they I have rubbed 

over Stempel Farbe, by Viva Decor (the same company as Inka Gold)

in purple, this has a fine glitter to it and makes the feathers sparkle

The snakes are sprayed matt black first, then painted with gold inka gold

and a small brush.

Then add colours as desired for a metallic sheen. 

I found if the plastic snake was misshapen like 

the green on in this picture, you could heat it with

a heat gun a little and it would flatten and fall into shape.

Just dont inhale the fumes lol

Happy Crafting 

This is how I use my altered books at Halloween