I'm still here.

This is what has been occupying me for the past two weeks or more.   I really needed to get it finished and am being very naughty posting it here before I put it on my other blog for my tutor to see it.    It is part of my online coursework and is an altered book having started it's life as a herbal year book.

In case you don't already know an altered book can be made from any hardback book with pages stitched in signatures.   Half the pages need to be carefully removed and the rest are glued together in pairs to give them added strength.   Extensions can be added to some, others can have shaped cut edges or holes cut into them.   There are any number of possibilities and very few rules.

The original pages have their text brushed over with gesso to provide a plain surface for drawings, etc.   I have been brave and drawn directly onto all the pages shown here.   There are birds on some of the other pages which I did draw on separate paper before cutting them out and sticking them into the book.

My brief was to tell a story and as I couldn't think of one I wanted to use, I decided to tell the story of the transition of my garden throughout the year.

As you can see, some of the pages have a stitched edging.   I found it easier if I made the holes first by prodding the edge of each page with a large needle.

Below is the front cover made by sanding down the shiny surface of the original cover, painting it with gesso and embedding small strips of frayed muslin and pressed hydrangea flowers.   I tried to use small skeleton leaves too - they wouldn't lie flat but when I lifted them off they had left a nice leaf shaped print for me.  I had intended to add colour to the cover but it has a nice natural rustic look and I don't want to muck it up.  It looks grey here but in reality is a warm beige/brown.

There are quite a few more pages which I haven't photographed yet but if you would like to see them all they will hopefully be on my other blog on Sunday.   There is a link for it at the top of this page.   

Tomorrow will be a busy day as our eldest daughter is remarrying.  We all had visions of trying to hide thermal vests under our outfits but that won't be a problem now it is so much milder.  Plastic macs?  We'll wait and see.  It seems mayhem will ensue until we are all safely at the church as everyone is coming here to change into their finery.  What a good thing we have three loos!