Seth Apter's ARTifacts 2017 Book

Hello Blogland, here is a long overdue post on Seth Apter's ARTifacts project. It is an awesome idea and you can jump in and play anytime. To find out more about this project check out the link above. To see Seth's first pages go here.

My ARTifacts Book Alive & in Color!

ARTifacts (plural noun): a collaborative project for 2017 documenting adventures in art.

I immediately got started working on a book to showcase my favorite pieces every month. I decided as Seth was the originator of this idea I would use his products for my cover. As tends to happen to me sometimes, I got over excited and created a fabulous, multi layered, extravaganza. Yes, that is what I feel I did! I hammered it with Seth's stencils, dies & stamps. Totally love that he has so many clever words in his stencils especially. The dies were cut out of card stock and layered repeatedly to give them more depth. Texture was created with modeling paste. Painted, painted and painted again. The project needed something. I couldn't figure out what but just a little something. So it sat, & sat for a few months "and then, one not-so-very special day"  I was walking and found a rusty nail lying on the road. That was it! The finishing embellishment I was looking for. Funny how inspiration works. 

Yes It Is A Removable Cover!

How About A Tour?

I decided I wanted to make a book using kraft pages so that would leave me a lot of options for the inside pages. My book measures 10.5"x8.5". When it came time to attach the cover I realized I had a problem. There was so much texture on the cover that I was a) worried it would get damaged while working on the inside of the book & b)that texture would make it difficult to create inside the book. To solve this I made a removable cover!! Using Tombo hook & loop tabs was the obvious answer. They attach on the hinges of the book making removal easy. 

Lot's of layers of Glazed Paint.

It's A Colorful Life

You will get a better idea of the true color of the project in these close-ups. There is a copper glaze that covers the piece that did not want to show up in photos! I had to shoot it in lower light so the quality might not be so great. You can kind of see the copper but in real life this book has serious shine! On the circles above I actually pounced black acrylic paint through a few of Seth's stencils.

Add One Rusty Nail!

You Never Know What You Will Find on Your Adventures.

For my nail embellishment I added a bit of Seth technique by wrapping it. I used copper wire and simply added some beads plus eyelets to hold it strongly in place. The Alphabet which came from some old cardboard letters in my stash were embossed with one of Seth's folders.

Proof of Layers & Layers

Love all the texture in this project- can you have too much? I don't think so! This pic is in progress before I added the stamping. The multiple layers of paint just add so much dimension to the die cuts.

Seth Apter Dies by Spellbinders

Stamping on the die images was a perfect way to break up this piece a bit. It adds, not just more dimension, but kind of grounds it. 

Seth's stencils by Stencil Girl- lots of nummy words!

 Perfect sentiment for this project. Especially as I will be working on my January art documentation next! I hope you get a chance to look at some of the work that has been shown so far. You can find the works Seth has shown below so far.
January
February

Now I need to go & work on my inside pages- what to do, what to do? I do plan on using product that I have been hoarding for years- I mean my stash! I hope you join in the fun!

Seth Apter Supplies: 

• Dies by Spellbinders-Splatter Proof, Drip Drop, Fly, Robo Ring    
• Embossing folder by Spellbinders -Lazer Beams
• Stamps by Impression Obsession -ConText, Pattern Play
• Stencils by Stencil Girl- like all of them.

 DecoArt Supplies:

• Fluid Acrylics: Cobalt Turquoise & Teal Hue, Quin.Magenta, Payne's Grey, Titanium White, Hansa Yellow Medium.
• Ice Crystal Glamour Dust, 
• Metallic Lustre in Copper Kettle. 

Other Supplies:

• Tombo Mono Aqua Glue, Hook & Loop tabs
• wire, beads, eyelets from my stash. 
• rusty nail-from an adventurous walk.