Mad Hatter Book Box for The Altered Alice CHAPTER 8

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The Hatter shook his head mournfully. `Not I!' he replied. `We quarrelled last March--just before HE went mad, you know--' (pointing with his tea spoon at the March Hare,)
`--it was at the great concert given by the Queen of Hearts, and I had to sing 
"Twinkle, twinkle, little bat!
How I wonder what you're at!"
You know the song, perhaps?' 
`I've heard something like it,' said Alice. 
`It goes on, you know,' the Hatter continued, `in this way:-- 
"Up above the world you fly,
Like a tea-tray in the sky.
Twinkle, twinkle--"'
-- Chapter 7, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland

Here at The Altered Alice we celebrate Mad Hatter's Day twice a year as the date is taken from the price on his hat - ten shillings and a sixpence or 10/6. That means it is on October 6 here in the United States, and on June 10 in the United Kingdom. But mainly it is just a great reason to party with the Mad Hatter twice a year! Your challenge is to celebrate the Mad Hatter, and as OPTIONS you can use something that twinkles or shines AND/OR you can bring some spookiness into it since we are all having a "Twinkle twinkle little bat" sing-along around our mad tea table!


Our prize this month is an A5 sized unmounted stamp set from IndigoBlu (a £13 value), or an equivalent amount of A6 stamps. IndigoBlu is a fantastic new British stamp company that makes "Quintessentially English Rubber Stamps" right there in England.

In fact IndigoBlu is sponsoring The Altered Alice for October AND November, and the design team will be working with these two fantastic Alice stamp sets, titled appropriately "Alice I" and "Alice II". Most Americans don't know what A5 and A6 mean so I'll just tell you, these sets are really big!

I encourage you to go visit IndigoBlu.com. All stamps are on sale right now with their introductory pricing, but that won't last forever, and the designs are all wonderful! In addition, the Head Honcho Alfie says
"The Altered Alice readers can take 10% OFF during the challenge; just use coupon code AlteredAlice in the voucher code box at checkout!" 
Thanks Alfie!


Enter by Friday, October 28; our randomly drawn winner and the honorable mentions will be announced on the last Sunday, October 30. Multiple entries are encouraged, but each must be on a separate post. As always, entries that feature Wonderland in some way will get two chances in the drawing instead of one.


Mad Hatter Book Box

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My project starts with a paper mache book box. I painted it with gold and copper, then I painted the outside with crackle medium, then ivory.  Wherever the crackling was not very good, I filled in with the wonderful IndigoBlu crackle stamp in rust ink. I love this IndigoBlu image of the Mad Hatter looking pensive; a nice change from the Tenniel and Disney versions! I stamped it in brown and colored it with Copic markers and trimmed it out. I stamped the raven image on tissue paper with gray ink and used the back side as this softened the bird image even more and let me flip it to face the other direction.  The raven riddle, another IndigoBlu image, was stamped in brown and trimmed out. Because I used a waterbased dye ink to stamp the rust crackles, I sprayed the whole box with a fixative, which prevented the ink from running when I decoupaged the two images onto the front with matte multi-medium.

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On the spine of the book box, I decoupaged the Alice in Wonderland title, another IndigoBlu stamp that I stamped in brown and trimmed out. I colored the raised bands on the spine with gold and copper Krylon leafing pens, then added a row of bumps with a Viva Decor pearl pen in copper.

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Of course I had to show off my ultimate favorite IndigoBlu image, this whimsical March Hare! I can just imagine him defending his attempted repair on the Mad Hatter's watch, saying that he used the best butter to lube the works! I love the distressed font on the IndigoBlu quote stamps, this one and the hare were stamped in brown, the hare was colored with Copics, and they were decoupaged onto the box. The IndigoBlu flourish was stamped on the front and back with Versamark and heat embossed with gold detail powder. The box is not perfectly flat, so the impressions were not perfect but I think it goes with the crackling and distressing!

