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 While
it is being touted as the hot “new” trend in crafting;
elements of Altered Art have actually been popular
for a long time. The idea behind Altered
Art is simple: breathe new life into existing
items. These items can be anything ranging from
old photos and greeting cards to knick knacks,
broken jewelry and other found items. Crafters
have been applying this philosophy for generations
every time they added an embellishment to a framed
photo, scrapbook page or simply saved an old piece
of furniture or clothing for a project.
The gap between adding unique and personal embellishments
to your crafts and Altered Art is not difficult
to bridge. All you have to do is take your creativity
one step further. Find an out of the ordinary
surface like an old book or candy box and pull
together knick knacks and other found objects
that you may not ordinarily put together. Make
sure the items are all part of the same theme
and then get busy!
Anything Can Be Altered!
Get your creative juices flowing with this list
of items that can be used as surfaces or just
be a part of your Altered Art project:
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Books
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Cards
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Board Games
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Scrapbooks and Journals
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Cigar Boxes
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Gift Boxes
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Picture Frames
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Tags
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Serving Trays
I
Started My Project, But It Needs Something More
It is easy to get too inspired. What do you do
when you have a ton of knick knacks and photos
and other embellishments to use? What if you can’t
find a unifying theme? Turn to your craft supplies!
Rubber stamps, paint and papers all provide great
ways to pull your ideas together and get back
on track.
Plaid’s new papers, Paper Journeys, currently
come in eight great themes with bold colors and
tons of elements. Each paper pack includes motifs
and icons, letters and numbers, borders, “pre-layered”
designs and multiple backgrounds. You can choose
a background that sets off your items or cut out
individual motifs to fill in extra space. Or,
if you want to try out Altered Art but don’t want
to dig into your supply of “stuff”, mix and match
all of the elements in the paper pack on your
surface. Once you complete on project, you’ll
be on a roll!
Add Color and Dimension
One of the best things about Altered Art is that
there is always room for more creativity.
Once you have put together all of your elements
take a look at the project. Would some color add
a little bit of zing? What about dimension?
Original
Artwork in Your Price Range!
Altered Art has so many positive side effects,
its surprising it took so long to catch on! You
don’t have to invest in a lot of supplies; an
acid free good glue and sealer like Royal Coat
Decoupage Finish is the most important thing you
need, besides your imagination. And Altered Art
gives items that have outlived their purpose a
second life, it opens new doors of creativity
and turns you into an artiste!
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