My competed Asian altered book (AB)

In May, 2006, Kathy T and I started a one-on-one Asian RR (round robin). Kathy's dh cut both books in a shrine shape after Kathy drew the shape on the books.

Early this year, she finished her book and we called the swap complete. I still had many, many unaltered pages, so began working on them. I've been on sort of a mission to finish my very first AB, although I have over a dozen that are in various stages of completion. There are still about 20 unaltered pages in the book, but I'm saving them in case I find something super special to add. You never know!!!

The following is my book in whole, at least how it is as of today. I took advice from a dear friend (thanks Linda) and added the pages from the back to the front, so you can start at the beginning of this blog and you will begin from the beginning of the book. I did NOT photograph or scan Kathy's pages, because I didn't ask her permission to do so, and I'm really picky about getting permission before I put anything on my blog.

So grab a cup of coffee, tea, or glass of wine, and prepare to stay awhile. There are many photos and I tried to explain how I made each one. You might want to click on the photos for a better view. They will open in the same window, since I don't think blogger has the capability of opening photos in a new window. All images were attached using white glue, unless noted. The exception was my handmade paper (hmp), which I attached using glue stick.

Here is the cover of the book. I just finished it this morning. The images came from a 1987 bamboo calendar. I began by cutting the pieces to size. I cut the width first, and found out the little bamboo slats had nothing to hold on to. To my horror, the slats began falling away from the piece. I tried to fix the first cut with white glue, but after it was dry, it was hard and not user friendly. So I switched to gel medium and coated the entire calendar twice, not knowing for sure which part I wanted to use. When it was dry, I cut a template in wax paper so I could see just which parts I wanted to use.

Originally I planned to put the wording on the front, then realized that many Oriental countries' books begin at what we consider the back. That's when I decided to change the layout to respect their heritage and custom.

I wanted to use these cool chopsticks on the front that have little "grooves" in the top. I used my red Zig pen to accent the grooves. I then positioned the chopsticks so it looks like I am picking up the guy on the bridge. Just my sense of humor coming thru. I attached the bamboo calendar to the book covers using gel medium and the chopsticks using E-6000. I clamped everything after I glued it, and had to affix each chopstick separately so I could get them in the right spots.

This is an overall view of the middle of the book.
Here is a closer view.
I've rotated the book a bit.
This photo is of the back third of the book, mostly showing the "trip" I took.
And finally, another view of the back portion of the book. Enjoy the journey. It took me about a year and a half to complete it. It shouldn't take you nearly that long :>)