altered book: lesson 4

I'm continuing with the free and very comprehensive altered book (AB) class being given by Elizabeth over at Altered Book Lover.  Each of her very complete and detailed lessons is archived at the top of her side bar so you can easily join in any time.  She's proceeding at a leisurely pace of a new lesson every couple of weeks so there's plenty of time to work on each step.

Lesson 4 was all about glue.  We were tasked with gluing 2 pages together using every type of glue we had to see how the paper reacted and how easy it was to work with after gluing.  Elizabeth suggested we then make tags or some way of keeping notes of our results on the pages.  Finally, we were to experiment with using some type of glue as a decorative resist or element and also to make a double spread using gesso as both the glue to hold pages together as well as the glue to hold design elements to the page.

Here we go:

The glues I used were:  glue stick, PVA glue, Elmer's white glue, mod podge (decoupage), matte medium and gesso.  Generally, there wasn't a lot of difference between them.  They all held up well to the application of acrylic and watercolors.  The glue stick page was slightly stiffer and less flexible.  Elmer's and decoupage had the most bubbling or ridges, but not enough to bother me.  Matte medium and gesso probably were the easiest (I just dribbled from the bottle to the page and spread with a credit card) and left me with the most flexible and easy to work on pages.  However, they're also the most expensive mediums so I likely won't use them as a regular course when most of the other glues were satisfactory.  I didn't really have any trouble with pages curling or warping.

The photos above show the tags and pouches for each page.  I used flower photos I'd taken for the pouches and the tags are just painted & distressed pieces of a cardboard popcorn box with ribbon added.

Next I started decorating.  I wasn't too successful using the white glue as a resist.  In fact that page is still 'under construction' - I'm not quite sure what to do with it.

Above, the glue is still wet and blobby.  Definitely a technique that would require some practice. Quote on this page:  You don't have to get it right, you just have to get it going! - Mike Litman (thought this particularly appropriate for this book!)

Another task was to try gesso as the surface prep as well as the glue to hold design elements.

The floral paper & holed paper above are pretty heavy and you can see the holed strips and lace bits didn't totally stick down.  I learned that I need a thicker coat of gesso to hold down the heavier elements.  I used Inktense watercolor pencils, a little wood cut out butterfly, lace, markers, glue stick, washi tape on the gesso surface and everything worked beautifully.  My quote says:  Dreams are renewable.  No matter what age or condition, there are still untapped possibilities within us and new beauty waiting to be born. -Dale Turner

By the way - originally I was considering Daydreams as my theme.  After further thought, I've changed it to Favorite Quotes - I'm going to use it as a place to gather and illustrate my favorite sayings.

Here are my remaining pages so far - some still need their quotes added.

Glue stick page - I used one of my homemade stencils for the purple pie shapes, scraps from a rejected piece of art and markers:

Elmer's Glue page on right, PVA on left.

Decoupage on right, Elmers on left.

Matte medium on right, decoupage on left - quote: We are all adventurers, explorers, and travelers of life.

Gesso on right, matte medium on left with some Traci Bautista inspired doodles.  Also, I tried the technique of applying gesso and drawing into it while wet.  On the left (my first effort), I found that I applied it too thin and it dries VERY quickly so details were lost.  I tried again on the right, spread it more thickly and drew more quickly so it was a more successful result.  Covered with acrylic paint.  The left page also has white out marker, oil crayon, Inktense pencils and duck tape across the top.

If you've ever thought you might like to try an altered book, let me highly recommend Elizabeth's class.  It's SO thorough and so clear, she makes it easy and fun to succeed.  I can't wait to try the next pages!  There are as many styles of books as there are participants, so be sure to visit the links and see what others are making.  Thanks Elizabeth!