Before and After: Altered Cigar Box

My latest creation to come out of my workshop is an altered cigar box. I found the cigar box in a local smoke shop and loved the shape of the box and the quality of the wood. Because the outside of the box already had a thick, glossy varnish, I did not sand it down and wanted the wood itself to be a part of the overall aesthetic. 

The cigar box was first decorated with torn pieces of vintage Wuthering Heights novel pages that had a lovely, natural patina. I then separated the top tissue layer of a soft green floral napkin and decoupaged torn fragments over the book pages. Beneath the box latch, I glued a portion of a vintage earring that has real pressed flowers inside. 

The cigar box lid consists of antique-inspired scrapbooking paper with torn edges, more torn pieces of Wuthering Heights pages, nature collage images, ink-stamped flourishes and a pendant I created and repurposed. The woman in the glass dome pendant is the beautiful Arlette Dorgere, a French stage actress, famous in the early 20th century.

The cigar box "feet" consist of four wood blocks that were covered with Wuthering Heights novel pages. They were adhered to the bottom with super-strong contact adhesive. 

The inside top lid was covered with vintage wallpaper. The outside of the cigar box was sealed with layers of acrylic varnish and Mod Podge.

This was such a fun project to make! This was my first altered cigar box where I experimented with adding "legs". Besides wood blocks, I have seen altered wood doll heads and thread spools used as legs to prop up keepsake boxes. 

This altered cigar box has been added to my Etsy Shop, Lovely Fever : https://www.etsy.com/listing/101405464/mixed-media-altered-cigar-box-nature

Decoupage Candles: Bloom, Bliss, Dream

My Memorial Day morning was blissfully spent in my makeshift art studio-- a spare bedroom in our duplex that houses boxes of vintage ephemera, paint, ribbons, papers and other supplies. I wanted to incorporate one of my latest vintage ephemera finds into my decoupage candle holders. I had found a 1945 paperback edition of the French classic Les Dieux Ont Soif  (The Gods Will Have Blood) by Anatole France and disassembled it for art supplies. I also had recently bought some Paris themed napkins from DaisyFlowerPetal on Etsy, and was very inspired by their romantic designs.

First, I altered the French novel pages by painting it with a soft pink wash that was made with one part acrylic paint and three parts water. I blotted the wash with a paper towel to add a mottled appearance. Then, from my leftover morning coffee in the pot, I added coffee stains to add an aged look. After the papers were dry, I speckled burnt umber acrylic paint.

After cutting and sizing the French novel pages for the glass votive candle holders, I adhered them to the surface with Mod Podge. Then, I cut out images of a romantic rose from the napkins and separated the top tissue layer. I had wanted to stop there, but felt like something was missing. This feeling is always with me while making collage/decoupage/mixed media projects and helps lead me into new creative territories! There is a point when the artist knows they have finished the last detail. So, I had the idea to stamp the words "Bloom", "Bliss", and "Dream" on white tissue paper. I carefully cut them out and glued them centered on the flower images. 

I sized three circles from a sheet of two-sided scrapbooking paper for the candle holders bottom. To seal them, I first applied two layers of matte Mod Podge, then added a final layer of glossy, acrylic varnish. 

I just love how they look lit up! The layers illuminate in the candle light and give off a romantic aura. 

I have added these candle holders to my Etsy shop, which you can check out here for the listing:  https://www.etsy.com/listing/100952688/decoupage-votive-candle-holder-set-bloom

Altered Art Journals with Reader's Digest Book Covers

This week I am assembling altered art journals made with vintage Reader's Digest book covers that I purchased from 58andGrace on Etsy. I adore the colorful patterns of these book covers! I am really excited about going vintage book hunting myself and see what interesting materials I can find to make journals with.

Other goodies I used to construct these journals:

• Weathered, vintage dictionary pages
• Vintage ledger paper
• Cardstock printed with images from a 1923 Sears and Roebuck catalog
• ivory coverstock paper
• binder rings (can be found in office supply stores)
• stamps
• envelopes
• decorative ribbon
• vintage lace seam binding 

You can find these two altered art journals in my Etsy shop at http://www.etsy.com/shop/LovelyFever

Decadent Rose Lina Cavalieri Beauty Box

There is something intrinsically satisfying about pouring in hours of work to create something beautiful. My newest collage jewelry box required hours of work, but I am so pleased with the results! 

