altered mini book from the dollar store

 

altered mini book from dollar store composition bookI learn so much from all you artists out there, I just have to say how grateful I am. I would never have thought to look for art supplies at the dollar store, but now that it’s on my radar, I’ve found some pretty cool things.  What I want to show you today is how I made an altered mini book from a composition notebook I found there.  I made a video of the process as well, so be sure to check that out, too!

The store had a set of three of them for a dollar, so how could I possibly pass that up?  Being rather obsessed with notebooks and pens, I couldn’t help it.  Besides, while I certainly buy things without having a clear idea of what I’ll use it for, that was not the case here- I wanted a notebook I could experiment in, one that I wasn’t afraid to mess up.  These certainly fit the bill!!

altered mini book

I recently bought some artist tape and I wanted to see how it would work between the pages of an art journal.  The ink I use regularly leaks between the pages, and I want to see if the tape will help keep each page clean.  Of course, adding the tape between every page made the book about 56 times thicker than normal, but since I know I’m going to be adding all kinds of paste and ink and paper on these pages, I didn’t worry too much about it.

 

I don’t know how long these pages will take for me to fill, but I’m looking forward to having it be even thicker than it is now.  Then, I’ll start wrecking the next one!

altered mini book

 

Thanks for reading and for all your awesome ideas!  I’d love for you to subscribe with your email so I can keep sending you my thanks in the form of new ideas, tutorials and videos.

10 replies
  1. Dorothy
    Dorothy says:

    Absolutely beautiful, you’ve inspired me to make one of these too. Will be perfect for my praise / art journaling.
    Love it.

  2. Mickie
    Mickie says:

    Love your book!! What do you do about the thin pages inside? Do you glue some together to make them thicker to paint on….or do you just use it for writing in?

  3. deb
    deb says:

    Absolutely LOVE these! I’m making some now – tried coloring with watercolor and that didn’t work- went back and watched again, so now will try ink ! Did all the water from the inking buckle the cover?
    I like the vintage vibe and craft paper – so creative and thanks for sharing.

    • Anjuli Johnson
      Anjuli Johnson says:

      I’m so glad you like them, Deb!! The water can buckle thicker paper like cardstock, which is essentially what these covers are, but they didn’t with this project. It might be the extra layer of paper helped or the embossing… but if they get warped at all, I just let them rest a few days under some heavy boxes, to force them flat, and that does the trick!

  4. JackieP Neal
    JackieP Neal says:

    Anjuli,
    Love your new book turned vintagy and weathered! Your efforts have payed off in recreating a distressed look! Just lovely! Thanks for the video! hugs

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