Altering Basics

I came across this great info on altering by a fellow consultant and I wanted to pass it along. If you have any questions, you let me know. Thanks Mary V.!!

Usually, when you are altering an item, you don't have to be concerned about acid free/lignin free materials. In fact, a lot of alterable items are made of wood (the main source of lignin.) Altered art is usually just that- art. It is not meant to be a substitute for perserving your photos in an acid free/lignin free scrapbook.



TOOLS FOR ALTERING:



Adhesives

Whatever adhesive you choose, it's important to adhere the paper at the very edge. This helps prevent the paper curling up at the edges and makes fora more secure final project.



Liquid Adhesives:



Mod Podge- According to one definition it is a milky white liquid that dries transparent in less than 10 minutes. It seals and glues in one application. Most applications require two or three coats. It is available in both a gloss and a matte finish.



White Glue- this is typically a school glue. For a substitue for Mod Podge, mix white glue with a little water.



Scotch Quick- Dry Tacky Adhesive- Really a great all around adhesive. It's perfect for edges and corners you may have missed. The Scotch website has this to say about it: Ideal for paper, photos, metal and plastic. Acid-free adhesives to keep your memorabilia safe. Precision application, non-stringing. Adhesive technology insures your precious mementos stay where you put them.



Dry Adhesives:



Scotch ATG- With Scotch ATG Adhesive Applicators, a touch of the finger triggers quick, controlled application of a strip of Sctoch ATG pressure sensitive adhesive transfers tape. There is no mess or cleanup. Bond lines are thin and adhesive flows into surface irregularities. With 3M's advanced acrylic adhesive technology, you can bond, join, mount or laminate materials such as paper, plastics, metals, and wood and foam. I highly recommend this as an altered adhesive as well as scrapbook and papercraft adhesive.

Tombow Mono Adhesive Roller- Convenient, ergonomic dispenser precisely applies film of glue smoothly, quickly, cleanly. This is what CTMH sells and it will work as an altered art adhesive. I would recommend sealing with something as it may not have a long lasting hold, especially on wood.

A brayer or some smoothing tool:Old or fake credit cards work great too. You just need something to smooth out any air bubbles.

A variety of sanding tools:
This doesn't need to be anything fancy. I get a lot of my sanding tools from the local dollar store. You can use sandpaper, or even a paper bag will work as a very fine grit sandpaper. There are tools in the scrapbook market for this, they are nice, but definatley not a must have.

Our NEW Distressing tool kit, will solve all your distressing problems.

Items you can alter:
Anything that isn't moving! Some ideas are.....
*puzzles
*board books
*wood blocks- these make wonderful gifts for new parents. You can make these very simply by cutting a 4x4 piece of wood into 4 inch squares
*letters
*anything paper- boxes, books, notebooks, etc.
*metal containers- planters, recipe tins, band-aid tins, trays, muffin tins
*tiles- thses are easy to stamp in Staz-on and colour. They make wonderful and impressive gifts!
*office supplies- clips, clipboards, chalkboards, storage containers
*anything wood- tables, shleves, trays
*albums- it's fun to alter the covers and personlize them
*clocks

Basic altering.........
Begin by making sure your surface to be altered is smooth and ready to be altered. (This includes sanding any rough spots or priming with paint or gesso.)
Apply adhesive of your choice to both the paper and the item to be altered. THis is really a personal choice. Sometimes I use a dry adhesive. But sometimes I need that liquid adhesive to really *hold* the paper. I also use Mod Podge when I need to protect the surface.

When cutting your paper for the projects, I've found it's best to cut it larger than you need. Adhere it and allow it to dry. Then I sand off the extra paper from the edges. This makes for a perfect fit and also distresses at the same time.

Sand edges of your project to get rid of any imperfections- an emery board works well for corners and tight spots.

If you want to seal your project with Mod Podge or another sealer, this is the time to do so- before you embellish. It's much easier to apply the msealer before you place embellishments or pictures.

Embellish as desired.

Cracked Glass

This is a really neat technique, the pictures are not true to colour. The chalked image does not pop like it does in real life, but you can get the idea of the technique. I used all CTMH products. The colours are: sweet leaf, petal,blush and honey cardstock. The stamp set is, Seed Packets. I used photo hangers and the ribbon is from the Colonial White Collection.

