Altered state of mind: fashioning freebies into a colorful book

Expression, July-August, 2005 by Sharon Solly

Ok, I admit it. I am addicted to altering things. It started out innocently enough with simple things like books, but it didn't take long before I was altering many everyday items we take for granted. This book came about when my daughter brought me a handful of those free AOL CDs in clear jackets that you get in the mail or at the post office ... yes, even my children think in terms of altering things! I swear it's contagious.

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The jackets of these CDs turned out to be a gold mine of alterability! They can be cut up, painted, stamped on and collaged in many ways. Check out all the freebie stuff you have that's just piling up dust and taking up space. With a keen eye for altering. I'm sure you will come up with some goodies of your own. Happy Altering!

INSTRUCTIONS

To Make the Covers for the Book Cut two pieces of mat board to 5 3/4" X 6 1/4". Paint both sides of each board with white gesso and allow to dry. Crumple a 9" X 9" (roughly) piece of white tissue paper several times to give the paper some good wrinkles. Glue the paper to the front of a piece of cover board using Mod Podge. Glue the edges of the tissue over the sides to the back of the cover. Allow the glue to dry on the first cover while you repeat this step on the second cover. Repeat this step for the back of each cover, using a piece of tissue that is smaller so it only covers the board and the excess tissue from the front. Let the glue dry and then completely coat the front of each cover with Mod Podge. Allow the Mod Podge to dry and repeat this step on the back of each cover. Once the Mod Podge layer is completely dry, paint with Adirondack Alcohol inks. Pour a small puddle of Blending Solution onto a corner of the front cover and spread it around with a paintbrush or your finger so it covers about a quarter of the cover. Immediately apply a few drops of Terra Cotta and Lettuce Adirondack inks over this area. Spread the inks around so they blend well. Repeat this step until the entire cover is colored with the inks. Set the cover aside and repeat for the back cover. Once the front of each cover has dried, color the backs of each one in the same manner, taking care to match the colors to the front. Set the covers aside to dry completely.

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To Make the Pocket Pages Cut the tops off of six of the free CD jackets so they measure 5 1/2 inches. Cut the front plastic so that it is about a 1/4-inch lower than the back of the pocket. This makes it easier to add and remove the cards later. Cut the remaining six clear jackets in the same manner so they measure 3 1/2 inches. Color six of the large and six of the small pockets with Terra Cotta Adirondack ink using a wooden block that has felt attached to it. Put a few drops of the ink on the plastic pocket and a drop of the Blending Solution on the felt. Spread the ink around the plastic with the felt and add more ink as needed. Color the remaining pockets with Butterscotch ink in the same manner using a new piece of felt. Allow the pockets to dry completely. Take a small pocket and glue to the back of a large pocket using a thin coat of Soft Matte Gel Medium. Once all the pockets are glued together and have dried completely, paint the back of each large pocket that is above the smaller pocket with black craft acrylic paint. Allow the paint to dry thoroughly and then seal the pockets on both sides with two very light coats of clear acrylic sealer, allowing the first to dry before the second is applied. Punch three holes along the left side of the pocket pages with a Japanese screw punch with a 3mm bit. Punch three evenly divided holes in the covers so they coincide with the page holes. Place eyelets in the pages using a setting tool. Set pages and covers aside to make the altered cards.

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To Make the Altered Bingo Cards and Playing Cards Sand playing cards lightly to remove most of the waxy coating on them. This will enable the inks to stick to the card better. Note: I used two large cards (4 1/8" X 3 1/8"), 10 regular cards (2 1/2" X 3 1/2") and four mini cards (1 9/16" X 1 1/4"). Wipe dust from cards with a damp towel. To color the playing cards, simply rub Chalk ink directly onto the sanded cards until they are the color you wish them to be. Heat-set the ink with a heat gun. Stamp onto the colored playing cards with other Chalk ink colors and the India Ink Black ink pad. Be sure to heat-set the inks with a heat gun to make them permanent.

For the bingo cards (4 1/2" X 5 5/8") you will need to paint a coat of white gesso onto the front and back of each card and allow the gesso to dry. To color, simply rub the Chalk ink directly onto the primed cards or apply the inks with a sponge. Heat-set the inks until dry. Now you can stamp and collage on the cards as you like.

To Make the CD Tags for the Spine Draw a 3/4-inch tag shape five times onto a clean CD with a permanent marker. Heat the area around one drawn tag on the front and back of the CD with a heat gun to soften the CD and then immediately cut the shape out with large scissors. Be careful while doing this as the CD will be hot. Repeat for each of the five tag shapes. Lightly sand the cut edges of the CD tags to remove any sharp bits. Drill holes in each tag with a Dremel tool using a small drill bit. Wipe the CD tags clean with a damp towel. Color three of the tags with Terra Cotta Adirondack Alcohol inks, spreading the inks around on the tags with a paintbrush. Color the remaining two tags with Lettuce ink. Heat-set the ink to dry and then paint a very thin coating of Mod Podge over the colored tags. Allow the glue to dry well. Stamp images onto the tags with India Ink Black ink once the glue has dried. Heat-set the ink and paint another very thin coat of Mod Podge over the front of the tags. Turn the dried tags over and paint the back of each tag with black craft acrylic paint. When the paint has dried well, stamp the Crackle image onto each painted tag with Cosmic Copper Brilliance pigment ink. Heat-set the ink to dry. Cover the back of each tag with a coating of Glossy Accents and allow to dry. Turn the dried tags over and repeat on the front.