Mythical Creatures

What is a Spriggan?

By Sue Smyth 

 

You may well ask what is a Spriggan? For those that know me, I grew up on a farm...ahemmm some years ago, outside Brisbane. At that time there was no electricity, running water or phone, so we where somewhat isolated.

But this meant as children we had endless freedom. Freedom to run around the Bush, Rivers and Streams of the property. I had several favorite haunts on the farm, one was a deep hole in the ground made by the decaying of an old tree, tucked away under a stand of wattles it was shaded and protected. Moss covered the surface, lots of little tiny flowers would bloom from time to time, and minature mushrooms would sprout after rain.We could literally lay in this depression and pretend we were in another world. Some other spots, were a large patch of lemon scented tea tree and on the crest of the hill a patch of floating granite rocks that were flat and smooth, covered with moss and lichens. On cool evenings we would jump from rock to rock, sometimes at dawn you could also see foxes and even hares playing on the same spot lol.

Perhaps this explains why I love natural world so much, yes Bugs and Butterflies, I know they are not everyone's cup of tea, but I love their shapes and design lines, rather than their nature lol. But I also

love the mythical world, the world of imagination and folklore. I was always curious about the "little people" and we would often search for "evidence" of their existence, I think the closest I came to finding them, was in early summer time at the back of our farm we had a well, and the callistamen trees were covered in hundreds of "thumbelia" green tree frogs. This is my long winded way of saying I am again curious about the mythical world, and this seems to have replaced my penchant for bugs lately...So my first official project for the year is a altered book celebrating the Spriggan...

A spriggan, a singular borrowed from the Cornish plural spyryjyon 'spirits' is a legendary creature known from Cornish faery lore. Spriggans are particularly associated with West Penwith in Cornwall.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spriggan

The story behind this book, is that I wanted to do more with mythical creatures, and elves in particular. So at Christmas time I carefully picked apart one of my elf dolls, and with 

a little trickery ..made a mold. Then I could set a resin head to use,  this is what started an altered book on Spriggans.

 

Here you can clearly see the elf head, first I painted it black to give 

clear defined lines in the face, kind of like you do in a cartoon.

I have added a set of resin wings, these are dragon wings but I think they suit for all creatures mythical right.

I love using the mini alphabet to make solid little labels, you will 

see this trick on a lot of my work. It is a great way of 

getting a custom title with out a lot of fuss.

Here I wanted a frame to surround my side lock, but could not find one that fit perfectly. So I have use ID corners and snipped off some of the overhanging

bits, I think it works fantastically well.

I love tucking things under the layers, here you can see the large 

ornate key I have tucked in. And the those neat little rustic domes are actually gum nut lids, I love bringing in the natural world lol.

I wanted the spine to have some interest too, and since I chose a really really think old hardback novel I had room to play, this is just chipboard rectangles that have been adhered 

to the spine first. Then I have scrunched up tissue paper and 

applied it to the cover and spine with Gel Medium for that textured almost leather look.

A lot of the neat ID chipboard gets lost on the front, but under the head I have an oval frame and a square frame (adhered to a piece of custom chipboard)

I needed some kind of sturdy base for the head and a place to tuck in the wings, key and moss. 

You can see how I painted the entire book with black gesso and then with metallic purple paint.

This seems bold, but as you know adding more layers will cover 90 percent of this, with only a little of the black and purple showing through.

I have then decorated my book by rubbing layers 

of metallic waxes over top. This is the step that takes the book in any direction I want it to, just by adding more of one colour or another. I have complete freedom here to change the colours or adjust them to what I like. This time I highlighted the purples, greens and graphite of the spectrum. I have hidden the bottom of the spriggan with faux moss, and a tangle of black cotton.

I hope you like my new addition to my altered book

collection and here is a few of the Chipboard pieces I have used.

Edward Relief Corner IDC0008

Oval Swirly edge Frame IDF0031

Leah Frame IDFR0034

Swirly Corners IDC0002

and of course 

main letter set (small )

IDA0006

Thanks for visiting and 

Happy Crafting 

Spooky Business with Sue

Hi bloggers 

Earlier this year I created this altered encyclopedia and finally

as it is nearly Halloween I can share it with you all.

