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The Art of Altering

The TVClubHouse: General Discussions ARCHIVES: 2006 Jun. ~ 2006 Dec.: Hobby Hall (ARCHIVES): The Art of Altering users admin

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Archive through July 07, 2004Vee25 07-07-04  8:14 pm
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Lkunkel
Member

10-29-2003

Thursday, July 08, 2004 - 3:45 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Lkunkel a private message Print Post    
Vee: Some people want them to close. Others want them to be bursting. One reason I want the shelf I posted about in FlyLady (the slanty one over the slider in the LR) is so that they can be out and rest in their natural--either closed or semi-open--state.

Vee
Member

02-23-2004

Monday, July 12, 2004 - 1:10 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Vee a private message Print Post    
I tried to begin the quotes idea I had for the book title Just Another Word and I couldn't do it. I was starting simply...highlighting words on a page that would have created the quote and then put a stamped item on the back of the page so that it wouldn't have mattered about the highlighting showing through...could NOT do it. And it's not as if this book is the greatest book ever written either, nor is it especially attractive. I guess that my book altering days are already over.

Lkunkel
Member

10-29-2003

Monday, July 12, 2004 - 2:43 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Lkunkel a private message Print Post    
LOL. It's okay, Vee.

What is it you would like to do and I can help you get started.

You need to think of it as a chance to repurpose the book from something no one looks at, to giving it new life.

First one is the toughest.

Autumn
Member

10-29-2003

Monday, July 12, 2004 - 3:16 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Autumn a private message Print Post    
I really like that emBODYment book too! Those are the ones that have truly drawn me in - just lovely LK.

Lkunkel
Member

10-29-2003

Monday, July 12, 2004 - 3:44 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Lkunkel a private message Print Post    
Autumn: those are done in plain paper journals..."No book was altered in the creation of this piece of artwork."

Autumn
Member

10-29-2003

Monday, July 12, 2004 - 4:12 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Autumn a private message Print Post    
lmao! That was cute. (the "no book was altered...") Leave it to me to be drawn to the only ones NOT an altered book! *shrugs* I still LOVE them.

The "Goddess" part makes me miss Go Goddess ~ that was a great game!

ETA: forgot to ask: did you make that spiral butterfly or did you buy it/find it?

Lkunkel
Member

10-29-2003

Monday, July 12, 2004 - 4:50 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Lkunkel a private message Print Post    
Autumn: I said to try to encourage Vee a bit.

It was, but after I was down, I couldn't get the interest back. We'll try again in Season 2

The butterflies were on a string or two of lights that didn't work. I salvaged some of the butterflies to use.

Vee
Member

02-23-2004

Monday, July 12, 2004 - 7:48 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Vee a private message Print Post    
Fun conversation you gals are having...Maybe I'll try again another day remembering what you said about repurposing the book, Lk. Some days I just feel pathetic!

Lkunkel
Member

10-29-2003

Monday, July 12, 2004 - 11:03 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Lkunkel a private message Print Post    
Vee, you are NOT pathetic. It took me 2 years to finally RIP a page out of a book. AND just to tell you how lame I was: it was a BLANK page.

You might want to start with a blank book--the feeling of desecration isn't there at first.

Vee
Member

02-23-2004

Wednesday, July 14, 2004 - 8:08 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Vee a private message Print Post    
Well I might give the blank book a go. Thanks for the vote of confidence, Lk. You're a sweetheart!

Autumn
Member

10-29-2003

Thursday, July 15, 2004 - 8:50 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Autumn a private message Print Post    
Vee, I meant to post here before but couldn't find the thread I wanted. Yep, I'm easily lost! lol! Anyway, I know how you feel hun ~ I still cringe at the thought of anything being done to books but I'm working on it. And hey...I'm still drawn to the ones that weren't even an altered book so...keep the faith hun - you're not alone!

Vee
Member

02-23-2004

Tuesday, July 27, 2004 - 11:19 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Vee a private message Print Post    
This is off-topic a bit, but Lk's comment HERE reminded me. My niece was shopping in an antique store...she adores vintage clothing. She wanted to purchase a 1950s hat shaped like a little ring with lace on it, but thought it was too expensive. The owner gave her a reduced price and threw in a green dress that my niece had admired. It has a number of holes, but it is beautifully lined and the fabric is a soft jersey wool. I suggested that she create an altered dress in the same way that people are doing altered books. She became quite intrigued and is working on some possible ideas. I promise to take pictures with the hope of sharing them one day.

Lkunkel
Member

10-29-2003

Thursday, August 12, 2004 - 4:02 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Lkunkel a private message Print Post    
This is the full spread that I mailed out earlier this month. The assigned technique was to use Walnut glaze, which, while dark, is translucent; the secondary technique was to use Golden Glazes.

smFairyTale01


The theme of the book was Fairy Tales & Nursery Rhymes, and HAD to be G-Rated for her 8YO grandson to be able to look at. The font is a combination of Mother Goose and Doodle Crayon. The lower case Mother Goose was just TOO busy (cow jumping over the moon, with the letter on top of that).

smFairyTale02


The Jack on the Beanstalk was colored in using Golden Glazes, which are also translucent. The rest were colored with Tombo markers. The tags at the bottom use other nursery rhyme character cards from a child's party favor card set. It's tied with 3-leaf clover wire with a star-shaped eyelet.

smFairyTale03



Vee
Member

02-23-2004

Thursday, August 12, 2004 - 7:33 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Vee a private message Print Post    
Oh that's just so cool! Thanks for posting these pictures of your project. I really enjoyed seeing them.

Lkunkel
Member

10-29-2003

Friday, September 03, 2004 - 9:53 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Lkunkel a private message Print Post    
The latest project required the use of "found papers" to fit into the theme of the book.

