Dear Friends~
I promised to share a few more tips & links on altering childrens board books. Now, like I've said before, I'm not an expert. (except when it comes to making a mess and trying things with reckless abandon). My projects may or may not use "archival" methods/materials. It depends. I have been known to use newspaper and everything biodegradable. I only have one teeny, weeney rule when it comes to using up disregarded papers and such. The rule is no food wrappers, or anything that's touched or come near food. I guess that's one of my"thangs". Everyone has one of those "thangs" and that's mine. I figure if it hasn't touched food it can remain quite sanitary.
Speaking of newspaper, I freakin' love it. I love painting it, collaging with it, etc. Love the texture, love the words. Don't like the obituary section, so I do use the style section and such. Oops. Guess I got another thang there. Anyhow, I got off on a tangent as per usual. I think I just may have to do a little vlog on this. I have alot to say but can't type as fast as I can think...and I get sidetracked...So, anyway, where were we? Oh, yeah, altering a children's board book, art junk style.
1. I prefer the older books to the glossy board books you can get at the dollar store. (the one on the right). I have used my kids old books, as well as some I've found at library book sales. They also have them at most thrift stores. Again, check for food prints, torn pages, etc.
2. I lightly sand, then gesso the pages (gesso is a paint primer found at craft store, I say that because I never knew what it was when I started altering books. I thought it was the same thing as gel medium. That'll tell ya what my first book looked like). So, after I "gesso" the book, I let it dry standing upright and "fanned" open between coats.
3. As far as adhesive, my preference is modge-podge. I know this may cause some sticking. I have chunky books that stick and some that don't but I don't know what I did or did not do to cause that. My guess is which adhesive I used or that I didn't let it dry long enough. There may be a few patches of glue that I could probably lightly sand to prevent it sticking...again, I'm not an expert, but I know this is an issue I'll have to look into. If you have any tips for this, feel free to share in the comments for us.
4. Another type of prepping I've done is the newspaper method. I simply "decoupaged" an entire chunky book with newspaper and brush-stroke modge podge as a "base" for my book. No gesso, no sanding. I just ripped newspaper and adhered it. When it was completely dry, I modge-podged (glued) tissue paper in different colors on top. I liked how the writing showed through. On some pages I simply painted over the newspaper and then collaged images and words on top.
These are a few of the things I've learned from working on these books. I will show you my current one when it's complete. I've been working on it in-between my drawing "homework". Oh, and here are a few great video links. Also, you can do a search on flickr to see a variety of ways people have altered these fun little books.
Hope this answers some of your questions. Thanks for the emails. I got them and hope you take those chunky books outta the bag and get gluing! xo, Lia
