Digging the Rabbit Hole

Today for my “Thrifty Thursday” altered book project, I decided to take a trip down the rabbit hole – but first I had to create one!

This is a common technique used in altered books and art journals, a variation of the “frame”, in which you glue several pages together and then cut out the center. In this version, I cut a series of circles, each one a little larger than the last, leading up to a photo on one of the pages in my altered book:

As you can see, the image gets larger each time you turn the page, until finally you see the entire picture:

The next step will be to decorate each page. I haven’t decided if I want to use a theme – perhaps something relating to the actual image – or just have four different layouts. Probably the former. I may also add some additional elements to the insides of the circles (someone else with the girl maybe?) just for a bit of depth and whimsy. This is a really fun technique that can be expanded upon in countless ways, and can use as many pages as you wish.

A fun sort of bonus:  you’re left with circles cut out of book text, great for adding to art journal pages, mixed media canvases, or even elsewhere in your altered book. For my circles, I started with 3.5”, then went up to 4.5”, 5”, and 5.5”. You can alter these measurements depending on the size of your final image and the number of pages you wish to create. In order to cut the circles I used a Creative Memories circle cutting system (awesome thrift store find!):

This system came with three blade sizes, three circles, and a template to help you determine which blade to use with which circle. It also came with that brilliant cutting mat you see under the page (it fits right into the book!). You could also use a Martha Stewart circle cutter, an old fashioned compass, or even just trace around circles of the right size. If you had to, I’m sure you could find templates online to print and cut out, then trace around.

This can also be done in different shapes – ovals, squares, rectangles, or hexagons would be fun. Play around, have fun, and take a trip down the rabbit hole! You never know what you might find! As for this one, I’ll be posting photos when I get some of the pages finished. Happy crafting!

“Knowing Yourself” Altered Book Page

It’s official, the first page in my altered book is complete! And, in my opinion, it rocks. See for yourself:



For those of you who follow my Art Challenge posts, you may recognize the cute little owl from Week 22. I still want to use him on a canvas, and now I have a good pattern for cutting him out. I just haven’t gotten to it yet. I’ve been having too much fun working in my art journals!

If you would like to make a page similar to this one, you can find all of the supplies you need at Paper Pals. Here’s a photo and list of what I used:


     Paper:  one piece each of Bazzil Basics cardstock in Blue Oasis, Ivy (the wings), and Parakeet (the leaves); brown paper bag, orange patterned
     Inks:  Archival (Jet Black, Coffee),Tim Holtz Distress Ink (Frayed Burlap, Rusty Hinge, Walnut Stain) and inking tool
     Stamps:  Dylusions Around the Edge, Stampers Anonymous Worn Text, Dylusions Dy's Alphabet, Hero Arts Clear Typewriter Letters, and a swirl border set (I don’t have the package anymore so I’m not sure what the name is) and clear blocks to put the stamps on
     Additional supplies:  gesso, paintbrush, scissors, adhesive (I used wet glue, but dry adhesive would work just as well), water spritzer, heat tool (for quicker drying), Pigma Micron Pen (.05 black), and dimensional foam adhesive. And of course your book to alter!

Here’s what to do:
1. Gesso the page. I just opened the book at random and got to work. You can start on the first page if you’d like, or the last, or your favorite number if it wasn’t torn out during the preparation process.

2. Create the background using Rusty Hinge Distress Ink and some water. Spray the page with water first, then apply the ink directly with the ink pad, swirling it around. These inks were specially designed to activate with water and it’s really interesting to watch. Once you get some good color down, you can take a paintbrush and spread it around, then dry it with the heat tool. Mine wasn’t quite dark enough so I spritzed it again and added a second coat. When that was dry I dipped my clean brush in some water and lightly tapped it against my finger, causing drops to spatter randomly. It creates this fun texture:

   

The photo on the left shows the whole page covered with gesso. You’ll notice the book text is still visible. The middle photo shows the whole page after I painted the background, and on the right is a close up of the water splatters. If you look again at the finished page you can see it poking thru in a few spots.

3. Take a strip of brown paper bag slightly longer than the width of your page and crumple it up. Stretch it back out but don’t smooth it flat; you’ll want it bunched up to make the branch stick out. Once this is accomplished, take your inking tool and Walnut Stain Distress Ink, and run it all over the top of the “branch”. It will darken it on the raised areas creating a shadow effect and fun texture. This part is optional but I think it really adds to the overall design. Let it dry (it shouldn’t take long) and then adhere it to the page. If you’d like, add a few smaller branches coming off of the main one with the same process and smaller strips of paper bag.

4. Using the four leaves stamp from Dylusions Around the Edge and black ink, stamp the bottom two leaves onto the Parakeet paper as many times as you’d like (I did three because it’s a good design principle number, but gives me six total which is an even number!), then cut around each individual leaf. I grouped them in pairs; for the bottom two sets I adhered one directly to the page and used dimensional foam squares for the other. The top set are both direct to page.

