Welcome Bookshelves Blog Hoppers!

Just like last month's blog hop inspired by the February Club Scrap Up, Up & Away collection, it's finally time for projects featuring Club Scraps March Bookshelves Kit.  It's so much fun to share and see what other talented crafting friends are doing!

I just couldn't help myself. Altered book time!

I used the Bookshelves collection to embellish this altered book purchased from a thrift store. You can see how crazy I went with the globe rubber stamp for making cards in the March Scrap Rap. But to create the jumbo globe on the inside of this book, I enlarged the Unmounted Rubber Stamps index sheet on the copy machine by 160%.

I carefully trimmed out two enlarged globe stands with a detail scissors.

Next, I cut the correctly sized circular nook into the pages with a circle cutter, working several pages at a time.

Once the circles were cut all the way through the book, I attached a photo to the inside back cover to show through the nook.

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Then I attached the globe stand to the inside front page with a light application of CS Bookbinding Glue. I sort of held my breath while I did that!

I chose to suspend a butterfly into the open space of the nook, so I sandwiched thread between two butterflies. Next, I sandwiched the thread between two pieces of Eggshell paper from the kit and attached it between the first two pages of the book. 

The pre-sandwiching technique really helped with installing the butterflies. And you'll want to make sure that the thread lines up with the axis of the globe stand.

Check out how cool that looks!

I stamped images from  the Bookshelves Greeting Unmounted Stamps onto the Library Pocket goodie included in the kit. And the Library Card was the perfect thing for inside this pocket after I gave it the royal stamping treatment and added a photo or two!

For the cover, I stamped Bookshelves images onto Ivory paper, shaded them with colored pencils, and trimmed the whole works into inchies. Each inchie has a black matte to really make it pop.

Then I added a little more rubber stamping to the book . . .

. . . onto the back cover and even the outside edge of the pages.

I suppose I've included way too many pictures, but I'm having a hard time stopping myself. It's just so much fun sharing!

Your next stop, on this blog hop, is the lovely and talented Cathy Grey's blog, The Artful Gamut.

Hop along now!

Kay

Altered Book Music Box

This old discarded book made into a music box has been a thought rolling around in my head since my Music Box Project Class this year at the Club Scrap retreat. Finally it was time to put it together! AND glad I took the time! Now, this old book has become a cute little keepsake currently sitting on my coffee table. Also at Club Scrap, the Music Box Mechanism was available separately, so I had what I needed to get started. Crank it up and it plays "Fur Elise", love it!

On the inside, I cut three nooks from the inner pages. One large enough for the 2"x1-3/4" music box mechanism to go inside, then one for holding maybe photos or jewelry, and the smallest nook holds a little bottle.

I made the smallest nook more shallow to accommodate for a secret matchbox drawer below.

 Cutting a little nook into the pages behind the key hole hardware so the end of the key can fit inside seemed like a good idea too. Well, ya know, while your at it, you might as well do it right!

There is a hole drilled through the book's back cover to let the music box crank work freely.

Now for a couple pictures concerning the construction.

I started with the easiest step, stamping the front cover with the Vogue Love Is Eternity Stamp.

Then moved onto cutting the inside pages.

Along with all the cutting, I would have to say gluing all the pages together was my least favorite part, but still enjoyed the progress of each step and getting to decorate it in the end, and especially now that it plays music!!! Who else has an altered book that they can crank up? Anyone? Anyone?

I wish I could say I carved the heart with wings wooden pc that is now attached to the lid myself, but I happened to see it in the clearance bin at Michaels Craft store.  It was bare unfinished wood and attached to a frame, after it got it home I was able to use a large knife to free the glued on heart/wings from the frame. Then it just needed some acrylic paint and distressing before it embellished my altered book music box project.

The possibilities of book altering are certainly endless, and this was a really fun altered book to show you, hoping you like! 

I'm off to crank up my altered book.

Kay