Paperclipping: The Video Podcast | Design Your Story

Noel - This looks like a great project. It kills me to throw away the beautiful Holiday photos that I get of friends and family. I keep saying I'm a novice at scrapbooking, but I've been surprising myself. I completed the Homework tutorial and my Son's book came out great. I was so proud of it and my Son loves to check it out...

Before I select to sign up for this tutorial, will you discuss the papers you are using? Although I have my own preferences for paper, I like starting "somewhere". The papers you featured were lovely...

I love this project Noell, and such a great book to have on display at Christmas time. Cant wait for the special issue release.

Do you cover the back of the book in the same way as the front, or do you not worry about it?

Thanks again!

Thank, Sandy. I left the back cover as-is. I rarely cover the backs of minibooks or homemade books. If I were to cover the entire front and wrap the paper around the sides, then I might consider doing the back as well.

I got an email with a question about this project and I thought it would be a good one to post here with my answer. Here is the question...

"'m really interested in attempting the altered book in your most recent video and my question is: what if your book has more pages than you need? Do you just leave them at the end or are you gluing a few pages together as you go (between the ones you are scrapbooking/embellishing)?"

Here is my answer...

I am leaving some at the end of my book because I plan to add to it year after year until it is filled (I'll probably only be able to fit two years into it. Eventually, I will use it all up, though. Yes, I do bind pages together as I go--most of the pages in my book are actually bound groups of pages. That is something I go into in the Special Issue, which should release next week. In that I show a number of different ways you can bind the pages together and gluing them is just one of them.

You can also cut some pages out, but that gets tricky--I've accidentally cut into the original binding by doing that, but was able to recover by binding it back together with gaffer tape.

I'll be posting a few pictures of my book next week. I hope that helps.

Noell-
I am definitely intrigued and still intimidated. I love the overall idea of an altered book and just love the thrill of altering a "found" object and repurposing it (it somehow pleases my sensibilities...you know, good for the environment...). But I am not the most exact or precise scrapbooker, and the part where I need to get the patterned paper just so over the span of two pages makes me hesitant..

I do think it looks totally cool and love the idea of doing SOMETHING useful with the cards and newsletters at this time of year. I guess I'll have to stick around and see what the project is like for me...

Karen

Karen, I totally understand where you're coming from. Here's the thing: after having gone through the trial and error of altering books, I figured out that doing the fold and all that I showed actually makes it EASY so you don't have to get it "just so."

Also, if you take a really good look at my pages, they are FAR, FAR from perfect. With book altering, it's a given that you get warping, wavy pages, lots of imperfections. Of course, you do what you can to minimize it, but it's part of the charm of altered books. They're the ultimate in guilt-free projects. In fact, after altering a couple books I had the most liberating sense that it's all about the fun and the process of it, and SO NOT about the perfection.

You should try it. Like you, I really love the idea of repurposing stuff (isn't it overwhelming to walk through stores and see the enormous amounts of junk that will eventually take space in the junk yards--sooner, rather than later b/c of the cheap quality these days?). I feel really good when I choose to not buy something new--which will encourage even more mass manufacturing--but instead reuse something already existing.

Seriously, you can try it without committing to finishing it. It's totally okay. =)

Noell-
Thanks for sharing more thoughts on the matter. I'm definitely going to try it. I've been having too much fun with art journaling to be a perfectionist anymore. I'll look forward to learning more about the project next week...

Karen

Great project!!!