My newest Project..Altered books

 

 

Good Morning  Everyone!!  Today is another gloomy, gray foggy day...BUT  it is happy and light inside!  I decided to give you all a break from posting any more medical pictures for a while!  HA!

 

Thank you all for your kind thoughts and good wishes.  I am feeling so much better two weeks in now from my surgery.  I am taking fewer pain meds and feeling oh so much like me again!!  DH is happy I am on less medicine.  It makes me have the weirdest dreams---not many nice ones or happy ones and I often wake him up several times a night crying or carrying on with hallucinations.  Poor HIM.

 

I do remember bits and pieces of my raves and dreams and am thankful I DONT" like this affect.

Since I CAN"T stay idle I had planned on working on some altered books to give as gifts.

When cleaning my basement this fall, I found a box of these encyclopedias and they were on my list of to do's.

 

 

 

 I have 12.  I started by tearing out sections of pages to make the books smaller on the inside so that embellishments along the way won't make it too thick to not close.

 Then I started taking sections and punching holes to later tie with ribbons.

I cut random sections into different shapes and even folded some.  Then I started painting pages or gluing fabric or scrap booking paper over pages.

The Internet is full of vintage posters/postcards/images that are free and can be printed right away.

The first book I have finished is for my hair dresser.  Eleanor is retiring this month and I love her dearly.

 I covered the outside of the book with one piece of fabric, using Alene's tacky glue. I hand made the satin rose out of a fabric piece and pulled other trims out of my stashes.

 

 

I glued scrap booking paper to the front inside cover.  You can paint it or embellish it any way you desire.

 I have quite a stash of vintage magazines from the early teens to 1950's.  I love the ads.

Different shapes of sections of pages add interest.  I always believe in the 'add more' philosophy when embellishing. I finish each section of pages with some sort of lace trim and ribbons.

 You can use a certain color palette when planning your book over all or use random bursts of colors.

                              A few pages I just left plain and let the picture/ad to the talking.

 I use buttons, millinery, broken jewelry, game pieces, tokens, ticket stubs etc to embellish.  Anything is game.

 

TA DA!!!  I took this to Eleanor yesterday when I had my last appt with her.  She cried and while my color sat on my hair, she read the different pages out loud to everyone else in the shop.  They were all fascinated with the ads/pictures I was able to find.  I was happy it made her happy.

I have 11 more books to go!!  I have 11 nurses who were involved in my care when I had my surgery--perfect count----now to get busy!!!

 

Hope your day brings lots of love your way.  remember the smallest bit of sunshine can be found in the gloomiest of days.