Back in the Saddle

With only a few days left until the BJP 13 starts I thought I would get a head start on the form that my Journal will take this year. In former years I would make the pieces each month but then at the end I was left with the daunting job of putting them together in a cohesive way. This year I will be making the form first and then each month adding to it. By the end of the 12 month the whole project will be complete. Such a novel idea - for me anyway.

A friend showed me an altered book that was gorgeous. I took my cue from it.

My theme for the year is "The Definition of Who I Am"

So I started with a nice thick book. Ironic that is is a dictionary, I thought.

To cut out the center you first need to glue all the pages together. I thought I would have to glue each one to the next but you only have to glue the outside edges. We take care of the inside later. For this I put Saran Wrap around the front cover and the front page, which you do glue down later to the hole you cut out.

Once the outside edge is dry you start cutting the inside of the book. It can make a real mess, let me tell you. Little pieces of paper all over the place.

Once you have it as deep as you want you can clean it up and then you glue this inside edge just like you did the outside part. I think I forgot to say that I close the cover and stack books on top of it while it is drying to get a tight seal.

After the glue is dry you take the front page that you have wrapped and glue it to the front of the hole. Then you can make a nice clean cut for the top. I wanted to make this opening into a dresser of sorts with 12 little drawers, one for each month. So I used strips of foamcore for this process. I would cut each piece and glue it in.

I am still debating whether I will just paint the cover of the book or bead a cover for it. For now I have gessoed the whole book inside and out. I did leave the words showing in the back of the dresser area.

Its all ready for the little drawers I will make each month, defining who I AM.