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I painted the inside of the box black and added a strip of brown striped ribbon and this IndigoBlu image of the Mad Hatter's tea party. I think this would be a really great place to keep all kinds of Alice-related charms and trinkets for use on projects.

Supplies: (Note: If you are viewing this in email or a reader, you will have to click on the title of this post to go to the blog.)
I hope you enjoyed my project to celebrate Mad Hatter Day in the U.S.; I'd love to read your comments! I also hope you will visit IndigoBlu to see their wide variety of wonderful stamps; remember they are already on sale plus you get an additional 10% off on top of the sale price!

A Sad Farewell

This card is inspired by the beautiful Southwest Indian art and mission churches of New Mexico. It was made for a very special purpose which I will share below. I promised you a super-duper card and I think this fits the bill!

Front - click to enlarge

 It is a center-step card; two cuts and a couple simple folds result in a really neat structure of card! There are a lot of pictures to show you all the angles and how it is constructed. I was inspired by this lovely card by Beate, and the tutorial links for a center-step card are on the same post:

Source: beate.blogs.splitcoaststampers.com via Lynne on Pinterest

Here is a picture of my card flattened out. I started with a letter-sized piece of kraft card stock. The center fold is at the halfway mark as normal, which is hidden behind the large stamped pottery bowl. But the two side pieces are separated from the center panel by a cut that begins one inch above the bottom front and ends one inch beyond the center fold. Then some mountain and valley folds create the side panels.

Flattened card  - click to enlarge

And here is a side view so you can see how the folds work:

Side - click to enlarge

And the back - from the front, the crosses and the pottery bowl hide the top folds so it is hard to see the true profile:

Back - click to enlarge

This special card is now on its way to a very special lady. My aunt has been diagnosed with stage 4 lung cancer and I fear that she is fading fast. Prayers for my aunt and especially for her family would be wonderful if you are so inclined, I'd be grateful. I don't think I am going to get to see her again, and in a way that's a blessing because my memories are of her beautiful and healthy, always so generous and kind. It took me a couple years after my mother passed to be able to remember her without the image of her illness superimposed over my every thought of her. I know my mother did not want all the visitors; she knew she was loved and wanted people to remember her as she was before the illness. She endured all the visits because she knew others had the need to say goodbye but it made her so sad.

This card, which says "To everything there is a season" is the vehicle for a heartfelt letter telling my aunt how much I love her, how grateful I am that she is a part of my life. Sharing some special memories and assuring her that she she is loved and I will always remember her, that she is constantly in my thoughts and prayers. Illness may take a life but it does not kill LOVE.

Front - click to enlarge

The storyteller and the large Mimbres pottery design are by Stamp-a-mania. When a storyteller's eyes are open, she is singing and when they are closed she is chanting. I thought this image was particularly suitable for my aunt! I colored it in Southwest shades with Copic Sketch markers. I shaded the large pottery to look like a bowl and give it some depth, then I added the sentiment from a set appropriately named "Life Lines" by Flourishes.  The two Indian pots on either side are Magenta images; the bird pot on the left was the bottom pot in a stack of three.

All the stuff - click to enlarge

I cut and embossed the crosses with a Spellbinders die set. The back crosses were colored with a Krylon gold leafing pen, I love how that turned out - my friend Terri's idea! The "wrought iron" railing across the front is cut and embossed with another Spellbinders die set: Fleur de Lis Accents.  The "From the Heart" stamp used inside the card is a retired Stampin' Up! image. The striped paper is from the Earth Love 6x6 paper pad by Cosmo Cricket.

On a lighter note, I had a heck of a time taking photos of this card as one of my cats, Beignet, was determined to help! Here is my photographer's assistant, you can see that she is taking her job very seriously, lol!

