Sidetracked into an Altered Book

When I returned from Italy, I wanted to write up the notes I had made during the trip so I spent some time putting together text and photos. Then my grandson Trevor told me about his high school art project in which he had made an "altered book". It sounded like a lot of fun. My daughter Kim said she wished she could make one, maybe about our trip and pretty soon I formed the idea of creating an altered book about the Italy adventure.
Our library has several books on how to do it so I read a little first and then began to design the book. First I found the base book that I would use in the Friends of the Library bookstore. It was a library discard, outdated but with useable photos and just the right size. It cost me fifty cents. The title was The Italians. I glued pages together, painted them, collaged, cut holes, decorated, transferred images in various ways, sewed in pages, and had lots of fun working on it.
Warning! This is a very time-consuming enterprise. It was taking me almost a day per page. Sometimes I had to wait hours for the glue to dry before I could advance to the next step. All in all, I think it took me about three months to make the book. The final step was to glue in the new end pages (marbled paper I had purchased in Florence) and make a new cover. The front cover I made with Spackle, a plaster-like substance. When it was dry, I painted it bright colors using acrylics. I tied a few Italian yarns into the holes I had made inside to attach the journal text.
Needless to say, I did not make paper, or work much toward my real book while I was engaged in the construction of the altered Italy book. I gave the book to Kim as a souvenir of our trip together.

Step Three: another try at making paper and printing

What luck! I was able to get some pristine white mat board from the Clyde Butcher studio - scraps that they had left over after framing the photos. I used this as the basis for the next batch of paper and it turned out pretty well. I have since used some of the paper in a small book I made plus I have used a couple of sheets as envelopes. Again I tried incorporating plant parts and yarn into the paper.
In order to practice bookbinding, I took apart an old book, pulled out the stitching, took the glue off spine, and threw away the cover. Then I put it all back together and created a new cover. After I successfully rebound the book, I tried binding a small book of my own. Into this one, I put a few pages of my own paper. A good start toward my real book! Now I know I can actually do it!
At holiday time I printed cards using a linoleum block print. More good practice. Sometime after the first of the year, I will make more paper and start planning the book.
One problem is that I am easily side tracked into projects that seem like fun. (Right now I am thinking about the other things I might make with paper pulp!)