Altered "book" art card

I finished the "altered book" art card for my friends birthday. Silly me but I didn't get a chance to take pictures of the project before I gave her the birthday card (and a small gift!). She was kind enough to bring it back for me so I could do exactly that.

So here are some pictures of the process.

In the beginning there was a unloved children's story book....

Unfortunately it had the shiny plastic cover so I gessoed on some cheesecloth. I ended up using some tinted gesso that I had left over from another project. I don't know what I was doing at the time but it had been hanging around so I thought that I would use it up since it was starting to harden in the jar and would be wasted.

I had been concentrating on the beadwork and I almost forgot that I wanted a closure for the "card" and at the last minute added the ribbon.

I laid out the prepared painted pages, the beadwork, and the embellishments prior to slapping on the gel medium to glue it all together.

The "eye on the prize" theme just sort of came to me. It wasn't what I had planned at all, it was like the "beads" had a mind of their own.

I think my friend enjoyed the card! I think that most artistic people appreciate the work involved in making art.

I had fun doing this project and got to play with "puffy paint", resin sand, artist glass bead medium, acrylic jewels, recycled dryer sheet.

So my next project is another altered book wedding card for my niece who is getting married this coming June! More fun.