So you may be be wondering where I’ve been for the last month. Well, I’d like to say that I have been working on an altered book project but that’s not true, it only seems like I’ve been working on it for a month!
Late in the summer, two of my longtime twitter friends Cat and Roisin suggested that all of us participate in a round robin altered book project. I was excited because I had already done one for a friend as a birthday gift several years ago and even took an all day altered book workshop with Gayle Pritchard.
This new project would require each of to start our own altered book by prepping the pages, creating a spread or two, and then sending it off to the next person to complete a few spreads and then pass along. By the end of the project we will each end up with our own book and mine will be filled with not only my art, but also Cat’s and Roisin’s art, which makes it even more exciting.
It took me awhile to find my book and to come up with the concept. I tried looking through my own selection of books, went to a used book store but ultimately found my book at a library book sale. The size was perfect – smaller than a typical hardcover fiction book and the cover was the right shade of purple. The title, The Looking Glass, set the tone for my theme.
To prep my book, I needed to create a thicker surface on which to create spreads by gluing large blocks of pages together. With my previous book, this process was tedious but doable. For some reason the type of glue I used this time made the process unbearable! It took me about 3 weeks of gluing to complete one and half blocks before I gave up. The glue was not drying and so everything was still sticky.
After a brilliant idea popped into my head, I switched directions, gave up the glue and pulled out my stash of purple duck tape to seal the pages together in blocks. While all the days of gluing taught me immense patience, the spontaneous switch to the tape showed me just how unpredictable the creative process is. That one simple idea appeared at just the right time when I needed it!
Purple! I love purple. If it’s as cool as it looks like it’s gonna be, I may pretend all those gluey pages stuck it permanently to my hands and it has to live with me 😉
This is such a cute project! It reminds me of a book my best friend and I used to pass back and forth to write to each other when we were teenagers.
Happy to see your muse back in action! I participated in an altered book round robin, and it was one of the most fun things I’ve ever done. My book is one of my favorite things. Maybe I’ll post some pics from it! :o)