The book's theme was water, so using tissue paper, a paper umbrella, wrapping paper, and stationery, I decided to create a beach scene.

The shells, driftwood, sand and starfish are real, the towel is a piece of cloth.

beachscene01

Vee
Member

02-23-2004

Saturday, September 04, 2004 - 6:38 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Vee a private message Print Post    
Thanks for pointing me in the right direction, yet again! Very interesting presentation. It will be displayed on a table top or something? Looks like a good one for a Maine cottage.

Lkunkel
Member

10-29-2003

Saturday, September 04, 2004 - 11:50 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Lkunkel a private message Print Post    
I don't know how she'll be displaying the book. Some people get plate holders to put them in (on?) so people can just pick it and leaf through them at their leisure.

I love water. I miss the water.

I have decided that I will be picking up another copy of Harry Potter #5 and do an Altered Book on Banned Books. Given the sheer number of banned books, I need a thick book to be able to do justice to the books.

I am right now thinking about doing the left side of the page with the "general info": book cover, publishing info (author, publisher, year), when/where challenged, when/where banned, and why.

On the right side, snippets of text, images of why banned (for example, if it was for drugs, maybe a syringe, or a needle, or catnip; sex, maybe an example of the reproductive organs--for example, two of the books are for explaining the facts of life to your kids!; etc.)

The cover will have a variety of quotes about the banning of books, and I plan on drilling the cover edges to loop with wire. The loops will then be connected with carabiner clamps (one with a lock) to cover the "forbidden factor," but there will be stuff hanging out to entice the reader...

Vee
Member

02-23-2004

Saturday, September 04, 2004 - 4:13 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Vee a private message Print Post    
That is an interesting and specific topic! Sounds like it will be a challenge and I hope we get to see the finished project. How long do these books usually take in hours?

Lkunkel
Member

10-29-2003

Saturday, September 04, 2004 - 5:30 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Lkunkel a private message Print Post    
The banned book AB I expect will take a good 9-11 months.

A spread, on average, takes me a week or two, working 15 minutes at a time. It just depends on what all is involved.

Lkunkel
Member

10-29-2003

Saturday, October 02, 2004 - 10:25 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Lkunkel a private message Print Post    
The book I'll be posting tomorrow involves a Beeswax Collage Technique. I thought I would post the technique tonight, and then the photos tomorrow.
Beeswax Collage Technique
by our group coordinator


For September, Month 3 allows us to play with beeswax as a medium for adhering our collages
to the page. I'm not sure how well this will hold up in an altered book, but it will be fun to play with; so here's the skinny:

Beeswax is melted and used as an adhesive to hold down the collage elements. The beauty of this is you can later move things around if you decide you
want to since all that would require is reheating the wax and moving it! It's great for special collage elements that you fear you'll mess up in the application process. Claudine Hellmuth (Collage Discovery Workshop. Cincinnati: North Light Books. Pp. 43-47) in her book covers collaging with beeswax in a nice chapter.

For our purposes, we're going to try simply using it on a spread in our ABs and see what happens. You may want to try this on some other medium before using it in a book.

Here are the steps:
  • Melt beeswax (not paraffin or candle wax) in a potpourri pot on low or in a double boiler. [NOTE: The flashpoint of wax is very low (200 degrees) so don't heat too high or you will start a fire! We don't want that!
  • Put wax paper under the pages you are working on to avoid messing up the other pages;
  • Coat the page, using an old paintbrush you don't mind ruining with the melted wax;
  • Add a background paper to the page--think about tissue paper, an old pattern, napkins, things like that (Just lay it on top, even if the wax has already hardened);
  • Recoat the page with melted wax once the background paper is in place;
  • Choose an image to add to the page appropriate to the theme of the book;
  • Place it on the page and brush another thin coat of wax on top;
  • You can now smooth the wax with a small quilting iron (which are available at fabric stores like Joann's and probably at your local quilting stores) if you choose.
  • Add more elements, some text, small charms, buttons or other found objects with the beeswax.
  • Add a few drops of beeswax on top to really adhere
  • the objects if needed.


To add some color to the page, you can melt some crayons with the iron--just press them on the little iron to melt and drip them onto the page. Then use the iron to blend in the color. Use a knife or the iron to scrape off the color where it's too heavy or thick. Use a heat gun, or the iron to soften things and smooth it out or to leave impressions behind.

Experiment and play with these techniques, as I can think of a lot of variations and things to try. The wax on top will make the images underneath a little hazy and dreamy looking--so don't be afraid to use brighter images than you
might normally. Have fun; be careful with the hot wax; use tweezers to handle the images and avoid getting burnt!

Lkunkel
Member

10-29-2003

Friday, January 21, 2005 - 6:26 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Lkunkel a private message Print Post    
Well, the bee's-wax sucked, and I have to redo it, but here are two more spreads I've done.

This first had a garden theme. The technique required the use of fabrics.
fullspread

This is the full spread. I used fabric to cover the book and then used silk plant leaves to form pockets.
rightside

I also included a Family Circle magnet and a quote on the one side.

The next assigned book had a theme of clowns and we were required to do a pop-up.
fullspread

The pop-up is closed here.
rightside

While here it is open with a mirror to see yourself behind a poem.

myicon

Lkunkel
Member

10-29-2003

Friday, February 04, 2005 - 2:26 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Lkunkel a private message Print Post    
This is supposed to be a window technique. If you lift up the cat, then you would see clear plastic with 4 kitty cat buttons in it. It's actually, probably more of a niche, but I didn't have any ideas for windows.
catwindow

The theme is Learning.
myicon