I use these books to decorate my house during Halloween, so

I make them a little Gothic and creepy but not too much, so I can 

display them at other times too.

The bugs are plastic and are painted black

before I have rubbed inka gold into them and added

layers of different colours

The cover of the book has been altered.

I have cut an oval shape into the cover 

and torn the pages underneath check out

my mini tutorial on the cover below.

The door latch is metal but I have embossed it 

with gold emboss powder to make it match

The swirly frame is simply spray painted black  and 

copper inka gold is rubbed over, I have 

added 3mm pearls around the edge.

The texture is created by texture paste and several stencils

Then I have layered over black gesso, red paint, gold paint and 

various inka golds, the more layers the better.

This is the centre of the book, which  has been randomly stamped

with black ink and assorted stamps.

Step by step cover alteration

Draw an oval on to the front cover, drill holes

through the cover and then cut with a blade

to remove an oval shape.

After I have cut an oval into the cover, I

used a blade to cut a + into the 

pages, then you can peel and tear the pages.

Tear each section as you go 

                             

Continue to tear out the pages below until you are 

happy with the depth.

Then randomly cover the cover with texture paste, 

using relevant stencils.

When dry paint with red dylusions paint and

dry.

Now paint with black gesso.

Make sure you leave a little red paint showing through.

Use bulldog clips to hold the pages together, then paint

with gel medium to adhere them all together.

Now start with the metallic paints, layering up the 

colours as you go.

Paint the bugs with gold paint, after

they have been spray painted black.

Flick brown and gold spray inks over the inside

cover, tuck in black muslin.

I have added some die cut tassels to the side and 

a metal lock.

The corner bracket is double embossed with

aged gold emboss powder. Then continue on to add bugs and trinkets

as desired.

Mini spooky business 

To add to my display, I have made a few mini 

altered books.

This time I have used dictionaries and pocket guides, 

you can find them in any op shop really cheap.

The first one I have used the swirly rectangle frame

which is double embossed, then sprayed with 

black dylusions to give an aged look.

The bracket is just sprayed black and rubbed

over with gold paint, then dab

a little dylusions ink over the top

for a opalized look.

The next book is similar, I have cut a hole

into the cover to nestle the bug into.

The bug is sprayed black and rubbed over

with gold paint and inka gold, I have also cut

the chip dragonfly wings and placed them

to each side to make a hybrid beetle.

The bracket again is double embossed with 

aged emboss powder.

Here is a snap of the cover before it is 

decorated, and when I have painted it black with

gesso.

Here you can see the application of inka 

golds, to create a layered colour.

I love altering these books and do a few each

year to add to my collection, I think this 

is honoring the book not destroying it, which

is what usually happens to old encyclopedia and pocket hand books.

And you end up with a work of art for you house.

I hope you give it a go too

Happy Crafting 

Guest Designer - Adriana Bolzon

Hello everyone,

Adriana Bolzon  here today again and excited to share another with project for this month, as Guest Designer for Imaginarium Designs, today I have created a tag and decorated a cover of an old recycled book, using some of the 
fabulous chipboards from "Imaginarium Designs"…. 


Using the following chipboards
IDDD001 Denise Art Deco shapes
IDFR0005 Oval Frame

I painted all the chipboards with white gesso first, then added white embossing powder and embossing ink pad. A sprinkle of gold mica here and there on the base of the tag.

For my last project this month, I used some of the Imaginarium Designs chipboards to decorate a recycled old book cover.

"LOVE" art journal by Adriana Bolzon

Using the following chipboards
IDDL0007 Criss Cross Frame 1
IDFR0005 Oval Frame
Flowers & Birds IDS0026

I painted all the chipboard firstly with white gesso, then added some prills, once  they were all dry, I sprayed some mists of glorious colour. Dabbing gently, other metallic paints here and there.

with the two frames chipboards I used gold embossing and dabbed a a bit of metallic green.

here are all the Imaginarium Designs chipboards that I used for my projects today.

Until next time, Thanks for looking :) 

Thanks for having me here, as Guest Designer this month 


Until next time, Cheers Adriana Bolzon XXX