Altered Book Workshop

 Today i had the pleasure of sharing my knowledge of altered books with 5 ladies new to the artform, plus two friends. The 8 of us created 5 different structures in our vintage books - and completed three spreads using colourful papers, ephemera and embellishments.  Above is a shot of our "show and tell" after the class - where we all get a close up look at each other's pages. 

This was my "Vintage Birds Sing" spread.  I used portfolio oil pastels to add extra color to the pages.

 Next we have our Nature Walk theme - complete with stunning photography from a Sierra Club magazine and glittered butterfly wall decals.  YES - you can use those wall decals in books!  We created a sewn pocket and all used different techniques to sew up the pages before creating the collage.

Here is a closeup of my page.

Finally we created an Asian Theme spread on two pages - plus two triangle points - using an assortment of red and black mulberry textured paper, origami paper and asian text. 

And my page.I like to keep all my collage materials straight and geometric with this style of spread - as i told the class - it is my own self inmposed rule - no torn edges - everything crisp and layered.  Not that there are rules of collage!  Just guidelines i like to follow that can help you get started if you are new to collage.  Because - truly - anything goes!

We had a great class today and i hope to see everyone again at our Altered Books - Advanced Techniques class, coming up in June. Please check out the Liquid Marin website for calendar details.
After the class three of us went to a local estate sale - just before closing, to see if we could find any treasures for future projects. In fact they had started packing up - but what was left was 50% off.

 I grabbed three interested documents - a deed of sale from 1931, a telegram from 1919, and an honourable discharge from 1919!

Next i spied a page from a photo album with these 5 images.

And finally i picked through the "expensive stuff "- you know the jewelry and coins they keep individually bagged, right by the check out table at an estate sale?  Well - at 50% off - these things were a bargain.  Two pretty pins, some vintage buttons, and a fork and spoon in a pretty rose pattern, plus everything else i bought cost less than $10 - um - in total that is!

What a great way to end the perfect day!