Altering Books!! Join now.

I am ready to start another Altered Book Round Robin!! I love to make art everyday, but it's usually for projects, work or assignments and I need a little bit of art from time to time that is just FUN and that is what altered books do for me, they challenge my creativity and I have lots of fun doing that.

So, if you would like to join a round robin........ respond to this post or email: becky@keepsakedesigns.biz .

First let me explain, if you don't know what a round robin is. A small group of 10-12 artists that create altered books then mail it to the next person to do art in their book, they will receive someone elses book to work in and then mail it off to the next person etc, etc, until all books have been mailed to all members, and finally your book will come back to you after all other members have worked in it.

I'll close the group at 10 participants. I'm sorry, but due to postage costs we will only accept members that are in the Continental USA or a US military base as postage is the same.

Points to Ponder:

1. Keep in mind when you commit to this that it is a 12 month commitment
2. if you are accepted to the group you will need to complete your obligation.
3. I will determine the final players based on membership recommendation.
4. Postage costs will get expensive as the books grow. Which is why we will have one month to ship and work on our entries.
5. Specific mailing dates will be assigned, but you can ship slower rates if you mail early. You must allow the next artist enough time to create their entry before the mailing deadline.
6. I want courteous and conciencious members.
7. Each member selects their book, can be an old hardcover novel, a chipboard book, gated journal etc.
8. Each member picks their own theme, creates a few pages to get the others inspired and should include a sign in page of some sort too.
9. Do not select a book that is larger than 7x 9 x 2 inches.
10. Challenge yourself to doo your best work on your entries, Stick to the theme that the author has chosen and don't procrastinate until the last day and throw something together. Themes will be posted ahead and you can ponder them until the books arrive.
11. There will be a set rotation, you will always mail to the same person, I will try to arrange it so you are mailing to the person closest geographically to you, to keep costs down.
12. There will be regular check in and communications among the group when we establish our yahoo group.
13. If there is anything I forgot, I'll add it along the way after we set up our yahoo group.

If you have questions or comments that might help, feel free to post them here.

These pictures are of a two page entry I made in my last round robin group. The owner of the book had selected Horror Movies as her theme. I thought it was wierd, but it turned out to be one of my most creative experiences!!

Sharing Melt Art

Hi!!!! I have finished with my DT application projects a day early so I'm back to share some melt art techniques with you.

Some fun things to do with Rubberstamps and Melt Art:

In the first photo, the larger project was created by pouring the melted UTEE onto a rubberstamp! The stamp should be coated with clear embossing pigment to protect it and then just dump it on!! Let it cool, then peel off. This one is awesome because there is clear UTEE mixed with colors. if you hold it up to the window, light will come through the clear UTEE (which is actually honey colored) Can you imagine the sun catchers you could make if you put some To Dye For into the clear UTEE?
The second project was created by pouring the melted UTEE onto the heat resistant non stick craft sheet and then stamping into it. Same deal; coat the stamp with clear UTEE before stamping into it, then I brushed on Perfect Pearls. If you would like to make it more stable/sturdy, pour the UTEE onto a small piece of cardstock, this will help reinforce and strengthen the UTEE for handling or mailing on a card etc. Coloring the UTEE with Perfect Pearls is also a great way to use up scraps of UTEE, where it doesn't really matter what color it is, you can color it!!

Did I mention there is ZERO waste with this stuff? I never throw away a bad project or scraps because it can all be remelted and used for other projects.

The round image is a 3 1/2" paper weight that was poured into a muffin topper pan. First we poured and cooled the bottom layer which is about 1/4" thick, then we added cut out art from Suze's Instant Art Book then I sprinkled Beadazzles over it and poured the second layer which is also about 1/4" thick. The clear UTEE gets amber in color, and gets darker the longer you keep it in the pot so for a more clear project work FAST.

More projects will be shared soon.

Enjoy!
BeckyC