Only one more week of having to wear the surgical stockings! Hooray! As the weather turns cooler I am beginning to feel even sillier wearing white stockings around but it's not long now and I feel great so life is good. I've joined a couple of evening classes locally to boost the numbers and one of the tutors I work with has joined my Altered Books group which starts tomorrow. She takes Collage and Sculpture so I think we shall have some crossover which will be intriguing.
I only have three hours a week for five weeks to cover a massive topic so I am trying to hone it and pare it down so that maximum effect is achieved. Samples lie all over the floor and I'm in danger of altering books my husband is still reading......
Tomorrow we'll be folding books to make 3d sculptures and then next week it's on to book boxes and book safes. I finished this one today using a great book found in 'Books for Free' again. It cried out to be altered in some way so I've used the book jacket to make a small envelope and placed some of the random words inside. It was a bit tatty so could have been neater but it illustrates the point I shall be making.
I have not planned to do any book making on this course but do want to show how old books can have their covers re-purposed into new ones. This is a recurring theme for me as I think they have such potential. I've made a few coptic stitch journals today using them and love these two shown here. 'The Daughter of the Regiment' is perfect, especially as it says 'leaves from my grandmother's journal' and as for 'The Man with Three Eyes'....... my husband says that only I could find that fascinating but I know I am not alone!
And when I started this post it says this is number 502!!! I don't think that is right so I shall be checking as I intended to do a giveaway for my 500th post and didn't think I'd missed it. I shall give you advance warning that it will be a book of some description... after all my default mode is always 'make a book' and it might have an obscure and quirky old cover..... after I get through tomorrow I shall get on the case and sort it all out. The Daughter of the Regiment would have been great to giveaway but it is watermarked and stained badly so might not seem like much of a prize to win. There's a presentation certificate inside from 1888 so I'm not surprised it's been through the wars at that age. Never mind, I shall scour the boxes at Books for Free for something interesting and sort those dates out!
6 comments:
How clever you are - as I have said before I do so wish I could come along to your workshops and perhaps achieve something along these lines! Somebody is going to be lucky to win your giveaway - I might enter myself though I already have your lovely little marigold book so maybe I should let someone else have a chance. Glad you are feeling good and now that you could cover your white legs with thick coloured tights that you will soon be free of the ugly stockings!
Sometimes being short of time makes us very focused. I suspect this will happen to you but in the meantime do continue to tell us all your ideas and experiments so we can all add them onto the "to do" list.
I hope the class goes well Lesley - not that I'm in any doubt. When you do these posts I'm always left wishing I lived nearer and could come along.
I so wish I lived nearer but at last I think I've found a bookbinding class!!
I love what you're doing with your unwanted books!
Glad your legs are getting better!
What great books you have found to alter. Like the others, wish I could come along, but perhaps if we were all there not a lot of books would get altered!
Glad you are feeling better Lesley, and I hope the course went well. As you say, 15 hours is very little time to cover a subject that, as I have discovered, will insist on growing and growing, but I know you will manage it. Keep posting.
Steph x
Post a Comment