5. Using a circle punch, a lid you have laying around, or just freehand, draw your owl body on Oasis blue. I gave him a flattop for his head. Cut two wings and two ears on the Ivy green and attach to the top of the body. I drew stitch lines using Micron pen around all three pieces first; this can be done after you adhere them or not at all. Cut two circles (I used a 1” punch) for the eyes; draw on eyeballs if you’d like and stitch around the circles. I also drew a small nose on him in the shape of a diamond. Another fun option for his eyes would be adding a small button on top of the circles, or just using buttons and no paper. I adhered him to the page with four dimensional squares so he’d stand out. The options for placement are really up to you; also, you may want to add some feet, I chose not to.

6. Using a border stamp of your choice (swirls are just one of several available options) and Rusty Hinge Distress Ink, create some fun borders to frame your owl. Using brown Archival Ink and the Worn Text alphabet stamps, stamp “Knowing yourself” on the top of the page. With the same ink and Dy’s Alphabet stamps, stamp “wisdom” in the bottom right corner. Using the Hero Arts Typewriter Letters stamps add “is the beginning of” to the left of “wisdom.”

7. As a final touch to help the words stand out, I outlined “Knowing yourself” and “wisdom” with the Micron pen, and added faux stitching to “Knowing yourself.” I also shadowed “is the beginning of”. You can add more stamps to the background if you want more texture, or doodle. It’s all up to you, have fun with it! If you decide to make a similar page in your alter book, art journal, or anywhere else, post a photo in the comments section, I’d love to see it!

Altered Book Project {Revisited}

Pullman has the greatest little used bookstore, and today (well technically it was yesterday, since we are currently in the wee hours of Saturday morning) I discovered that the whole store is 20% off until June 15th! Definitely a fun surprise, and very profitable for my Thrifty Thursday project!

I was able to pick up six new books for altering for less than $10 (including sales tax). I know what you’re thinking – did I really need more books? I already shared photos of the one I wanted to alter for this project; and there have been a few posts about the absurd number of books I already own that I’ve never read….which reminds me, one of my goals for this year was to read 100 of the 118 books I own and have yet to read – and so far I’ve finished 1. Wow.

But that’s a rabbit trail for another trip. Today, tonight, this morning, whatever time it is for you when you read this, I want to show you my newest purchases:



Here they are in a glorious pile, so colorful and full of potential! And each can serve a slightly different purpose. Let’s start with the smallest and work our way up.

  First of all, I found three children’s board books on clearance, two for $1 each, and the Christmas one for only 50 cents! (By the way, has anyone else found it frustrating that the “cent” symbol is not available on regular keyboards?) Honest and Courage measure approximately 6” x 7” with a spine about 5/8” thick, and each has a dozen pages including the front and back covers. The Christmas book measures about 6.5” square with a spine of about 1/2” and thirteen pages total. I can overlook the fact that it’s an odd number of pages since it really gives me 26 different work areas.

There are several great things about using board books for altered book projects. They typically have very few pages, the binding is sturdy, and the pages themselves are about as thick as chipboard (maybe even a little thicker). They’d make great mini albums as well! And if you can find them used, the price is just right! You can also find them in different shapes and sizes, and sometimes they have flaps that open or pull out for even more interest.



The fourth book is called Wakulla by Kirk Munroe. I’m not sure how it’s pronounced exactly, but I did discover it’s the name of a County in Florida. This story was originally published in 1885, and reprinted in 1913. This particular copy was given as a gift in 1943, with the inscription still on the front pages. It measures about 5.5” x 8.25” with a spine of about 1.25”, and has over 250 pages. I haven’t torn any of them out yet, but I’ll let you know how many I end up keeping.

I’m not sure you can tell with that photo being as small as it is, but the pages are sewn together, which as I mentioned last week is essential for a successful project. Another reason I chose it was for the green illustrations on the inside of both covers (the photo on the right). Overall an interesting book!

   

The next book I found is called Camille by Alexandre Dumas Fils. It has a copyright of 1955 but looks and feels much older, and has that great old book smell (love it!). The cover has an interesting floral pattern printed on it (for some reason I didn’t get a photo of it earlier when I had the benefit of natural light), and the spine simply has the title and nothing else. It’s larger than any of the old books I’ve worked with in the past, measuring 8” x 11.25” x 1”. It has just over 230 pages, with large print, and a few black and white illustrations here and there (as in the photo on the left). I’m not sure which book will be given to the friend I mentioned in the first post, they both have interesting aspects and hold great potential. I guess I need to think of someone else to make one for, now that I have two!



And finally, Classic Barns, a more modern book with large pages and beautifully colored illustrations. This one was published in 2001, and yet (as far as I can tell) is sewn together. The cover paper will be removed and incorporated somehow so the torn sticker doesn’t matter. It measures 9.75” x 13” with a 1/2” spine and just over 100 pages. I already have someone in mind for this one as well, and I’m really excited to get started in it!

Over the next several weeks I will be trying out new and interesting techniques, as well as showing you how you can achieve different things with different kinds of books and themes. I hope you too will be able to find an old book to re-create into something uniquely yours! And if you do, please share!