Altered Book Worshop

This past month (April) we worked on an Altered Book Workshop at The Artist Circle. I've been following along best I can but with my eczema outbreak my hands are so sore I haven't been able to do much.


I did manage to get the pages sanded, gessoed and painted for step one. Then I experimented with different papers to cover the pages as the base. I used some printed tissue paper. My wrinkles for texture were a bit to wrinkly for me so I wrinkled less on the next group of pages.


I used some sewing pattern tissue - my favorite, and that gave the pages a nice aged look. I'm now out of dress pattern tissue so I'll have to hit the thrift store for more, I just love the stuff.


And finally I used some blank pages from my son's writing tablet. I didn't have any old book pages that would fit my board book so I figured the lightness of the tablet paper would give it the same look minus the text, which I can stamp on if need be. I was disappointed that the base color did not show through as I had hoped.


I'm not happy with the way this book is going but I know its all an experiment and will continue to work in it. I may or may not go with a theme as suggested, maybe I'll just keeping trying new things and then work on another book once I find what works for me. I also think I'm better off with a smaller board book as this one is bigger then those chunky square ones.

In the end its all a learning experience and I always find a new technique along the way that I can use in other creations. The next step is to use some cat's eye fluid chalk but I don't have any so I'll figure something out or maybe splurge on myself for Mother's Day and pick some up this week.