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Altered Book Ideas

1 - I can do better 2 - Jury's out 3 - Pretty darn good 4 - Splendiferous 5 - Awesometastic (by 14 people)   Your rating: 1 - I can do better 2 - Jury's out 3 - Pretty darn good 4 - Splendiferous 5 - Awesometastic

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My Experience With Altered Books

 

I was introduced to altered Books before they became a main stream art. I was very fascinated with them and interested to know more about them, so I started a yahoo group and invited some friends of mine who were Fiber Art Dolls Designers. They were keen to explore different mixed media art like a hobby as their dolls were their main job.

We started doing Altered Book Round Robins, where we would choose a theme for our books, then each start our own book. Every month or so we would send our own book to the next person on the list to do their thing in our books. Usually we would do a couple of double page spreads in each Altered book, then send it to the next person.

At the same time we would receive a book from another artist and would have to tune our creativity into their chosen theme and work in their books.

This was a sometimes daunting task and it was also so exciting to see what others were doing and learn new techniques.

Finally the time came to get our own Altered books back. What an exciting time it was. Once in a while we would be a bit dissapointed about work done in our book,  but most of the time we were thrilled and so grateful for the beautiful art work that we got to keep for the rest of our lives.I would encourage everyone to give this type of art a go, its so much fun.

Check out Dick Blick for all these wonderful products. www.DickBlick.com

What Is An Altered Book??? 

For Those Who Have Never Heard Of An Altered Book!

Altered books are unloved, discarded books that are turned into works of art.

They can be part scrapbook, part journal, part canvas, part mad experiment.

Altered books are an on-again off-again passion of mine. I love the concept and have gathered a collection of books, stamps, papers and ephemera that should allow me many hours of creativity.

Altered books are a creative means of exploring your world. This multi-medium process of resurfacing of an otherwise "dead" book provides an opportunity to experience a multi-sensory, multi-dimensional embodied process of creativity.

Altered Books Are:

1: A book which has been Altered (changed)into a piece of ARt by painting, drawing, gluing stuff on, stamping,or beading over the print or collaging onto the pages.

2: There are No Rules in making an altered book so the pages can be cut, folded, glued together and you can cut niches into the book

3: The pages can be covered with fabric, polymer clay, you can make textile pieces and pockets and put hidden messages in your Altered Book

4: The main thing is to have fun and let your creative side out!

Gorgeous Altered Books To Buy - Direct From The Artist 

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Wow! WHat an Unusual Book This One is! 

Wreck This Journal

Amazon Price: $10.36 (as of 05/11/2008)
List Price: $12.95

For some reason, during preorder, I thought this was a book to read. Like, a book full of words that you sit down in a chair with a cup of coffee and read through from start to finish. You know...a *book*.

When it arrived, then, I was a little disappointed to find that it wasn't, in fact, a book to read at all. It looked like just journal prompts -- bits of writing on the page and lots of blank space for you to fill in. I set it aside.

I picked it back up when I was getting ready to put it on the shelf, where it would have languished with the other books I'd get around to someday. I flipped through it. A prompt caught my eye.

I started reading the prompts and blurbs, and it started sinking in: this isn't a book at all. This is PARTICIPATORY. This is a book that doesn't let you sit there, passively, with your coffee, just observing what the author's trying to say. This is a book that makes you get up, makes you smear it with crazy and beat it up in ways that most people couldn't imagine treating their books or journals. Especially not a journal. Wrecking a *journal*?

Over the next few days, I carried this book with me and beat the livin' tar out of it. I followed the prompts. I wrote on pages with food and with my tongue. I ripped pages out and crumpled them up and stuck them back in. I sat with it in a chair with my coffee, for sure, but I also spilled coffee on it -- on purpose. I wrote in things backwards and scribbled really, really hard.

In short, this book went through things that most of us should never have to. I kicked this thing around and waited while it came back for more.

And, you know...? It was TREMENDOUSLY LIBERATING. I beat the snot outta the pages, but when I was done, there was a whole new surface for me to look at and consider. I found new colors (thanks to berry-blue gum and dirt). I found that I really like painting over surfaces that have been scored by ballpoint pens and fingernails, and that watercolor over crumpled paper makes the most interesting texture, always unpredictable.

