Trying To Read - Altered Book

 

I bought this fabulous digital stamp from Mo Manning titled "Trying to Read" just for the sheer joy of colouring it in, and it was after it was finished I wondered what on earth I was going to do with such a large scale image.  Then like a smack upside the head inspiration came and I knew it was meant to be put into an altered book!

The image itself is printed onto watercolour paper and I used Distress Markers and a Tombow Blender pen.  It takes several layers of colour to build up the shadows and even then it's still quite soft, but I love that about watercolour.  I have also added a layer of iridescent water colour to the bottle, glass and fireflies.

To make the book itself I cut a rectangle out of the hard cover and using a ruler and sharp exacto knife I cut a criss cross through several layers of the pages at once.  I then unceremoniously ripped these out which creates the fantastic jagged edge frame.  Once I had torn through about half the book to get the depth of layering that I wanted I placed a sheet of plastic between the pages where I wanted the image to go and used Mod Podge to adhere the inner torn edges and the outer page edges together.  When dry I brushed gold paint on the edges.

The front layer of the book is decorated with a branch made from paper ribbon, some silk flowers, a bit of oakmoss and some plastic toadstools torn from an unloved and gaudy Christmas decoration.

When all of those layers were dry I removed the sheet of plastic and slipped the finished image into the middle of the book and sealed it shut with one final layer of Mod Podge.  Doing it this way meant that none of the hot glue, paint or adhesive accidentally got on my precious image.

This book has picture hangers on the back so it can be hung on the wall, but it could also easily be displayed on a book stand.  I enjoyed this so much am already thinking about my next one!

Linking this up with:

Mo's Challenge Blog: Lots of Layers
Make it Monday:  Anything Goes
Simon Says Stamp:  A is for...

Christmas Tree Altered Book

Technique:  Papercraft

Pens & Inks:
Versacolor metallic gold ink

Papers:
Bo Bunny "Father Christmas Holly"
Paisley Park "Father Christmas Around The World"

Dies:
Tiny Tabs & Tags by Tim Holtz

Other:
hard cover book to be altered
gold mica spray (ie Glimmermist)
gold glitter
gold cord
gold brads
red and gold ribbon
hot glue gun

This is my first altered book, and whilst I don't consider it to be "arty" I was pleased with the result, and it suit's me as it's function is a practical one.  The tree in the centre is not just decorative, it's a Christmas card holder.

I started with a book called Quartets for Men, which is a book of gospel hymns.  I picked this up at the Salvation Army thrift shop for a song (I made a punny!).  I removed the first and last page because this was a thicker sheet and would have created issues when folded. 

This left a small gap in some places between the meat of the book and the covers, which I sealed up with tissue tape.

Then the hours of folding started, well not really but it did take longer than I expected! 

To create the fold for the tree take the top right hand corner and fold it down to the spine.

Take that folded edge and carry it in toward the spine once more.

Tuck up the bottom flap.

Repeat that for all the pages.  My book was some 200 pages or thereabouts, and I removed around 20 sheets to ease out some bulk.  This was necessary otherwise the bulk of the folded pages would force the covers to extend beyond the flat 180 degrees that I wanted. 

Once all the pages were folded I lined the inside of both covers with the Bo Bunny patterened papper and then misted the entire surface with a gold mica spray, if you do this less is more, you don't want the pages to wrinkle.

When dry I squeezed the pages of the book together and ran a glue stick along the folded edges, not too hard though, you don't want to force glue between the folds so that the pages stick together, and gave a dusting of gold glitter.

The four little ornaments are made using the Tiny Tags die, which just happens to be the same size as the circles on the Paisley Park paper.  Cut out four tags, and four images of Santa.  Glue the images to the tags and trim any overhang.  Ink around the tag using the Versa metallic gold ink.

The tags are "attached" with a gold brad - what I did there was remove the prongs from the brad and hot glued it into position, that way nothing was sticking through the other side.  The final touch was a red bow atop the tree.

The cover of the book is a faux green leather, and the title of the book is imprinted with gold ink.  I decided not to cover it with paper and just give it a spritz of gold mica.

Here's the tree holding a few Christmas cards.  If you prefer it could be purely decorative and then you could adorn the tree with all manner of bling.

This is being entered into (and was inspired by) the first LESS-ology challenge which is to alter a book.  I am so excited about this challenge, as I love altering and upcycling and that is more within my comfort zone than card making.