I had to share this new book I’ve altered for the hubby this week. He always complains that he can’t wear any of my jewellery as they’re too feminine for him lol. He particularly likes my wirewrapped art nouveau freestyle pieces – so as surprise I altered a papier mache “book drawer” and adorned it with a copper wire sculpted piece containing a variegated Serpentine Jade gemstone
It was a project of many firsts for me tbh. I had never used the papier mache before, it is incredibly sturdy, surprisingly so, and can take acrylic media well, but the drawer doesn’t pull in and out as smoothly as it did before I altered it. I didn’t seal it first though and did go straight in with the paint, so maybe it got a bit swollen? I don’t know, I’ll have to get a new one and experiment...
I’ve also had this jar of Decoart Modelling paste for about 6 months and had not dared use it before…I LOVE IT!! It’s so light and easy to manipulate around the piece. I smoothed the paste over cardstock containing an embossed Flourish (Tim Holtz Sizzix) . Another first for me was combining my wire sculpted work with my mixed media work…I think I will have to try more of these lol!
The rest of the book is embellished with aluminium foil pieces. I have been experimenting with inexpensive aluminium foil and various paint effects to develop a cool distressed effect. The cover has an industrial metal design, which gives it a masculine edge, and the spine reminds me of those ancient medieval books that I love. Overall, the gemstone, flourish and industrial metal elements are meant to evoke a Victorian Steampunky feel.
I just can’t wait for him to come home and see it, and hopefully he’ll find the drawer handy as a desk tidy (that desk really needs tidying!). I hope you love the photos, I noticed that the ones taken in daylight really look blueish compared to the ones taken inside my photo tent…so I included both lots for contrast.
I will be posting these in the following contests
Simon Says ...Emboss It (Simon Wednesday Blog Challenge) - embossed Sizzix Flourish
Our Creative Corner Blog - No More Shopping Sins Challenge - Papier Mache Book Drawer, Decoart Modelling Paste and even the Serpentine Jade gemstone which I've had since 2010!!
Ali Craft Blog - Anything Goes Challenge
Samantha Braund
18 comments:
The combination of the wire wrapped gem stone with the aged look of the altered book is just brilliant! LOVE IT!
A fantastic make! Thank you for sharing it with us at OurCreativeCorner!
Claudia x
Oh hey Claudia!! I am a huge fan of your creations (I follow your blog). Thankyou so much for commenting on my page and I am thrilled that you love my little Steampunk experiment. Blessings to you Samantha xx
What an absolutely amazing piece!!! I adore the way you have embedded your wire wrapped gemstone into that amazing cover! The whole thing is so beautiful and so cleverly finished! Steampunk, masculine and yet it has a kind of etherial beauty!! Hubby can't fail but to adore it and thank you so much for adding it to our challenge over at OCC!!
Thank you so much Astrid, I love your work and follow your blog too, so I am incredibly flattered that you love this piece so much. Thanks for commenting, I have wanted to participate in the OCC challenges before now, but was a little too scared too lol. It's an inspirational and fun challenge blog xx
OH WOW !! this is amazing Samantha !! totally awesome altered art and am sure your hubby loves this ! BRILLIANT ! :-)
thanks for joining us on the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge
luv
Lols x x x
Samantha, this is absolutely stunning work! So beautiful! Thank you so much for sharing this with us over at Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge! Your work is gorgeous!
Oh wow thanks so much for the compliments and for making me feel so welcome Lorraine and Jingle. The hubby does love it, thankyou, it's his first piece of wirewrapped jewellery from me lol xx
What an amazing fusion of your talents ! I adore what you have done :)
Von ☺
Thankyou Von, it was a challenging task to combine them, but I am thrilled with how it turned out, and by the response I am getting to the project :)
Love your book bet hubby is thrilled with it.Thank you for joining in at Ali-Craft.
Becky x
This is stunning.
Julie
Thankyou so much Becky and Julie.The hubby does love it, thank goodness (he can be quite fussy lol)
I adore your jewellery already and this is such a perfect way of using it in an alternative way. Bet your husband was thrilled to bits to receive something he could look at and use all the time. The embossing and paste look fantastic used here and really make a dramatic and effective base for your stunning centrepiece. Thanks so much for joining us at Our Creative Corner. Jenny x
Jenny you know how much I love your work - I am enormously flattered by your comment thankyou so much xx
This is absolutely stunning - the combination of your piece of jewellery with the aged and antiqued look of the book is just perfect. DecoArt paste is one of my favourites too... A brilliant make! Thanks for playing along with us at Our Creative Corner.
Alison x
Oh wow, thanks so much Alison, I am touched. My little blog rarely sees this kind of attention, it's been lovely :)
Sorry to be rather late visiting!
Love what you've done with the DecoArt modelling paste - one of my favourites too! The finished look of your project is stunning and the wire wrapped gemstone is a perfect finishing touch.
I have to agree with you about these card drawer books. They seem to stick after painting whether sealed first or not. The wooden variety are much better to work with in my opinion (if you can find them!).
Thanks for joining us at Our Creative Corner. Juliax
Spectacular.....Love it.
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