What I thought was going to be a disappointment has probably been one of the best books out there for getting me to "lighten up" a bit and just get back to playing freely on a page. From one star in my brain, this book elevated itself with its simple presentation and revolutionary (to me) ideas to a five-star keeper. I'm even considering getting more, to hand out to artists-blocked friends this holiday season.

Get this book. Even if you're not blocked now, or can't imagine defacing a book (even if it tells you to). One day, if you ever are, this book can help knock you out of the rut you're in, and put you on a whole new path.

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Altered Book Idea Reminder

Go To your local thrift shop and buy a book with a nice stable cover. Then you will be ready to Alter your First book!

The Best Crayons and Pastels 

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Have A Look At This Wonderful Altered Book 

How to Make an Altered Board Book

This video shows how to make an altered book using a children's board book.

Runtime: 3:25 | 401 views | 3 Comments

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Altered Photos! 

Altered Photo Artistry: Turn Everyday Images into Works of Art on Fabric

Amazon Price: $17.13 (as of 05/11/2008)

What a wonderful Book. It tells you everything you need to know to create wonderful pieces of art from photo's. I have had Adobe Elements on my computer for months and never used this, with the easy to follow instrucitons from this book I have been creating wonderful pictures for printing. take a look at Beth Wheelers website for more inspiration
[...]

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Altered Book Pages to Check Out! 

Life by Windy Angels

Life

images for collage by Windy Angels

images for collage

altered by Windy Angels

altered

"look into your heart" by Windy Angels

"look into your...

Altering books - painted covers by Windy Angels

Altering books - pai...

Wonderful Books With Altered Book Ideas In Them 

Altered Book Arts

Altered Art Books 

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Here are 10 Altered Book Ideas. 

Altered Book Arts

1: Choose a Theme for your altered Book. This helps you focus. It may be a colour, a number, a person or even a picture.

2: Try using a childrens board book to start with. Tackling a normal book can be so overwhelming at first. Wait till you get some practise in first.

3: Cover all your pages with white gesso before you start. This way you have a blank canvas to start with. The other upside with this is that Gesso is matt so it takes away the Board books shine.

4: Get something on those white pages quickly. It can be a spash of paint or some glued on fabric or some glued on handmade paper or even newspaper. What ever you want. Just get started.

5: There are NO RULES! Don't make them up just for the sake of it. This is pure creativity at its best. Just enjoy.

6: Cut out a niche. This is fun, take out a sharp cutter and cut out a square or round shape in your page. Make sure you put something amazing on the next page to see through the hole.

7: Make pockets out of paper and make secret notes and art work to put in them to suprise the viewer.

8: Use free machine embroidery on a piece of fabric, bead it and then glue it into your book. You don't have to do everything directly onto the page. This frees you up a lot.

9: Invite some arty friends over to play with Altered Books. Its amazing how much you can all learn from each other

10: Set Up a round robin and all make your own Altered books to the same Theme.
Check out Dick Blick for all these wonderful products.

www.DickBlick.com

Do You Want To Go Shopping? 

Which Book Is Your Favorite? 

Altered Book Arts

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More Altered Book Ideas 

New Directions in Altered Books

Amazon Price: $13.57 (as of 05/11/2008)
List Price: $19.95

For several years now I thought I was done with the concept of an altered book, but then I hadn't seen or read Gabe Cyr's book until this summer. Gabe puts to shame other authors who have come along and offered us formularic ways in which to create--to alter--by intoxicating us with new paths, stimulating our senses and re-invigorating this old dog into thinking once more of reclaiming a tired, discarded friend and turning her into a piece of art.

Her steps are easy to follow, but she doesn't instruct so much as lead one along a path to one's own creative urges and juices. It is this ability to arouse the creative urge and the plethora of eye candy she has included in the book that makes this among the best books on the subject of altered books!

If you want to learn, or regain your excitement about altered books, this is the book to own!

