My Altered Book Journey

I've never done an altered book before but wanted to give it a try. A friend sent me some ideas and I decided that it would be a new avenue of art to explore.  So I'll be posting the steps of this journey as they happen.  Sometimes there might be a bit of time in between because I'm still doing other things as well (and it will take DAYS if not weeks to get all the pages gessoed!!!!.....is that a word???) So....that being said....let's start the journey!

You know they say that each journey of a million miles begins with the first step.  Seems like a logical place to start then. BTW, this is not meant to be a tutorial by any means.....I'm just recording the fun I'm having on this new adventure.

Step One

Well, first I had to choosea book.  All of us in our house are book fanatics so I knew it would be difficult to find a book I would be willing to "alter"!!  Certainly I could find a boring book in my husbands study but I'm thinking that would not be a smart move!  So....I found a hard cover book I had purchased at a garage sale some years ago and never used.  It is a hardcover cookbook called "The International Cook".  I love it because it is a tall, thinner book and besides recipes it also has history and descriptions and glossaries of countries and the foods of that country.  There are also some very interesting pictures to highlight!

Step Two

Deciding on which pages to combine to create thicker, sturdier "pages" was not as easy as it sounds. I did lose some lovely picures just because I couldn't combine then any other way.  But I still have enough to work with.  I got out my trusty glue stick and went to work gluing pages together.

Step Three

Now to take the "new pages" and stitch the edges of them to be sure they stay together.  About this time I'm wishing I had stuck more pages together!!  Oh well, I'm on NO DEADLINE so I'm doing it as it stands and just enjoying the process....

Interesting Recipe Pages

  Other Pages with Beautiful Pictures

Step Four

The next thing to do is to take all those glossy pages and smear gesso all over them so they can be altered with wet applications if desired.  Oh and they WILL be!!  Paints, watercolors, etc.  So many ideas and with the gesso I have all options open to me.  However, for those of us with very little patience....now I'm REALLY wishing I didn't have so many pages (haven't actually counted them yet.....probably ignorance is bliss???)  It doesn't take long to get the gesso on...it's the waiting for it to dry before I can do another page! But I've started now and will just go with the flow.  However, due to drying times.....you won't see the next step posted for about a week or so....unless I get out the heat gun out of frustration and lack of patience!  LOL!!

Adding Gesso to Pages - Highlighting Some Interesting Text

So, unil next time (whenever that may be) I'll be watching gesso dry........