Harvinaisen Kaunis Elämä: Step By Step Tutorial

I happen to live in a household full of vintage papers. Therefore, it’s not hardly surprising I stumble upon lovely old things every once in a while, and think that “oh, this one is perfect for Project No. 73951 or this for No. 6081538, so I need to put this aside to wait for a while.” Only, that “a while” is a very tricky definition. I suspect it might belong to the same category with “tomorrow”, that mysterious place of overly optimism.

Then, sometimes the time and place, the phase of the moon, The Crafty Mood, and all the other thousands of tiny aspects and details fell in place and you just realise it’s now or never. I wanted to have a quick craft session. Do you know the feeling I just quickly - and eighteen hours later you realise you haven’t even got to eat; you have had that tiny moment slightly expanding. (Of course, with me 18 hours would be a vast exaggeration, but an hour instead of 15 minutes?)

My husband asked me to make a simple tutorial for Varalusikka, maybe using mixed media and vintage papers. Then I remembered I had put aside this gorgeous German Lexicon book cover, from 1906, and thought I would make something really easy and simple and take photos as I go.

As the cover was delicious mix of deep moss green, gold, and weathered (real) leather, I thought some kind of a forest theme would be lovely and started to collect some inspirational items on my desk. I had no idea what I would be doing, but that’s no news, I hardly have anyway.

So, I had a new Finnabair stencil I had been waiting to be able to test, as well as the Finnabair Icing Paste I had used only once and wanted to double check it is just as fantastic I was thinking when first time using it. (Oh yes, it was.) On my desk had been whispering me for ages was a 49andMarket’s new paper pad and flowers, and I hadn’t got a chance to use the lovely Tim Holtz cardboard frames either, so I decided to start from there and see where I’ll end up.

It took me several days, but in the end I have a book covers ready and waiting for an altered vintage book, filled with enchanted magic.

STEP BY STEP

Follow my journey through the enchanted forest, step by step.

STEP 1.

I had the book cover chosen for a kind of a canvas, but I wanted to have a bit more 3D effect coming through behind all the forthcoming layers.

So, I took a 49 and Market sheet and with a ruler, ripped a suitable sized part as a second base. Then I ripped and folded the edges look like dried moss, lichen or birchbark.

When I was happy with the outcome, I distressed all the edges with Distress Ink (walnut stain colour).

STEP 2.

Using very dry brush, I gently added a soft veil of gesso here and there, to blend the book cover and paper as one coherent base.

With a baby wipe I gently wiped off if there was too much gesso somewhere.

STEP 3.

I chose a stencil (Prima Marketing & Finnabair Iris Tapestry) and a modeling paste (Prima Marketing & Finnabair Art Extravagance Icing Paste, Vintage Gold).

Using a Prima silicone brush I spread the paste onto the book cover. You can use basically any modelling paste, and colour it later, if you like. I found this a very simple way of adding texture and colour in one go.

STEP 4.

Let the stencil pattern dry properly. If you are as blessed with as little patience as I am, you might like to use a heating tool. (Mine is Ranger’s Heat It.)

STEP 5.

Then I thought I’d love to test my Tattered Angel sprays, and I suspect from there on I simply forgot the idea of a simple, quick art work!

I chose Tattered Angels Spray Dark Denim and Olive Vine, with Distress Oxide Spray Vintage Photo. These three made quite a nice mossy colour effect to the paper!

STEP 6.

At this point I simply took some of my new ephemera I just had got and chose suitable ones (suitable meaning the colours would match the forest theme) and started to add them layer by layer and testing how I would like it in the end.

I didn’t glue anything, just tested how different things goes together. At this point I had The Magic Flute and Peter Pan in mind, something reminding of an enchanted forest, of a brook singing far away, of a bird whispering, of a deer just disappearing from view, of everything peacefully silent and enchanted.

STEP 7.

I took the 49 and Market ephemera board and attached it in place with glue. (I tried first with double sided tape, but it didn’t hold too well.)

I added some stencil pattern using the same method I used earlier. While waiting for the icing paste to dry I sprayed the Tim Holtz frame.

I attached the printed photo I had chosen with washi tape. I used heavy paper (250g) and attached the photo on the frame.

STEP 8.

I cut a couple of scraps out of a cardboard box lid and glued them behind the framed photo to give it more dimensional look.

Before I glued it onto place, I sprayed some cheese cloth with the aforementioned sprays, fast dried it with my heating tool, and spread it to cover asymmetrically the book cover.

I glued some of the ephemera under the frame, as I wanted the frame kind of grow from the background. I distressed every single piece of ephemera I used in this work, with the Walnut Stain Distress Ink.

STEPS 9-11.

Layer by layer I added more ephemera, mostly from 49 and Market, but also some die cuts I made using Tim Holtz dies.

(I promised a step by step tutorial, so there are lot's of photos to give you a proper idea of how I did it. Especially this phase of adding layers is quite a difficult one to perceive if only the end result is shown.)

STEP 12.

I wanted the outcome to look really like the fairy queen would rise from the mossy earth, with sparkling morning mist glistening here and there.

I took some laces I thought suitable for the task and more cheese cloth and sprayed them, too with the same mix I had used earlier with the papers.

Then I started to attach them to the work. I used my Tattered Angels tweezers a lot! Tiny bits and pieces here and there, I constructed a mossy base from cheese cloth and lace.
All the different layers were treated like this too, to get the layering more visible.

STEP 13.

I added a final magical mixed media touch with Prima Marketing & Finnabair Metallic Wax (Vintage Gold), glint of warm gold here and there.

STEP 14.

The last step was to add the glistening drops of morning dew, i.e. Finnabair Diamond Art Pebbles. I attached them with glue here and there, from the tiniest to the darkest sized ones. Then it was all finished!