Saturday, November 24, 2007

Debut - beginnings of an Altered Book


“Paris is the greatest temple ever built to material joys and the lust of the eyes.” Henry James











That must explain it, much more expensive than the usual 50cent book but how could you walk past that dust jacket, better yet the beautifully detailed cover.


Picked it up and put it down a few times
much too expensive for just a pretty cover
certainly not suitable for a good AB - it is not stitched
the story did not hold the attention
only one little picture of use on the pages inside

Decisions, decisions, decisions and here we are at home with book in hand trying to decide on a theme and should we split the spine to make it a chunky over embellished fat book or try to keep it in tact for a few polite petite pretty pages…………..

Got any suggestions ? If you are not familiar with my altered books here’s a
link to the Garden Gate book from earlier this year.

Open to trades or swaps for ephemera, had to promise myself that we would not ebay anything to finish this book as it cost enough by itself. See how long I last on that promise :)

13 comments:

Sam I Am said...

ohhhh how i could go for a frangipani dream rightttttt about now...to settle down on the couch.. with my fuzzy slippers and a nice yummy drink to top off the holidays :)
happy day after thanksgiving :)
hugs...sandy

Judy said...

How thick is the spine?
If its too thin - split it- why limit yourself.
Use the spine within the piece.
Sounds exciting.

Lori said...

i have only done altered books with the thick board books for babies, very cheap at the dollar store...
i checked my sheet music, no Christmas...sorry about that
for the signature, if you click on mine it will take you to the site to make your own, any questions just email me:)
have a wonderful weekend!!!

Gina said...

Wow - I just came across your blog and what an eye-candy treat! Gorgeous header too. Took a peek at your Garden Gate book, and it is just stunning! I am bookmarking your blog now - you are so incredibly talented and inspiring. :)

Anonymous said...

Hi Mandy, beautiful book and a lovely post. Sorry we cannot offer any suggestions as we have never tackled AB!!! Have a lovely weekend! Jenn and Jacqui

Deb S. said...

just looked at beyond the garden gate, how beautiful!! i love what i saw! i think i need to try my hand at an altered book one day! hopefully it will be half as lovely as yours! thanks for stopping by my blog!

Sandra Evertson said...

Looks like a great book!
I loved looking at your Garden Gate book! Magnificent!
Sandra Evertson

Linda Manning Findley said...

Mandy I did a Paris AB not to long ago and decided to just use thing that I had that reminded me of Paris (of course 90% of mine is vintage)but after I got started I realized I was thinking of a romantic holiday in Paris with a little girlie stuff on the side while he did some business ... lol ... I seem to alway think of things to say in my books but they are still only visual as you can see on my blogs (http://theartsook.blogspot.com or http://alteredbookretreats.blogspot.com) ..... oh and I agree if the spine isn't at least 1 1/2" cut it so you can have some lovely embellishments in it and take out about 1/2 of the pages .... good luck Linda F

Janet said...

I certainly love the art on the cover. It would be quite hard to resist, since I lived in Paris way back when...*sigh*... :-)

rochambeau said...

Your altered book is beautiful. My vote is to chop it up and make it your own!!! Or maybe print the pictures you like and use them in many ways!

Thanks for stopping by Mandy.
You brightened my day!

Anonymous said...

What a beautiful book! I have no advice, but I can't wait to see what you do with it!

Naturegirl said...

I recieve so much inspiration from you creative spirits! Perhaps I should take up one of the crafts over the winter months!! hummmm..:)NG

Anonymous said...

No suggestions for the book, but I love the quote!

Manuela