AlteredPages Artsociates

Hi all! Becky here today! I have been in a circle-mood lately & have been doing circles on everything! So why not do some circles with some of my Gelli Prints??? Here's a simple little card I made using 4 different circle punches, a black pen & some previously made Gelli prints! Hope you're enjoying Springtime in your area! Cheers!

Good Morning on the last Sunday in April. I wanted to share something with you all.   We have been formulating a plan for local events in addition to our online presence. We will be kicking it off in May with in your home Art Parties.    We will offer two projects for a very reasonable  price for groups of 10 people.   We will have guest artists who will teach techniques and full projects.   It's an exciting opportunity and we hope much fun for everyone. One of the projects (a simple one) will be our recipe tag book . Don't forget,  the BLOG Challenge ends on Tuesday, get y our photo submitted for the prize package which you can see on the Challenge Page, click at the top bar above to get there.    Happy Sunday and here's to a fabulous week! See our new books, click here Jean

One of my favorite parts of art journalling and mixed media art is what I call "following the art." I have talked to the AlteredPages.com owner Jean about this a number of times over the past year. What happens is I will have a plan in my head of how I want something to progress and I will sit down to do that project but the end product that I had in mind is not where I end up...I "follow the art." That is how this project began. I initially wanted to attempt to replicate a technique done with other products and see if I could make it with products available at alteredpages.com. The main difference being that rather than using resin, I was using lacquer. Now before you go and say "well there's your problem," here's my reasoning...I can get the resin look with lacquer successfully, I think in this particular technique it should work in a similar fashion...so let's give it a whirl. I will not dwell any longer on what should have been as that con...

This week Faber-Castell Gelatos™ arrived in my mail.  I had heard so much about these amazing creamy water-soluble pigments that I had to have some in my toolbox of supplies.   Now that I have them what do I do.  PLAY ~ EXPERIMENT ~ HAVE FUN   My wonderful mail included Neutral, Reds and Metallic Gelatos™. Also Love Birds and Time Travel templates, Loralie Designs Dressform stamp set and a few more items.  In my art journal I scribbled the page with  Gelatos™  Chocolate, Peach and Butterscotch, then brushed lightly with water to blend. I LOVE the texture I got on the paper I was using. To speed drying I used a heat gun.   Next using the Time Travel stencil and Gelatos™ Earl Grey I spread the Gelatos™ with my finger into the stencil of the large clock face.  Then using the Love Birds stencil and Gelatos™ Red Cherry and Guava spread the  Gelatos™ with my finger over one of the birds (Chocolate on th...

I really LOVE using "Gelatos" .  They are a wonderful, creamy, water soluble pigment stick that blends beautifully with or without water. There are so many other uses too.  You can apply some to a palate and add water and put it in a mister, or use it as water color paint.  I love scribbling with them and blending them with and without water,  They have a big selection of packs of Gelatos at the  Altered Pages Store .  The packs come with 4 Gelatos, a paint brush and a stamp, Or the Gelatos with a brush and  dabber.  They are really well priced too!  Cheaper than the other shopping sites! I started by using Mixed Media paper and adding some book paper, patterned paper and burlap to it.  I then used the  Gelatos  and just scribbled them all around the paper   I blended the Gelatos with a sponge and with water.  I then used stamps and wrote my new favorite phrase.  A little spray on Gelato mix was...

Happy Earth Day everyone!! leslierahye here filling in for my design team buddy Tristan while he is on a small break... Today is Earth Day and it is also my 2nd Annual Earth Day Blog Hop where we showcase upcycled crafts. AlteredPages.com is the perfect company to match with upcycling. Many products in the store ARE upcycled -- text pages from old books, music, unique one of a kind ephemera items. Then, you have yummy collage pages that you can use with these recycled items to create wonderful projects!! Today I created napkin rings that would be perfect for a Mother's Day brunch. I colored book paper with Gelatos and Mod Podged them on to 1½" wide napkin rings. I used the  Mother and Child AP-1458 collage page to cut 2" squares backed by cardboard for the focus elements for the napkin rings. Another coat of Mod Podge and some Walnut ink added to the aged look of the rings. I hope you enjoy my project!

They are NOT your Grandma's Stencils anymore!  Jean here to tell you that I am having such fun with STENCILS! If you have not worked much with the newer way of using Stencils (Yes I remember the old way with color pastes and stencil brushes to create darling watermelon slices, ivy and roosters), we have some loosey goosey updated ideas!    Here is a trick for awesome finished works....tape one side of your stencil down to prevent movement during your application and then use a palette knife ( or silly stick ) to apply thick bodied acrylic paints to your stencil over a base paper.   The Eco Green Acrylics we sell are really a great consistency for this purpose.     You DO NOT want a watery paint or you may get seeping under the edge of your stencil.  With the thick bodied paint, you will have a bit of a dimensional appearance to the work.   Blend colors before applying to get interesting effects.   THEN come back over after it's dry and...

