Ancient Egypt Altered Book

Hello there friends, it seems like ages since I last posted but I've been busy working on my spreads for the altered book round robin.  This book was entitled Ancient Egypt and the previous artists had done some amazing work leaving me wondering where to start.  I was so pleased to borrow some stamps from a friend which got me going and it went really well after that.  Here's the first spread

The pages of the book were quite flimsy and shiny so I decided to fold some to make a central pocket for my tag and then decorated both sides.  I used Tim's new Latticework stencil on the left hand side and distressed the paper to look a bit like an old scroll.  The right hand side was painted with Seedless Preserves Distress Stain which allowed the printing to show through and I sealed the edges with some washi tape.  I loved the bit of upholstery trim I found in my stash and frayed the ends, dipping them into glue and gold glitter.  My tag was embossed and then rubbed with several colours of metallic paste and polished to a shine and decorated with a bronze mummy.

Here's the second side of that pocket

 

This side of the pocket was painted with Broken China Distress Stain, dabbed with gold paint and trimmed with more washi tape and ribbon.  I really liked the idea of a corrugated cardboard pyramid rubbed with gold paint and the sphynx in front.  Someone else before me had used very fine sandpaper for their sand - great idea.  My scarab beetle was actually finished off with a gold coin and some shiny beads but that was last minute after I'd taken these pics.  I had to get it wrapped up to send to Australia in the morning for the next part of its journey.

Thanks for joining me today and if you've never altered a book before, I'd certainly recommend it.  Especially joining in a round robin - its really inspiring to see other people's work.  Hope everyone is having a great Sunday and better weather than we have here in NE England where its been thick fog all day.  Nice and warm by the log fire though.  Margie x

PS  My son sent me a Mother's Day message from Kenya today where he's been taking part in a charity climb of Mt Kenya to help raise funds for a village his firm is supporting.  I'm so proud of him I could burst.

And finally, the Steampunk folds......

I know its late but I had to share these photos of my star pupil's amazing Steampunk theme book now she's completed it.  This was Jan's first try at folding books and I think she has really embraced the idea of making a real talking point of her creation.  See what you think.

I love the chain with the watch round the middle and all the items she's managed to attach with wire so that they stand away from the pages.  Here's some of the detail.

And a close-up of her very neat folds

I'm so proud (like a mother hen!) and pleased that they all enjoyed the workshop and will hopefully come back for more crafting fun.  Thanks for popping over - I do appreciate every visit and comment that you leave.  Margie x

Vintage ladies domino book

Welcome dear friends on an evening when we've had the most glorious sunshine and I've actually been out working in the garden for a change!  Roll on the summer but in the meantime, here's a tiny domino book I've made for my partner in this swap.  It really strained the old eyes but I do like working in miniature.

First of all, here's the book closed up:

I finished off the front with a little frame holding a tiny portrait which I covered with Glossy Accents to look like glass - really pleased with the way that turned out.

This picture shows the lovely vintage ladies inside:

and the next one is the back of those pages:

and the last picture is the tiny box I made for the book with a little window to show the front of the book inside:

This book is now on its way to Canada - hope my partner likes it!  Oh, by the way we have the first lambs in the field behind our house today, so sweet.  Hope you're all enjoying some better weather at last.  Margie x

Entering this into the Inspired by Stamping "Anything but a Card" challenge here.

Having fun with folded books

What a great time I had today running the second part of my book folding workshop at our local gallery.  Last week, all the books were folded and this Saturday the decorating began.  As you can see here, there was plenty going on (it looks a bit like my table when I'm crafting!)

This is Alan, Jan and Sally looking very intent on their decorating!

Then these are Mary, Katie and another Mary having a fit of the giggles over theirs!  As you can see, its a lovely, light and airy room to work in with a nice fire and we were kept supplied with coffee and cakes too.

Two hours went by very quickly and here are some of the finished books.  The others were taken off to be finished and pictures promised when they are done.

This is Sally's "sewing theme" book.  I love the ribbon at the front and her great choice of embellishments.

This is Alan''s "medical oddities" theme.  My pic is a bit dark but it was a very interesting theme made in an old medical book full of the strangest photographs!

Mary's "Russian travel" theme included a great collection of memorabilia from a recent trip there and was actually created in a book all about Russia.  Love the doll bookmarks!

And this is Katie's "travel" theme book and she did the printing of the old steam train on a book page - it looked great.  I'll let you see the other two when I get the pics but I hope you've enjoyed seeing these.  Amazing how they all turned out so differently.  Hope you are enjoying the weekend and manage to get some time to craft yourselves.  Thanks so much for popping in to see me.  Margie x