Bastelmania

Good morning you all. The sun is shining again, although it's still cold here. but it's good weather for going for a walk, so perhaps I will do that.

I have a lot of old books at home, really old ones, from the 17th and 18th century, and some of them are in a very bad condition - the leather covers have fallen off, the pages have darkened, and they look very tatty. I have repaired a lot of them but some are beyond repair, and one of them I have used to make an altered book. It's an old theological book, and a lot of the pages are missing. I used the covers and a few pages for my book. The covers stayed as covers, after being coated with Ranger's Matte medium to seal them, and I used 2 pages to make the insides of the covers.
I cut new pages from torchon water colour paper, and distressed them with TH inks in ancient linen and brushed corduroy. I used a small piece of one of the book-pages on each page, and stamped them with flourishes and scripts in espresso. Then came the next layer, floral rub ons, and then some images, which I tore rather than cut before distressing the edges. I distressed the pages again after decorating them, rubbing ancient linen well over all the images, to tone them down and make them look old. Some pages have added beads and/or gem stones, prima flowers and butterflies, and I added some *bling* to the flourishes with bronze liquid pearls. I decided to use my BIA to put the book together, as I like the contrast between the antique covers and the modern wires. I have added a few ribbons to the wires and a key as a charm, perhaps I will add some more when I find something suitable.

The arrangement of the images is rather surreal, but that's something I like. And I forgot to say, that the head of Buddha has been added to the cover with matte medium.
All in all a fun project! I am entering this book into an altered book challeneg on Pages in Time, and into *Simon Says Stamp and Show* some distressing challenge. Thanks for looking, and have a great day!