Hello,
Well, I've been busy. My sister-in-law was interested in having me make a special journal in an altered book for her best friend's birthday. So after emailing her and asking many questions to help me formulate a custom book for her friend...I got busy. The book is about 7 x 9 inches. I glued a set of the last pages in the book together (about 1/4" thick) so that I might carve out a rectangular area to house a box shape I had previously created that could be used to save memories. It has flaps that help keep the contents in and the whole thing is glued to the back of the book. I learned from the previous altered book to finish the back cover before gluing the "box pages" to it. It makes for a cleaner look.
So after carving out a rectangular space, I did cover the back of the book. I chose a blue paper with light blue glittered areas that also had butterflies and a floral designed pattern. I also put the same pattern on the front. For the spine, I chose a deep red crinkle paper that I wrapped around the spine and over-lapped the blue paper about and inch and a fourth. On the spine edge, I stamped "Cerise's Journal" in gold ink.
Then, I tried a different binding this time for the blank pages I wanted to insert in the front for journaling. I chose to use "drumleaf binding" meaning, I clamped the edge of the pages together and then applied several layers of glue to keep them together. I had help with that idea from a new book I purchased called, Art and Books by Dorothy Simpson Krause. After the binding was dry, I glued them into the space left in the altered book where I had cutout the original pages.
Once that was completed, I finished the endpapers on the inside of the front cover with music paper, knowing that the receipient loves music. I also found out that she likes coffee and so I glued a navy ribbon in the top of the spine and at the other end used an eyelet to attach an old coffee key to it. Because I was working with things gold, I also gilted the key with a special marker before attaching it.
Finally, I decided on what to do with the front cover. It was nice as is, but I wanted it to be more personable. So I used a decorative C and then smaller regular letters to spell out Cerise's name in red ink. I also made a cutout area in the upper right corner of the cover to house a butterfly replica. The backing was a shiney gold and the cover was clear plastic. To finish off the area around the butterfly that was with red wings to match the red spine, I used the same red from the spine to create a small border about 1/8 inch wide. Above are a couple of pictures of my final altered journal. Two other inspirational books I recently purchased were: Teach Yourself Visually by Roni Johnson, which is a great book for knowing what's out there to use in your art and also many ways to do it, the other book, Vintage Collage-Works-Artful Ideas with Antique Ephemera by MaryJo & Sunny Koch is just great for inspiration and very beautifully done. Would love to have comments about my own works.
Happy Crafting!
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