Scraps Of Time

finished altered book album

this is a special order altered book album that is now making it's way across the pond.  i found an 1896- "the little ministers" by j m barrie book  which had beautiful thick pages and a solid spine,

                                 

now, i don't usually alter a book of that age, in that good of shape, but, my client preferred single pages rather than the double or triple that i usually use in my altered book albums. it took me a bit of talking to myself before  cutting into, but i had done my research and was satisfied that it was okay. even now after 10 years i still hesitate at times when cutting into the books i choose.

                                

i believe there were around 31 pages, 2 little matchbox drawers and 1 larger drawer

                                

i used pages from a child's story book and a german music book both dated  from the late 1800's.

                                

some of which were covered with 1888 ledger papers for journaling

                                

she is fond of  the vintage style papers such as these daisy d's

                               

and the look of antiquity.

                               

of course, this is my favorite too, old, torn, crinkled, kinda lacy but worn...

                               

                                 

                                 

                               

i love this printed photo!

                               

this layout has pockets created from that vintage ledger paper from the 1800's that someone reused as a scrapbook in the early 1900's - very cool - an altered ledger book!

                               

and coin envelope pockets for keeping those special notes, cards or specimens in.

                                 

it actually ended up laying pretty flat at 2 pounds 7 ounces! i love these books! the feel, look and smell, all of it - i'm glad you do too! -rebecca

new "bare beginnings" altered book

so here is an idea that i have been kickin' round for some time, an altered book that you can create yourself. what do you think? i have listed it here :

                                     

"bare beginnings" altered book

                                            

open with drawer open

                                             

spine and front                                        

                                

laying flat open drawer

                                  

laying flat drawer opening

                                  

marking pen mark across the bottom pages

                                  

top of book

so there it is, do you feel creative? altering a book  is a great way to express yourself! jess and i even made one about the life of ben franklin for a school project- it was... awesome, is the only word that describes it, lol! let me share it with you for fun...

                 

                                   

         

           

           

she had some wonderful ideas here and we just kept adding them. it was turned in on time, after working all night to do the "finishing touches" ohmygosh! it turned out 3" thick and held up for a week at school, in the library, just barely it finally cracked, the spine couldn't take it anymore. i have repaired the spine but still need to cover the inside pages where it broke and add some fabric to the outside spine. get this, her teacher said it was really great but she thinks that an instruction paper on how to open everything would have been very helpful! geesh! that is the fun and interest of these books the little pockets, drawers boors and windows. oh well, i guess there were too many other projects to read through in that class. we did this 5 or 6 years ago, where does time fly? thanks everyone, back to work for me! -rebecca

past pages ephemera altered book done-yeah!

geesh, if you can relax for a bit, here is the finished book in photos that i have finally listed here, lol. it is an 1881 mathematics book to which i have added 39 pages of ephemera and 3 matchbox drawers.

the cover was a toughie for me with this one, not sure why... i wanted to leave the pages and ephemera pieces untouched so whomever wishes to adopt/adapt this as their own, can distress or alter each page to their own ideas, so i thought the cover should be that way too, but in the end after behaving myself with the pages, i just had to ink the edges of the image, i am weird, i know, anyway here we go with 23 photos...

                                                

cover with tapestry covered spine, a metal number plate and a picture from a vintage childrens book from the 1800's.

                                                  

book standing showing drawers with velvet pulls

                                 
the front flyleaf has an inscription written it the wonderful writing of this time: winnie m. blair, elk point dak

                                   

this bird picture is from a 1950's audubon society  book.

                                

a musical game card with an 1800's blank check slipped into the pocket the facing page has a pocket created with an 1888's  ledger paper that has been covered with clippings from an early 1900's newspaper, now that is what i call recycling!

                                

these pages have pockets created from an 1800's children's book and a cartes-de-vistes by r.h.barrett & son, george street, glouchester

                                                   

there is a fun egg saver envelope attaced to this pocket with a tiny paper clip.

                                            

there are 9 pages of this 1929 ledger paper to write on

                                             

this is an air mail envelope with a sheetof stationary from the hotel viking in oslo.

                                            

i created a pocket here from a long vintage flashcard

                                           

a part of a letter, a poem, i believe called "my mother" is on the left hand page and a pocket created  from another page of that ledger paper from the 1800's, with fun ephemera goodies tucked in on the right hand page.

                                          

a pocket created from a vintage music book cover with a music tag tucked in the pocket

                                        

7 pages from a small ledger book.

                                           

these two pages have pictures from an 1800's children's book...

                                             

and a side pocket.

                                       

2 more page and...

                                    

another side pocket                             

                                   

a bingo calling sheet and 3 coin envelope pockets

                                   

a music sheet with bottom pockets

                             

3 matchbox drawers with little vintage goodies hiding inside

                              

another view...

                                     

and another...

                                           

the spine with tapestry cover

i hope someone will be able to use this altered book to hold  memorabilia, ideas, and thoughts. you can add stamp work, paintings, images, lace, ribbon and ink to these pages and have your own unique journal.

since the pages are created from vintage papers, they are not acid free and any photographs that you add should be copies or protected in sleeves.

i hope you had fun looking at this book, actually i hope i can inspire you to create one for yourself! have any vintage papers from your great grandma's and grandpa's? your grandma and grandpa's? have little rings or goodies that could find a home in drawers in a book? if you create pages out of scrapbook papers, they will be acid free and you could store all of your precious vintage photos on the pages and in pockets.

well, heading to bed now, hope all is well where you are! thanks again for stopping by, good night. -rebecca

altered book progress

 so, i guess this is an ephemera altered book, lol. funny, fun, and unexpected, you never know where this art  it will take you.

it's still relatively flat

 

 

some pockets using ancient pages and vintage game cards

 

these images are cut from an 1881 children's storybook. i must say here that i could never cut/alter any old book unless it was beyond repair. sometimes the cover is in good shape and the pages are torn, folded dirty, or visa verse.

 

some pages to journal on with vintage ledger papers

 

more pockets

 

it's flat, it good, yea! so far, lol!

these books take a long time to complete, there are a lot of steps with gluing and planning and, once in a while, unexpected disasters as well. lots of fun, please try at least 1 altered book!  this one could hold family ephemera and copies of family photos of long past relatives. couldn't you see all those interesting and precious items tucked the pockets? all in one place, and easy to share, i love these books! anyway, going well so far, glue is drying and it is fathers day, we must have a bar-b-que!

enjoy and celebrate with your family! i'll be back home burning the midnight oil, if you are a "night-owl", think of me! -rebecca

beginnings of an altered book

thought i would share this for fun:

 

   

 

 

the beginnings of my next altered book. it is a slightly rough copy of an 1881 arithmetic book, we'll see where it goes. i feel inspired today, i'm getting to work.

i have listed a few new things in my etsy and artfire shops if you would like to peek. since i am still de-stashing, i have put together some goodies for some themed journals with bingo card covers.

enjoy your night! -rebecca