Created by DiMcDonald (contact me)
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I am a mixed media artist and teacher and I plan to make as many lenses as I can about ART. I have be... (more...)
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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.
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
Fetching RSS feed... please stand byWow! 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
Fetching RSS feed... please stand byHave 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
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
images for collage
altered
"look into your...
Altering books - pai...
Wonderful Books With Altered Book Ideas In Them
Altered Book Arts
Altered Art Books
Fetching RSS feed... please stand byHere 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.
Do You Want To Go Shopping?
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Candles
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I cant think of anything more romantic that flickering candles on a dark night. I use them at the table as much as I can, I think it makes a meal festive and intimate. I love candles in the bedroom, especially if they have a wonderful scent,Love the...
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Wall Clocks
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In this Lens you will find a big variety of Wall Clocks. If you are looking to buy a new Wall Clock I know how overwhelming it can be as we are very spoiled for choice. I have tried to put them in catagories so they are easier to sort through. Wheth...
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Kindle | Where To Buy Kindle | Kindle Amazon | Kindle ebook|
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At Last Kindle is available to buy again at Amazon. They are IN STOCK again! This lens shows you how you can buy your Amazon Kindle right now today!. BUY KINDLE NOW Learning More Further on you will find more information about Kindle. You will fin...
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Novelty Teapots
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Dont you just love the look of some of the Novelty Teapots you can buy? In this lens I am showcasing as many NoveltyTeapots as I can so you can have great choice if you decide yo buy one. If you are collector you can always find something interesti...
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Beanbag Chairs
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These Beanbag Chairs are the most comfortable ways to relax. I love these beanbags for smaller rooms as they are so easy to push into a corner. Probably not the best chair for Grannie, but wonderful for children to snuggle into with their Favorite...
Which Book Is Your Favorite?
Altered Book Arts
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!
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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.
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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
Fetching RSS feed... please stand byAltered Book Supplies
Forest Blaze Angelina Fiber
Angelina (r) heat fusible fibers are polyester fib more...0 points
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
This is an eclectic collection of ephemera that is more...0 points
Gold Iris Angelina Fiber
Angelina (r) heat fusible fibers are polyester fib more...0 points
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!
Click here to start your Lens
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
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beachbum_gabby
very cool and creative. Rewarding 5*! Posted May 08, 2008 |
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mulberry
Very unique topic and lots of great information about it. Great lens! Posted May 03, 2008 |
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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 |
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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 |
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PatinKC
Wow, who knew? Posted April 03, 2008 |
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SemperFidelis
Excellent lens. Until now, I've never heard of a 'altered book!'Blessed by a Squid Angel today! :o) Posted April 02, 2008 |
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GypsyPirate
This was new to me, I really enjoyed reading your lens and learning. Thank you. Posted April 02, 2008 |
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kristinedior
Wonderful source of Information! Posted March 25, 2008 |
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PotPieGirl
Di - what a wonderful lens! You are so talented! I'm lucky if I can draw a straight line! Posted March 11, 2008 |
Hi!
thanks for the kind comments about my 'GOLD; book, it was a lot of fun to make!
emma jane
Posted January 18, 2008
