Mt. Rainier and Lenticular Clouds - Dec. 2008 copyright: JMM

February 5, 2016

Altered Books

I finally got around to doing the collage work on my newest gratitude/positive thoughts journal since my other one is almost full.  I am so ticked about the bottom phrase...the contact paper stuck to the edge and pulled it over, covering the word 'start'.  I tried to fix it but the magazine paper was hopelessly adhered and was not coming off.  And of course I had to leave the number off the year that this will be finished.  



Inside front cover.  The pages have fortune cookie fortunes on them, or pics I've cut out from jewelry and other catalogs.

And the back of the journal.  My friend Angie made that pic for me as part of a set of scenics from Mt. Desert Island in Maine.  The others are hanging on some twine in my craft room.  

I bought this little book a few summers ago in Hyannis.  I'm such a sucker for Guatemalan textiles. The pages are handmade paper too.  I added that gold crescent to the cover.


I wanted to use those double sided frame/glass things, so I cut a hole in the pages and slipped the frame into the hole, gluing it in place the best I could then adding ribbon and rhinestones to hide the rough edges.  This project took quite a few days.





Not that I'm crazy about France or anything, but I did like that pic of Sacre Coeur from my ephemera book.  That was the only place in Paris that I truly thought was pretty when I visited in 1982. 



6 comments:

  1. A lot of work. You only liked Sacre Coeur? I loved Paris, spent a lot of time there. Is there a particular point to a Gratitude book? Or are they just books you like to make?

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    1. Thanks! I like to make them but I write down things I'm thankful for (not daily...I do it like every 2-3 weeks), and also I transcribe all Russell's sweet and loving texts he sends me. And I really hated Paris. I liked Sacre Coeur and that was it. The city was dirty and the people were unbelievably rude. The food was gross too. I swear I lived on candy bars and Coca Cola that whole trip. Even the part where we were in England.

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  2. That is really neat how you cut the holes to use the frames!

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    1. Thanks Andrea! I couldn't think of any other way to feature both sides of these frames.

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  3. these are wonderful and so fun ... love all the textures and the antique feel to them

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    1. Thanks! I do enjoy making altered books. It just takes forever to decide how I want it to look.

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