Friday, January 23, 2009

Making altered book embellishments using scraps and UHU glue

Altered artists have influenced the scrapbooking and card making industry in that scrapbook manufacturers now sell embellishments that altered artists make. I want to show how easy it is to make embellishments using your existing supplies and UHU glue.
Start with what you have. These supplies are just a suggestion and a starting point for your personal embellishments. Use your imagination and see what you can come up with.
Supplies clockwise from lower left:
Flower punch
dictionary pages
pencil
small flower punch
foreign newspaper
circle punch
painted papers
UHU Stic glue stick (purple)
UHU Twist & Glue
Heart punch
Old book pages that have been gessoed and painted
To make the flower embellishment, I started with a punch that punches a small flower. I wanted the flower to be larger than the dinky flower the punch would make. To make the flower, you will need a dictionary page, the punch, and a pencil.
Draw around the outside of the punch using a pencil.
For this one, I used a 1" hole punch for the center, and the small punch for the accent inside the center. Don't glue anything yet.
Here is a closeup of the flower.
Cut the flower out and turn it over so your lines are hidden.
Apply a couple of drops of the Twist & Glue to the circle. This one is a magazine image. Twist & Glue works great on magazine images because it doesn't buckle the paper like other wet glues do.
Now you can dress the embellishments up by adding gold dots around the edges, or coloring the edges or the petals with dye ink.

It takes less time to make these cute embellishments than it does to read this tutorial. I hope you'll give it a try and see what you can come up with for your next paper project.

5 thoughtful remarks:

Sandra Foster said...

Hi - I really liked your idea, recycling really is so creative.

Anonymous said...

I am learning so much from you, and this article is none different. Thank you for sharing your experience with us!

The Paper Artist said...

You make it look so easy. You make me believe I can make my own embellishments. Great photos and wonderful explanations.

Rachel

Anonymous said...

This is really neat! I love the idea pf making your own embellishments especially when you can reuse things!

susanne said...

Love this idea and will use it one a book I am working on now. Thanks so much Elizabeth. Sending you warm wishes from Canada, Susanne