Well, after a weekend of cards and hangings, I am returning to my altered book today with the next step in creating an art journal inspired by France Papillion. If you missed the post where I altered the cover of my book then just pop back to Day 4, listed below for a peek.
I started by tearing out around a third to one half of the pages in my book - by the time I have decorated my pages this will leave enough space for the book to still close properly. I also glued the remaining pages together in pairs to make each spread a little more robust.
The inside covers of the book needed attention so I glued the first two and last two pages of the book to the inside front and back covers respectively. I used a white glue applied with a scraper to get a nice thin and even coat of glue, then pressed the paged down using a brayer to ensure a good fix.
These pages had the title and some other blurb on which was in quite heavy type and I wouldn't want this to show in my final pages, so I tore some of the pages I had already removed into strips and glued them in place to hide the heavier text.
I don't always put gesso on my art journal pages but for these I wanted to knock back the print so I applied a thin coat of gesso on top.
One of the resons I decided to use an old book as a journal, is because I do love a bit of text so I am planning to leave at least a little of it on every page, but I don't necessarily want it to dominate everything.
On some of the sections I tore strips of the pages away which I could glue at the ends to create pockets, tuck characters along the edges as if peeking out, or simply glue down so the torn edges create a bit of texture. It will be more obvious on the example below as I add colour to it.
These pages were torn vertically but othes I tore horizontally, potentially for all the same uses.
I also cut/folded some pages diagonally to create pockets, which once I have completed those pages I may edge with tissue/washi tape to strengthen the edges.
This one will definitely become a pocket.
At this point I have no real plan for how I will decorate the pages so I have spaced the different torn and folded pages throughout the book. I will be back next week with some ideas for completing the pages but that is all for now with this frugal project.
Tomorrow I will be back with some cards using the pages I have torn from this book so I hope you will join me then xx
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Your Altered Book is progressing nicely Val, some great tips on how to be able to still close it afterwards and to strengthen the pages.
ReplyDeleteI completed a DLP journal using an ASDA journal, after the year it has fallen out from the cover as the spine couldn't cope with the dimension of the pages. Won't do that again, should have followed my instincts and used a spiral bound book or individual pages and bound them at the end of the year.
It's good to know i can still play with a book and close it, thanks for the tips, looking forward to tomorrows post and the next instalment in your book journal :-) xxx
Thank you for your kind comments Mo, I did wonder if the tips in this post were a bit too obvious, but perhaps not !
ReplyDeleteAlways good to reiterate some things - I find I forget...Love the pockets you've created- I keep meaning to do this on a project and yes,I forget!! I think I need to keep a notebook of ideas .....
ReplyDeleteThank you Helen, I am soooo looking forward to getting some ink & paint on this x
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