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Reading Room:  Altered Books  |
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CabinCreek-Kentucky
True Blue Farmgirl
8529 Posts
Frannie
Green County
Kentucky
USA
8529 Posts |
 Posted - Nov 11 2005 : 8:13:50 PM
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a few 'tips' for those of you who enjoy creating 'Altered Books':
HOW TO ALTER BOOKS
Selection of a good book to embellish and/or alter can really be daunting for some, even once they lose the initial fear of doing “something artsy” to an otherwise perfectly good book. Here are some guidelines & tips:
Hardcover is best. Softcovers tend to fall apart during the altering process, which is fine if you’re going to re-bind the book, but not much fun if you didn’t mean for it to fall apart.
Choose a book with a great title for inspiration.
Pick a book that is in decent condition. Old, non-collectibel books are fine, as are new clearanced ones.
Thick books are fun for cut-out work, whereas it may be better to pick a thinner one for straight paint or collage.
Look for neat inllustrations that you can either incorporate or photocopy for use in other collages/books.
Poetry books are a good way to start because you can use the words.
WHERE TO FIND CHEAP BOOKS:
Obviously, you aren’t going to want to go out and buy an expensive hardcover to rip, tear, paint and glue. Finding chieap, rescue-a-book-form-destruction editions are better .. and where do you find these books in need of art?
Clearance sales at chain bookstores.
Library sales, where you can get great olde books for a buck and the money goes to a good cause.
Garage Sales/Flea markets/ thrift sores.
Used bookstores.
Your parent’s basement .. or fromafriend.
School sales .. again .. a good cause gets your money.
OVERCOMING THE FIRST PAGE FEAR.
With your (stack of) first book(s) in hand, one thing happens to all of us, without exception.
You won’t have a CLUE where to begin.
Good. It means you’re completely normal. It also means that somewhere in your life, someone told you that you shouldn’t mess with the sanctity of a book,, and/or that you have a fear of the blank page.
Easy method for getting rid of it in a hurry: open the book randomly. Whatever page you get to .. IMMEDIATELY paint over. Entiredly .. or cover with paper .. or just rip it out. Completely.
Now wouldn't it be fun to do an Altered Book Round Robin with a FARMGIRL theme!
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Krisathome
True Blue Farmgirl
90 Posts
Kristin
Iowa
USA
90 Posts |
Posted - Nov 12 2005 : 09:37:49 AM
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| I have all the things to alter books, including the books and ephemera but I just haven't had the time to do it. I have a crafting desk but I really can't leave my work out, it looks too messy. And I hate getting things out and putting them away before I am done, kwim? |
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CabinCreek-Kentucky
True Blue Farmgirl
8529 Posts
Frannie
Green County
Kentucky
USA
8529 Posts |
Posted - Nov 12 2005 : 09:48:13 AM
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| kristen .. i, too, have tons of 'altered books/scrapbooking' supplies .. and 'someday'!!!! |
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Whimsy_girl
True Blue Farmgirl
576 Posts
USA
576 Posts |
Posted - Nov 12 2005 : 10:56:52 AM
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I have never even heard of this process but it sounds fun, can you give me some more details? Do you make the existing book into a scrapbook, or what is the purpose behind it? Do you have any good websites about it that you reccomend?
you can be oh so smart, or you can be oh so positive. I wasted a lot of time being smart I prefer being positive. |
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Reading Room: Altered Books |
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Altered Books