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Please leave a comment! I am sure many of you are relieved to see a card again, thank you for sticking with me. I am afraid my foray into art journaling has driven away a lot of my long-time subscribers and I've gained some new ones. You have to follow your muse and I certainly understand that the change in my creative direction is not for everyone. But the main thing to remember is that Cancer can't kill LOVE.

Angels in Disguise

FYI: Be sure to stop by The Altered Alice; I've added another week of amazing design team projects made with IndigoBlu stamps!

I have quite a collection of angel stamps, and I love this Bible verse from Hebrews 13:2 about angels: "Be not forgetful to entertain strangers, for thereby some have entertained angels unawares." That's one of those quotes that just doesn't sound right to me unless it is the good old King James version!  I know when I reflect on my life there have been definite turning points and people who seem to have been placed in my way for a reason; without those influences my life would have been on a very different course.

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This page started off as a technique exploration. I wanted to try using Liquitex Clear Gesso on the page instead of regular. Clear gesso is very different as it seals the surface AND gives the surface a lot of tooth to hold pencil or charcoal; it almost feels like the fine side of an emory board. I painted it on with a foam brush, first in one direction then another, which resulted in a linen finish.

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Then I sponged on PanPastels in a beautiful gradient. The aqua shade in the center is actually more vibrant than it appears. Then I sponged various colors of PanPastels through a stencil at the top and bottom and outlined the areas with a clear Gelly Roll Stardust pen. I was hoping that the extra tooth of the surface meant that I would not need to fix the pastels, but I still needed to spray the surface with a fixative to prevent smearing.

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Next I used a wing stencil with a product I now LOVE - Delta Texture Magic. It gives so much dimension; I spread it through the stencil with an old credit card. It has a really different texture and is fairly low moisture. I was pleased at how quickly it dried compared to modeling paste, and it has a very interesting texture!

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I stamped "Angel in a Garden" by Postmodern Design and painted it with watercolors. When dry, I went over the halo, wings, and robes of the angel with the clear Gelly Roll Stardust pen. I hope the above photo gives you some idea of how shimmery this is in real life! I trimmed it out and adhered it to my page.

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I wrote in the Bible verse with a purple Copic Multiliner SP but the dark color was too harsh. I rubbed some PanPastel over the words and that really helped to soften the text. I highlighted some areas with the clear Stardust pen and other areas with a white Gelly Roll pen.  The layout needed some horizontal elements, everything was so up and down, so I ruched some ribbon, adhering it to Scor-Tape as I ruffled it up. I love the ruched ribbon, it adds a lot of movement, which reminds me of angel wings, and the satin folds remind me of folds of the angel's robe.

It still wasn't right. it looked like an overgrown card, not a journal page. Then I realized it needed some journaling! I keep a lined journal where I write down poetry and quotes that I like, and I have quite a few angel quotes. I am much happier with the page now that it tells more of the story. Click on the photos above to see the details!

Around the top I wrote this quote that I love by Eric Honeycutt:

"The wings of angels are often found on the backs of the most unlikely people."

Above the angel wings I drew another white line with a white gel pen. In between I wrote a quote by James Russell Lowell:

"All God's angels come to us disguised."

At the bottom, I could not fit the entire passage I wanted to use, so I just used the last part of this quote by George Eliot:

"The golden moments in the stream of life rush past us and we see nothing but sand; the angels come to visit us, and we only know them when they are gone."

I do have a pretty amazing card to share with you, I just haven't had a chance to get good pictures. That will be up next!

Supplies: (you may not see the list in a reader or email; click on the title of this post to go to the blog)

Please leave a comment and let me know what you think about angels, influences on your life, or any of the techniques used. Your comments are what makes this effort worthwhile!

A life without BOOKS...would kill me!

I am an avid reader. I have thousands of books; I am afraid to be more specific than that, lol! We moved all the time when I was a kid, and being quiet, chubby and wearing glasses pretty much ensured I was not at the top of any popularity list. Books were my friends, and they were friends who could come along with me no matter where we lived. When I found this quote by Heinrich Mann I knew I wanted to build an art journal page around it: "A house without books is like a room without windows."

