Winter ~ Page 1 :: Altered Book :: As the Earth Turns

Text:

Winter

Ingredients:

tulle lace, Lumiere acrylic paints, matchsticks, crystalline paper, paper napkin, chalk, wire

Lessons Learned:

1) Don't touch the napkin while it's still tacky. I did this
and accidentally lifted a portion of the napkin off the
page.
2) Don't press the book closed without putting wax paper or
something else between the crystalline papers. They stick
together badly. I brushed the pages with macro pearl
PearlEx, which I think will help.

Process:

As the Earth Turns is divided into five parts: "Winter," "Spring," "Summer," "Fall," and "Winter Again." (Do you think the soap opera people got the idea for As the World Turns from this book?) My idea is to make a book of poetry and art work based on the seasons. I'm going to try and do new things but also re-do some techniques I tried in The Motor Girls on Crystal Bay to make sure I can still do them correctly and to try and use the "lessons learned" to do a better job.

I'm happy to say that I've gotten over my initial reluctance to cut into a book. (That is a good thing, right?) My first step was to skim over the "Winter" pages, and using an exacto, I cut out pages of text that had words about winter that appealed to me.

Each new section of the book has it's own chapter title page, so that's where I started. I used some chalk to color over the title "Winter." Then I cut a piece of tulle and used double stick tape to tack it onto the page.

I took a piece of while cardstock, and using a scrapbooking template, cut out a rectangle to fit around the title. I covered the card stock with clear crystalline paper which I painted sparkle white. I cut an X in the paper over the window opening, wrapped the paper around the edges of the cardstock and glued them on the back. I tore the border off a paper napkin and glued that along the bottom of the two pages. Click here to read tips on how to tear a napkin.

Next I used gel medium to glue the cardstock onto the book. I had folded the cardstock in half before I started working on it, and I pushed this folded edge into the gutter of the book. I put wax paper between the double page spread, closed the book, and weighted it down with a box of kosher salt and my pasta machine.

After the pages had dried, I took some silver-tipped matchsticks and wrapped silver wire around them. I used gel medium to glue these around the title window.

Reflections:

I have been aching to get started in this book. I can't emphasize the "aching" part enough. Sometimes it felt like the insides of my fingers wanted to crawl out of their skin; they were itching with anticipation. But I had to hold back. I had to finish other half-started projects before I began my second altered book. I still don't feel caught up with everything I need to do. In fact, I probably never will.

I picked up As the Earth Turns at our local library's used book sale. I get a lot of good books there. I picked this one because of the title and the way that the book is divided into sections - one section for every season of the year.

But one thing that I did which made it easier to get started was to clean up my work area. I have a relatively small space to work on, and it's surrounded by the supplies that I tend to reach for the most often. These things slowly start to creep towards the center until I feel like I'm working in a hole the size of a postage stamp.

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