Treasure 3x3 Instructions

How to Start An Altered Book

 How to Alter a Board Book

 Flag Book Instructions

Lemon Juice Aging in Altered Books

ATC (Artist Trading Cards) Instructions

Treasure 3x3 - by Kelly Burton
Supplies:
Altered Pages collage sheet - Flappers AP148
black cardstock
bleach
fine mist spritzer
torn piece of sheet music
stickers - fish and sea plant
word treasure
pencil crayons - purple and yellow
glue stick
scissors and paper trimmer
distress ink - Frayed Burlap
small piece of sponge for adding distress in to piece

Instructions:
-using fine mist spritzer, spray black cardstock with bleach.  **do in well-ventilated area and use protection to avoid getting bleach on hands, clothes, unwanted areas (best done outside)
-once paper is dry, cut piece 3 inches x 3 inches
-glue torn piece of sheet music onto piece and sponge on distress ink  to add color
-trim collage image.  using pencil crayons, add yellow to hair and purple to  starfish and ladies clothing
-glue collage image to 3 x 3 piece
-add the word treasure as shown
-add fish sticker and sea plant sticker as shown

 

How To Start An Altered Book - Deb Silva

There are few things in life quite as satisfying as a completed Altered Book. But to finish one, you have to start it, so that’s exactly what we’re going to do. The first step seems simple, but there is a bit of method to it, we’ll need to be a bit choosy. First, we need a book with matte pages; shiny pages don’t take glue or paint well. Secondly, shape and size are important, the right feel, you want the book to be one you are comfortable working in, not too thick, not too tiny, and not too big, just right, as Goldilocks said. A Hardcover is preferable, one that can withstand what you’re going to do to it, no falling out pages or broken spine. It’s also fun to have the title give a clue as to the book’s theme, but it’s not necessary. So now we've picked a book – on to the second step. 

Book preparation. We need to remove some pages, we can do this neatly with ruler and razor knife, or scissors, or we can simply rip some pages out. The purpose here is to remove bulk and create room for all those great embellishments you’ll be adding to your book. As you glue in collage elements the outer edges of your book are going to spread, if you want your book to come anywhere near to closing, we need to lighten the page load a bit. You’ll know as you go along exactly how many pages to take out, but this will get us started. One of the advantages to removing pages with scissors is that you’ll have a ready-made flap for inclusions or envelopes; of course you can use your deckle edge scissors to make things more interesting. And ripping pages out leaves flaps for making pockets – simply glue the edges together and stick something cool in there.

 Now – page prep – there are many, many background preparation techniques, my favorites are watercolor washes, acrylic paint, especially Lumieres, Portfolios, and Direct to Paper. If you want to totally cover the text on a given page, you might start with a coat of gesso, then use whatever technique strikes your fancy over the top. Experiment; see what you come up with. Some of the Lumieres are very opaque as well, particularly the green. Watercolor Gouache is an opaque type of paint that covers a bit more than the regular transparent watercolor. Portfolios are a brand of water-soluble oil pastel and are one of my favorites – you can just scribble them on, brush on a little water, or paint, and smoosh your pages together for great effects. You’re familiar with Direct to Paper, I’m sure; try some of these techniques on your pages. After you have a few pages prepped, you’re ready to begin altering your book. So, that’s it for this article!

  What you’ll find is that Altered Books aren’t all that different than Scrapbooks. Actually, I’ve used quite a bit of scrapbook paper in my Altered Books.  The most important thing to take away from this article is there is no right way to alter a book. It’s about the process, about you creating something you love, and as the saying goes, it’s all good! So go get your stuff and play!

How to Alter a Board Book - Robin Willis

I enjoy altering books. I should actually say more than enjoy, I should say that it is my passion! Altering hardcover books is so much fun, but I have to admit that I love altering children's board books even more! They are small, so they are easy to complete in a short amount of time. They are also easier
to do an entire book on a theme. You don't have as many spreads to do on the particular subject. I also feel that they are far less intimidating to the beginning alterer.

The first thing you need obviously is a board book. You can use any child's board book, new or old as long as the spine is not cracked at all. I also prefer not to use a book where the corners are worn, the finished book looks much better with sharp corners. Okay, now that you have a board book, we need to prepare the surface of it.

The pages of a board book are very slick and shiny. Paint will not to adhere to them well at all. There are many different options to prepping the surface of your book. You can use gesso (a chalky primer used with acrylic paint) on
each page. If I paint the pages with gesso, I generally apply a thin coat, let dry and then lightly sand the page. Then I will add one or two more coats,  allowing them to dry and sand in between. This can take alot of time and quite honestly, when I get an idea in my head, I have no interest in spending days
just prepping a book. Another option that takes less time, is to sand each page to give the pages tooth. You won't have as smooth of a work surface with this method, but it does work fine for preparing the book. Now, here is my favorite prep method and it is always the first I try. If it works, it takes seconds to
prepare a book. Let me tell you, it has worked with every book I have altered, except for one that was older and worn a bit. Are you ready?? Carefully seperate the shiny paper from the board book itself. The shiny paper will peel right away from the board book and leave you with a book of raw chipboard! It will  readily accept any type of paint. I was amazed the first time I tried this to discover that the glossy pages pulled right away so easily in one complete sheet.

Okay, now you have prepared your book for altering. You can glue pages together if you only want to do a spread or two on your theme. You can cut niches in the pages if you want to. You can use any types of paint on the board book. Spray paint, Lumieres, acrylic paints, inks, anything you desire. The same rule applies for this type of book.......there are NO rules! You can do whatever you want to your board book and the best part is that you have a sturdier canvas to work on.