Avg. Customer Rating: Amazon Rating

Altered Book Ideas 

Using a Childrens Board Book

One of the easiest ways to make an Altered Book is to start with a children's Board Book.

You can usually get these books on sale so they don't cost you an arm and a leg.

This saves hours of gluing pages together and these books have very thick pages so they tend to hold together better in the long term.

What you do is use Gesso to paint over the shiney pages to start with then you can use acrylic paint and handmade and other paper techniques to get the base of your page before adding ephemera and other 3 dimensional objects.

Some people say that you need to give the pages a light sanding first but I have never done that and never had a problem

The picture is of a book that I altered the cover of.
Check out Dick Blick for all these wonderful products.

www.DickBlick.com

Check Out These Arty Lenses 

Some More Information about Altered Books For You! 

Altered Books are a popular way to creatively share words and images and artistic expressions .

Altered Books are a fun and enjoyable way to create new books and journal from old books. By removing pages and painting layouts, unique creations may be made from books, which currently lay on the shelves collecting dust.

Altered books are a popular trend among artists using drawing, painting, collage, as well as other skills like stitching and carving!

The International Society of Altered Book Artists (www.alteredbookartists.com) defines an altered book as "any book, old or new that has been recycled by creative means into a work of art.

Altered Art For Sale 

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Altered Book Supplies 

Forest Blaze Angelina Fiber

Forest Blaze Angelina Fiber

Angelina (r) heat fusible fibers are polyester fib more...0 points

Altered 104: Everything! by Beth Cote

Altered 104: Everything! by Beth Cote

Altered Books and Altered Art seem to be falling i more...0 points

Hand-Collected Ephemera for Altered Books

Hand-Collected Ephemera for Altered Books

This is an eclectic collection of ephemera that is more...0 points

Gold Iris Angelina Fiber

Gold Iris Angelina Fiber

Angelina (r) heat fusible fibers are polyester fib more...0 points

 

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Now its Your Turn To Squidoo! 

Now it's your turn....
Make your own Squidoo lens
Squidoo is a great place to create a web site (called a lens). You can share your thoughts on gadgets, crafting, arts, food or what ever's on your mind and maybe make a little $$ along the way....oh and did I mention it's FREE!
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Thanks for visiting my Altered Books lens! Please vote for my lens (by clicking the stars at the top of the page), or leave me a 

beachbum_gabby

very cool and creative. Rewarding 5*!

Posted May 08, 2008

mulberry

Very unique topic and lots of great information about it. Great lens!

Posted May 03, 2008

Winter52

Before this morning I had never heard of an altered book and you are talking to someone who can't squeeze one more book onto her shelf. I'm definitely adding you to my Happiness 101 lensroll because I think that this could be incredibly relaxing. I know that I have been on your lens for ages and I haven't even had breakfast yet. 5 stars definitely.

Posted April 26, 2008

nightcats

I;m thrilled to see that you are using my Board Book video that put on YouTube. Thanks so much for the vote of confidence!

Posted April 23, 2008

PatinKC

Wow, who knew?

Posted April 03, 2008

SemperFidelis

Excellent lens. Until now, I've never heard of a 'altered book!'Blessed by a Squid Angel today! :o)

Posted April 02, 2008

GypsyPirate

This was new to me, I really enjoyed reading your lens and learning. Thank you.

Posted April 02, 2008

kristinedior

Wonderful source of Information!
If You would like to know more about
Free Books and how to get them, Please Go Here

Posted March 25, 2008

PotPieGirl

Di - what a wonderful lens! You are so talented! I'm lucky if I can draw a straight line!

Keep up the good work -

Jennifer

Posted March 11, 2008

Emma Fashokun

Hi!
thanks for the kind comments about my 'GOLD; book, it was a lot of fun to make!
emma jane

Posted January 18, 2008

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DiMcDonald

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Hi there,


I am a mixed media artist and teacher and I plan to make as many lenses as I can about ART. I have been teaching different kinds of art for over 10 years now and have a love for sharing information with others


I hope you will follow me and read all my lenses. Please rate my lenses with the easy star system at the top of the page and I would Love to hear any comments you have for me.Here is a link to my website


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