Here is what you need:

- white cardstock
- image to stamp
-ink pads
- versamark or any kind of embossing ink
- clear embossing powder
-heating tool
- tweezers (sometimes your fingers get a little burned)

Here is what you do:

1. Stamp your image with an embossing powder or pigment ink. (or do direct to paper technique using clear embossing ink). Pour on embossing powder all over. Remove excess powder.
2. Using your heat tool, heat up the powder until the powder changes from matte to shiny and raises.
3. Do not heat for to long or the powder will melt into the paper.
4. Repeat pouring on powder and heating at least 3-4 times..... layering clear embossing enamel all over your image.
5. At this point if all the layers are completed..... you can add embellishments (ie. brads) if you want to. This is optional.
6. Once the enamel has cooled off, bend it too crack it!

TIPS: By sticking your project in the freezer, this could speed up the cooling process.... and may add a few cracks.

A Touch Of White Daisy

When I was out surfing the web last night, I came across these really cool cards that a fellow CTMH consultant had posted on our bulletin board. She had stamped an image in white daisy pigment ink, and then stamped the same image over top the initial image in the colour of the cardstock. I thought it looked very neat! So I was inspired to create my own batch of cards. They are very simple, and I can make so many more cards with all the scraps, maybe tomorrow.
Sorry about the fuzzy pictures, I keep trying to find the problem with my camera. Unfortunately, I always get side tracked, I can't even blame the girls!!

Stamp Sets: Treasures from the Heart, Every Occassion
Colours: Pink Carnation, Kiwi, Spring Iris and Black Cardstock
Accessories: Black Big Brads and White Gel Pen , Paper Piercer

Paper Pleating

Good morning everyone, here is my card for today! I have seen paper pleating everywhere these days and I thought I would give it a try! I am really happy with how my card turned out!

Of course, all the products are CTMH. The paper is from the Creative Basics Silhouette Collection. The cardstock is breeze. I used the Dimensional Elements Classic Alphabet and painted them with reinkers and I added glitter while the paint was still wet. The paper flowers are the Summer Poises. The stamp set is, Card Commentary.

Paper Pleating:

1. Cut a strip of paper, twice the size you want the finished length to be.

2. Use a scoring blade to mark the folds. I used 1", 1/2", 1", for the entire paper. (the size of your pleats will be determined by the measurements you choose)

3. Accordion-fold the paper along the scored measurements.

4. To keep the pleats in place, glue or stitch the pleated paper to your project.

* There are so many variations to these instructions and each will give you a different look. These are the simplest instructions that I found!* These instructions are from Papercrafts April/May 2008.

Fossil Stone Technique

I have choosen to use very bold colours, but this technique is equally beautiful with soft colours. Colours: Hollyhock and Garden Green. Stamp Set is Kindred Spirits.

Fossil Stone Technique

This is what you need:

- glossy cardstock (cut to size)

- 2 ink pads

- rubber brayer

- acetate page protector

This is what you do:

- open your page protector

- ink up one side of the page protector with one ink pad (be liberal with the ink, cover the entire page)

- ink the opposite side of the protector with your other colour (remember that your colours appear light on the acetate)

- close your page protector and brayer over the entire page (this is combining the two colours of ink pads)

- then place your cardstock in the page protector and close, brayer over the entire page!

- the glossy paper should now have a stone look and is ready to adhere to your project of choice!

Polished Stone Technique

Supplies you will need: Rubbing alcohol, glossy paper, two different colours of reinkers, one metallic reinker (Brilliance Metallic reinkers by Tsukineko used here) and one cotton ball.

Randomly place metallic reinker droplets on your glossy paper.

Soak your cotton ball with rubbing alcohol.

Add two or three drops of each reinker in one spot, then move onto the next colour. Space out your colours evenly on your cotton ball.

This is what your cotton ball will look like.

Dab your cotton ball filled with reinkers and alcohol into your metallic ink spots. Do not swirl, as the colours will mix together. Continue dabbing all over your glossy paper.

You need to work fairly quickly, because the alcohol speeds up the drying process.

The finished product. Let dry completly, apprx. 5 minutes. Now all you have to do is decide which card or layout you are going to use your beautiful paper on!

Check back to see my completed card, that I incorporated this technique into.

** I just wanted to say that Hannah took all the pictures. I think I may have a little photographer on my hands. Thanks sweet heart. **