Another fun thing that can be done with board books is that you can make your book any shape you want! As long as the shape is somewhat flat along the spine. You still need the spine to be stable. A few shapes that are fun are, houses, shipping tags, triangles, etc. Anything that will keep your spine somewhat intact. Now, what you need to do is prep your book first. Then draw your shape onto the
book. Use a scroll saw to cut the book shape. These board books cut very similar to a piece of wood. When the shape is cut, sand the edges to remove any rough edges and paper that has torn up a bit. Alter away!!

Now, go to a dollar store, thrift store or anywhere that you can buy board books inexpensively and give them a try! They are alot of fun and you can make it a weekend project. An altered scrapbook for a loved one would make an awesome gift.

Flag Book Instructions

Full Size Tag Flag Book: finished size 8" X 5 1/2"
Need: 2    pieces of matte board or any think cardboard 8" X 5 1/2"
           2    9 1/2" X 7" decorative papers for cover
           2    7 6/8" X 5 2/8" decorative papers for end covers (inside)
           9    #5 Avery Shipping Tags (4 3/4" x 2 3/8")
           1     8" X 8" cardstock for accordian fold spine with the
                  grain running long
            (Suede paper from Golden Oak Papers
                   works well, but any strong flexible paper will work)
             Score the spine in 1" increments so that there are 8 equal sections
              19" piece AND 18" piece of coordinating ribbon for book ties

Small Size Tag Flag Book: finished size 5 1/2" X 3 3/4"  (Note: the
photos are from the small size book)
Need: 2    pieces of matte board or any think cardboard 5 1/2" X 3 3/4"
           2    6 1/2" X 4 3/4" decorative papers for cover
           2    5 3/8" X 3 5/8" decorative papers for end covers (inside)
           9    #2 Avery Shipping Tags (3 2/4" X 1 5/8")
           1     5 1/2" X 4" cardstock for accordian fold spine with the
grain running long
                  (Suede paper from Golden Oak Papers
                   works well, but any strong flexible paper will work)
                   Score the spine in 1/2"  increments so that there are
8 equal sections
            16" piece AND 8" piece of coordinating ribbon for book ties

First make the cover. Using "Yes" glue, or Xyron, attach the covers,
front and back, to the carboard. Make sure there are no bubbles by
strting in the middle and smoothing outward. For corners, cut corners
off leaving 1/8", then roll the edges over.
 INSIDE cover: attach ribbons first: Inside front cover: attach ribbon 4" down (large book) and 1" in, with the ribbon sitting out to the left. Attach inside papr on top of the ribbon so it peeks out. Inside back cover: glue ribbon to the right side, 1" in, and 1" lower than the ribbon on the front cover (5" down-large book).
Attach inside paper on top so the ribbon peeks out at the right side.

Accordian Spine:  Score at 1" (large book) or 1/2" (small book) using a metal edge ruler. Fold back and forth to make accordian spine.  Use strong double sided tape to attach spine to covers. Put the tape on the spine first, then match to the covers. 
Tags: Decorate each tag before attaching to book. Remember, the tag sticks into the book by 1/2". The tags are place alternately on the spine, the first on the lft side of the "mountain", the second on the right side, the third on the left side. Pay attention to this when designing and placing the tags, as part of the tag will be glued to the spine. You can use repositionable tape to design where the tags will go, then permanent tape later on. Make sure that bulky pieces are not close to the spine.

Lemon Juice Aging in Altered Books - Robin Willis

Aging is a very hot trend in todays stamp art. There are so many ways
to age your background and elements in an altered book. You can use inks,
items specifically made for aging, you can burn your pages, etc. The one I
have found to be the most fun and the most realistic is a technique that
uses lemon juice. Real lemon juice gives the most interesting, authentic
aged effects on paper. The best part of using lemon juice for aging is that
you control the intensity and amount of aging you want.  It is such a simple technique, that I am sure you will want to use it a lot in your art. I know I do!

Here are the basic steps to lemon juice aging.

For stamped images:
1. Stamp image with archival ink-Versafine, Memories, Ancient Page, etc
2. Tear the edges of your paper.
3. Using a brush or sponge and add lemon juice along the edges and anywhere else you want to age. Try to be lighter with the lemon juice over the
image itself.
4. Heat with your heatgun until the paper starts to brown. Continue all over
the paper until you reach your desired level of darkness.

For backgrounds or plain paper:
1. Do the same thing only don’t stamp your image first.
2. Variations can include:
Crumple the paper and lightly going over high spots with lemon juice.
Sponge randomly to make a very soft aged background.

So, what are you waiting for? Go age some backgrounds for altered books. You
will quickly become addicted to doing it. It is alot of fun and makes great
paper for altered books.
 

ATC (Artist Trading Cards) Instructions

Artist trading cards are miniature works of art created on 2-1/2" x 3-1/2"
cardstock.  ATCs are originals and self-produced, easily created by anyone.
ATCs are altered, collaged, stamped, painted, drawn, inked, stained, or otherwise created; they can also incorporate photographs, assemblages, small found items, or digital art.  ATCs are collectibles and are usually traded like sports trading cards, not sold.  There are no rules except the size of the cardstock - it should always be 2-1/2" x 3-1/2".  It is also customary to put the artist's name on the back, the date it was created, and the name of the work of art.

Linda Cameron, DT Member

 
Robin Willis, DT Member