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I started by sealing the page in my 7x10 inch journal with gesso. Then I tore up book pages and decoupaged them onto the page with matte multi medium.  Then I scribbled Neocolor II watercolor crayons in various shades of green, but instead of activating them with water, I used more of the multi-medium. It worked like a dream and had the benefit of making the watercolor impervious to subsequent applications as it was now sealed with acrylic!  This allowed me to then paint in a brown path over the greeen without mixing the green into it. I used an ultra-fine Sharpie to sketch in cobblestones and clumps of grass.

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Then I turned my attention to the sky. I scribbled in a sunrise sky with all different colors of watercolor crayons, then wet my brush with matte medium instead of water. I LOVE this technique. The medium is wet so it activates the watercolor, but it is like mixing up an acrylic glaze in all different colors right on the page! Heaven!  I stamped the quote with a little Studio G wooden letter stamp set that I found in the dollar bin at Michaels. I did not even try to keep them straight; I prefer the crooked look. I used black Stazon to ensure it would stick to the acrylic medium.

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I love this set of Zettiology house stamps by Teesha Moore. Each one looks like it has its own story inside! I really like the way they all have faces and text inside. I stamped them with Versafine on cream cardstock and glued them down with the matte medium. It still needed something, so I added this tree with a leaf stencil by troweling gesso through the stencil using an old credit card. When it dried the white looked too stark, so I colored it with Copic markers! Love the way this turned out.

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Supplies: (Note - if you are reading this in email or a reader, you may have to go to the blog to view the supplies; just click the title of this post.)
I would love to hear your comments on my page!  Thanks so much for stopping by.  I'll have a pretty incredible card to show you next time, back to my roots!

It's Time for CHAPTER 8 at The Altered Alice!

I'll be posting my own project later this month, but go visit The Altered Alice to see our CHAPTER 8 Challenge: to celebrate the Mad Hatter, and as OPTIONS you can use something that twinkles or shines AND/OR you can bring some spookiness into it since we are all having a "Twinkle twinkle little bat" sing-along around our mad tea table!

The Hatter shook his head mournfully. `Not I!' he replied. `We quarrelled last March--just before HE went mad, you know--' (pointing with his tea spoon at the March Hare,)
`--it was at the great concert given by the Queen of Hearts, and I had to sing 
"Twinkle, twinkle, little bat!
How I wonder what you're at!"
You know the song, perhaps?' 
`I've heard something like it,' said Alice. 
`It goes on, you know,' the Hatter continued, `in this way:-- 
"Up above the world you fly,
Like a tea-tray in the sky.
Twinkle, twinkle--"'
-- Chapter 7, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland

Our prize this month is an A5 sized unmounted stamp set from IndigoBlu (a £13 value), or an equivalent amount of A6 stamps. IndigoBlu is a fantastic new British stamp company that makes "Quintessentially English Rubber Stamps" right there in England.

In fact IndigoBlu is sponsoring The Altered Alice for October AND November, and the design team will be working with these two fantastic Alice stamp sets, titled appropriately "Alice I" and "Alice II". Most Americans don't know what A5 and A6 mean so I'll just tell you, these sets are really big!

I encourage you to go visit IndigoBlu.com. All stamps are on sale right now with their introductory pricing, but that won't last forever, and the designs are all wonderful! In addition, the Head Honcho Alfie says
"The Altered Alice readers can take 10% OFF during the challenge; just use coupon code AlteredAlice in the voucher code box at checkout!" 
Thanks Alfie!

Enter by Friday, October 28; our randomly drawn winner and the honorable mentions will be announced on the last Sunday, October 30. Multiple entries are encouraged, but each must be on a separate post. As always, entries that feature Wonderland in some way will get two chances in the drawing instead of one.