This large, octagon-shaped jewelry box was originally salvaged from a second-hand shop, then sanded down and recreated into a one of a kind piece of functional collage art. This intricate, one-of-a-kind beauty box was inspired by a photo of Lina Cavalieri, who was frequently referred to during her time as the "world's most beautiful woman".

Here are some of the steps I took to create this upcycled collage jewelry box:

• The exterior of the jewelry box was hand-painted with two coats of rose acrylic paint and a light coat of ivory paint. I sanded down and distressed the surface between and after the coats of paint. Two coats of varnish was used to seal the paint and collage work.
• The bottom of the jewelry box was created by assembling various rectangles of decorative paper and vintage dictionary pages. 
• I glued vintage scrabble pieces that spell out the word "BEAUTY" with super-strong, craft contact adhesive. 
• The sides were decoupaged with vintage dictionary pages that were hand-stamped with black flowers. The trim has tiny, hand-cut paper hearts

Sometimes I enjoy creating things that require an almost pain-staking attention to detail. I also enjoy transforming ordinary objects into unique pieces of art. The goal to make something beautiful is always my strongest motivation. For me, beauty is food for my soul, the force that soothes suffering and brings me bliss. One of my most favorite quotes by D.H. Lawrence is, "The human soul needs actual beauty more than bread."

In Circles of Hypnosis

The lake creases like lovers' sheets,
whose eddies of slumber shape new geographies.
A million fingerprints of secret beings
surface, sweep under, in circles of hypnosis.

The sun labors its glare; the sky exhales,
waves flow shore-bound in a slow waltz.
She is a songstress in a silver-sequined dress,
a city aglow with lights at dusk.
Over ripples, sparks skip, and swing
into oblivion.

An unsought music is magnified:
the breeze licking the leaves,
a motorboat whizzing by,
a robin perched on a barbecue
flaring his song-proud breast
to the June sun.

--Poem by Jessica Nash

Life Louder than a Saharan Sun

I want theatre and Venetian perfumes, opiates and Indian spices
I want rickety roller-coasters and sequined acrobats
I want to wear old Hollywood ball gowns and parade downtown
I want to bathe in holy water full of jasmine buds
I want to inhale the froth of waterfalls
I want poetry on billboards and loudspeakers
I want to love my love with all my love
I want velvet-kisses and blueberry waffles in bed
I want to sing and dance in Technicolor light beams
I want to soar away, to a kingdom of vixens and sea monsters
I want to stretch my wings on currents of chaos
I want to peer down on coastal monsoons and lion caves
I want to release a cluster of rainbow balloons
I want to see them pop, pop, pop at the edge of dawn
I want to lose all direction, run wild in the witch's hour
I want sinful sensuality and ecstatic irrationality
I want life, a fantastic, lunatic life worthy of lyric
I want life--a life louder than a Saharan sun
slapping beds of sand.


--Poem by Jessica Nash

Clear Crick Cottage -- The artist behind my new banner!!

The other day I received the most beautiful surprise :) Sherilyn Koss, the talented artist behind the Etsy shop Clear Crick Cottage, presented me with the blog banner that is presently on my page. I feel like this banner gave my blog a much-needed face lift, with its color and artistry. My Etsy shop banner was done by her as well. I love how she incorporated the John William Waterhouse painting "The Soul of the Rose", along with elegantly cropped photos of my artwork in my shop. Along with having fantastic digital collage skills, Sherilyn also creates unique handmade jewelry that she sells at her Etsy shop, which you can find here: www.etsy.com/shop/clearcrickcottage.

Sherilyn also has a Clear Crick Cottage blog that has gorgeous imagery of old-fashioned beauties and whimsical illustrations. You can check out her blog by going to clearcrickcottage.blogspot.com.