Have you joined in the latest challenge at the Altered Pages Challenge site yet?  It's a wonderful spring challenge:  Birds! So I have a stash of bingo cards--you may remember the Lavender Bingo Butterfl y?   Well, now it's time for Bingo Bird!   You have until April 30th to join in the challenge, and the prize is a selection of gorgeous coordinating Glitz goodies, in a lovely spring palette.  Good luck, everyone, and have a wonderful weekend!  (PS, the shimmer is from Pearlescent Watercolors , and the collage images are from Vintage Eggs and Vintage Bird Cards .) :)trisha

For my post today I want to share with you a video where I test drive the new Faber-Castell Gelatos. I experimented with the 50s Diner set and a variety of ATC card bases and twill trim! gelatos I hope you enjoy this tutorial and that it inspires you to try on your own!!

Hi Everyone!  Danie here today.  I was browsing through some of the Collage sheets from Altered Pages when I came across this adorable collage image on the Vintage Chicken Collage Sheet.  It reminded me of delighting in the small things in life which as a child came so easily, but as an adult not so much. So let my post today be a reminder to you to take some time out of your busy schedules to find what gives you joy.  It could be as simple as lying on the grass in your backyard and watching the clouds roll by, spending quality time with those you love, or perhaps finding time to create.  Whatever it is no excuses, just do it. With seeing the chickens I also immediately thought of my Graphic 45 French Country Papers  and on closer inspection I found one of them had the definition of Joy printed on it.  This same piece had other words/definitions including  Mon Ami or My Friend.  As a finishing touch to my card, I added a bow tied ...

Hello there! Not sure if you've noticed, but there are a TON of new kits in the shop these days! Including my latest one aimed at bringing a smile to your BFF's face!!! It's a fun little paper-mini with a poem inside about growing old with your best girlfriend or sister! Each page is ATC size, so super easy to create with & make them your own!! The kit includes some fun images of women in hats , a paper pad, some fibers, shipping tags & directions! All for only $16.99!! What a deal! Be sure to check it out as well as all the FABULOUS kits from the rest of the team! There's sure to be something to catch your fancy!!! Cheers!

I spent a day at a Scrapbook convention with a great friend and scrapbook and card artist, Nancie Lively.    We truly enjoyed some of the items we saw and got to use in makes and takes.     Some of my favorite products were the beach glass and colored sands that came in small jars with a medium to allow use on any art!    I can't wait to use it!  It really is bits of glass.  I know this one is somewhat specific to personal desire, but I LOVE THE OCEAN so it is a natural for me.   Much of my home is based upon the ocean, yes even though I live in Arizona!   I have ocean art in many forms collected from our travels.   From water colors to shells, clay and glass.  The colors of the ocean sooth me and I smile everyday to see it all surround me! My Kitchen Pot Rack   Kauai Artist Angela Mathieu originally from Scotland I am always on the lookout for new and interesting products for you!    ...

You will wish you had Splash Inks all your life!    They are far more than just color or ink.  The properties are incredible and allow for so much creativity. We will have a video for you soon but I wanted to show you some examples of simple yet dynamic effects you can achieve with Splash Inks.  Some of the examples have had blue painters tape used for a border. Above you see the use of a stencil with Golden white acrylic mixed with Splash Inks and allowed to dry, the acrylic is heavy bodied and adds dimension.   After dry, a sponge with used with a mixture of  pure Splash  Inks in yellow & magenta over top of the acrylic which then acts as a resist.  Some gold MICA MIXER * was then added to the remaining paint mixture and used to shade the perimeter.  Also added with the sponge was glitter with a watery wash of white glue in some areas.   *You can add liquid pearlescent mixers too This technique is fascinat...

The Spring is sprung the grass has riz. I wonder where the flowers is. The bird is on the wing,  but that's absurd the wing is on the bird. ~ Unknown Make cute birdhouse tags for your spring gifts using Altered Pages Bird Collage Sheets!   Supplies: Altered Pages Collage Sheet Little Spring Birdies Glitz Papers Chip Board - Thin to mount the birds on House shaped Tags Paper Flowers Dew Drops Lace Feathers Brown Paper (3 punched circles) Ink for distressing  Join the Altered Pages Design Team  and enter the Challenge this month! More information HERE !

Do you realize that Mother's Day here in the States is quickly approaching? Sunday, May 12th is the magic day but don't fret, Altered Pages has you covered!   There are plenty of fun kits that are perfect for all the Mom's out there....   My ~ Lovely Flower Basket Kit is a pretty little pot decorated with vintage floral images paired with 5 bottle cap flower magnets tucked inside.      Another kit I have up for grabs is - Girlfriend Puuhleeze! Kit ! A fun album full of "mom-isims" and spunky smart comments paired with lots of great retro images ~ perfect for girlfriends & mom's alike.     Peg transformed a cupcake album into a beautiful little - Perfect Posey Pot Album ... great for filling with photos of your kids...       Leslie-Rahye's  ~ 7 Photo Folders   is also perfect for adding photos of kids, special memories, hand written memories, Love coupons, etc.   ...