Mixed Media Altered Book and Recycling

I promise I have not fallen off the face of the earth.  Rather, this weekend we went on a little trip.  It was much needed for my family.  We rode up to Charlotte.  Besides doing nothing, my goal was to find a great book to alter.  I hit the jackpot and found this book that is almost square.  I love the format!  My criteria when altering a book are: 1. cloth cover and 2. stitched signatures and 3. size.  This book had it all!  The only down side was that the pages were glossy photography.  But I decided I would either cover them with text pages, scrapbook paper, or gesso them as is.  On the way home I removed all of the pages except the first page set of each signature.  When I got home I went straight away into the studio to play.  Honestly, I have been feeling a little overwhelmed with trying to fit different elements into my art based on the challenges I participate in.  I decided to remedy that by sitting down to play with no preconceived notions about what "needed" to go into my pages.  What good fun!  I am still struggling a little and feel an "artist block" has come upon me, but am determined that I will play until it passes.

For my first spread I gessoed the blue pages lightly, allowing the original text to show through.  My friend Barbara passed a section of this sheer embroidered curtain panel to me, once she grew tired of them hanging in her home.  I cut each circle out with fabric scissors and then used matte Mod Podge to adhere them and the lace strip to my pages.  I cut the lace in the middle after gluing it down so the book would open and close properly, but that is hidden in the spine.

I just love how these stitches showed through in my layers of gesso and watercolor.

Another part of my play was to try embossing hot glue drips.  I decided I am not a fan of this...  For one the EP got wedged in my lace and made it look dirty.  Boo!  Also, I don't know if it is because my glue gun cost $3, but I couldn't get the glue to glob out properly like a water drop...  So I stopped after three blobs.  Kudos to you girls who make this look amazing!

This is one of my favorite sections.  I stamped this Tim Holtz stamp in lime ink, spritzed heavily with water below a section of lace.  I just love how the ink pooled.

To embellish my page I tore the baby wipe I used during the process into long strips and wadded it down into glue.  Loved this discovery!  To conceal some of the ugly "dirty embossing" I spackled some dried up Lumiere paint over the lace.  I have several bottles of this that have dried up and I am going to use this way.   Most of the stamping was done in Archival Ink in Cornflower blue.  The black is either a rub on or stamp from 7 Gypsies.  The wee little metal butterfly was a gift from my friend Madelyn - thanks Mad!!!

I used this image of these darling little girls from the Found Relatives collection by Tim because they remind me of how my Grandma would buy me pretty dresses from the big department store, even when they were too expensive for us.  The little price tag is representative of how little the cost really was compared to the value of those precious memories.

This is the first altered book I have made in over ten years (and Linda Findley if you're reading I was thinking of you every step of the way).  I'm sharing with:

SSS: Recycle/Upcycle Style

Emerald Creek Dares: The Bloggers Scramble

Love to Create: Anything Goes w/Medium

Country View Challenges: Make Your Own Background

Let's Craft & Create: Lace & Pearls

Stamping Sensations: Anything Goes

Altered Eclectics: Anything Goes Mixed Media or Altered Art
Mixed Media Warriors: Moodboard - Blue, Lace, Circles