Go Make Something » Gluebooks

Simple Scrabble Board Journals

Lisa Vollrath — Sun, 29 Apr 2007 01:23:05 +0000

I decided to turn a Scrabble board into a pair of simple journals, to hold random pieces of artwork, and perhaps my next gluebook page-a-day project. Although I often use composition books or old novels for my gluebooks, I do generally run out of steam before I run out of pages to fill. I find I prefer to work flat, outside a book, and then add the page in later. These little journals, joined with binder rings from the office supply store, are ideal for that type of work.

I started by splitting the Scrabble board in half on the fold, using a craft knife and a ruler with a metal edge.

Next, I cut the board pieces to the size I desired for my journals. I wanted to keep them smaller than a standard sheet of paper, to use up some of the book pages and papers I had on hand, so I settled on 7 x 10 inches. I have my eye open for some larger papers and recycled pieces, so I can leave the boards full height next time, and make some tall journals.

I had to decide what to do about the back of the journals. I could have simply used one board to create both the front and back. I also could have used the heavy board from the game’s box for a backing, saving the Scrabble boards with their fun graphics for the front covers. I have an abundance of chipboard sheets, so that’s what I used for backs. I figured I could always decorate or cover it later if the industrial look bothered me—but I think it probably won’t.

I simply traced around the outside of the front covers, and cut the chipboard with a craft knife.

I measured and marked the placement of three holes. I use a wood ruler that’s pre-punched to tuck into a three-ring binder for this sort of thing—the spacing of the holes from either end of the ruler, and from the side edge usually work for anything of similar size. Once the two end holes are marked, I can simply measure the distance between them, and place the center hole on that mark.

The holes were punched with a heavy metal punch, because for the life of me, I cannot find my screw punch.

For pages, I fished through my paper stash, and pulled out half a dozen sheets of anything I had a lot of. I buy pads of newsprint, construction paper, penmanship practice paper, and whatever else I can find at the dollar stores just for this type of book. I also save any pages I cut or tear from altered books when I’m preparing them. Recycled papers, paper bags, envelopes—anything can go into these journals. Don’t feel all your pages ahve to be exactly the same size as the covers, either.

Those sheets that were oversized were trimmed down with a paper trimmer. When all the pages were ready, I punched holes in them, using the front cover as a guide.

Three binder rings hold the journals together. I can always add or remove pages later, or mix pages around. I usually just tuck twenty or so sheets into blank books, to use as guides for cutting later, as dividers, as backgrounds for artwork, or to make notes.

Just for fun, I used some of the Scrabble letters to label the journals, gluing them in place with E6000.

There you have it! I tucked these into the drawer of my coffee table, along with a gluestick and a pair of scissors. Next time I’m sitting in front of the television, I’ll be all set to play.

How to Cover Composition Books

Lisa Vollrath — Sat, 14 Jan 2006 15:45:51 +0000

Every year at this time, I swear I’ll start some sort of paper journal. I’ve joined two different paper journaling groups on LiveJournal this week—but I haven’t started a journal yet. However, I have covered a couple of composition books.

Comp books are good, inexpensive journals. You can find them at dollar stores, and at almost any store that has a school supply or office supply aisle. I buy them when the back to school stock up season hits, when they’re plentiful and cheap.

The minus to comp books is that the paper really doesn’t lend itself to many wet art techniques. If you like to paint, a comp book journal may not be for you. I tend to do a lot of gluing, so background paper doesn’t matter much to me.

OK, to make your own covered comp book, you’ll need:

A composition book
Patterned papers or a gift bag for the cover
Colored duct tape – I found mine at Wal-Mart, but some hardware stores now carry this as well
A glue stick
Fibers (optional)
Rubber stamps, inks, embossing powders (optional)

I decided to cover one journal with a gift bag I bought at the dollar store. Gift bags are great for journal covers, because they give you two images printed on heavy, glossy paper.

To use the gift bag as a cover, I had to flatten it out and cut it apart, into two separate pieces—one for the front of the journal, and one for the back.

To decide placement, I plunked my journal down on one of the gift bag images, and sort of eyeballed how much I’d be trimming away on either side. My goal here is to make the most out of the image, while also avoiding having anything important stuck underneath the spine of the book. I use the width of the spine strip on the comp book as my guide for the image, since my finished spine will be just slightly larger.

When I know how the image will be placed on the book, it’s time to glue everything together. I usually start with the back side of the book, applying glue liberally to the cover, all the way up to the spine strip. I pay particular attention to the outer edges, since they’ll get the most wear and tear.

I trim away the extra paper with scissors, including any excess that’s covering the spine strip. Usually, I can just fold along the edge of the strip and then cut on the fold. That gives me a nice, straight line for the new spine to cover.

With both the front and back of the book covered, I tear off a piece of colored duct tape that’s slightly longer than the spine, and cover the front side of the spine. The tape overlaps the edge of the image on the front cover just a little bit.

Flip the book over, and pull the tape around the spine to cover the back. This might overlap just a little bit more of the image than the front. That’s OK.

Trim the excess tape and the top and bottom, even with the edges of the book. It’s duct tape, so unless you really pick at it, it won’t fray, even with heavy usage.

I decided the blue of this tape was a little stark agains my image, so I just put a strip of gold metal tape along the edge. It looks like I planned it that way. I also tied fibers around the front cover, against the spine, and added some charms hanging from them. I stamped the word knowledge on the cover with gold, and embossed it. Quite a lovely journal for hardly any investment in time or materials.

This journal was covered with some handmade papers. I had two sheets of 8-1/2 x 11 paper, so rather than use one on the front and one on the back, I tore them in half, and did two toned covers. It all went together the same way as the first journal—glue papers to the cover, trim, tape the spine. Then, I did a little stamping to tie the whole thing together, and wrapped the spine with jute twine. (Instructions for the journal jar that’s with it in the large photo above are in the January 2006 issue of The Monthly Muse, available from Ten Two Studios.)

My Little Fat Gluebook

Lisa Vollrath — Fri, 14 Jan 2005 15:43:45 +0000

By now, I’m sure everyone has heard of Little Fat Books or Chunky Books. These started on various paper arts lists as a way for artists to exchange their artwork, and have spawned at least two lists dedicated to this type of swapping. Most of the projects on both lists have been formatted something like this:

Sign up to participate with 59 other artists.
Make one 4 x 4 original, and from it, 60 copies. Embellish the copies with some fibers and charms.
Mail all 60 embellished copies to the hostess, along with a check to cover postage and binding.
Eventually, receive a coil bound book with 60 pieces of artwork in it.

Now, as much as I adore this whole concept, I have a serious problem with projects set up like this. It’s my destiny to send in my 60 pieces in a timely manner, wait for an eternity, and eventually receive a book with 38 pieces of artwork in it, plus 12 of my own extras back because a dozen people lost their minds, missed the deadline, or just fell of the face of the Earth. It just never fails—it’s my personal art cross to bear. Two years ago, I swore off like-for-like collection projects, and have steadfastly refused to participate in them ever since, no matter how interesting the project sounds, or how well similar projects have gone. I’m the proverbial kiss of death when it comes to collection projects.

However, I’m an art swapping kinda girl, so I’ve been in love with the theory of this little books, if not the process of creating one. I’ve been trying to weasel a way to get a project going on one of my lists that offers an alternative to the current project formats:

I’d like to sign up an unlimited number of artists, but not ask them to make an ulimited number of pieces. I’d also like to be flexible—while 20 may be reasonable for one person, 5 may reasonable to another. I’d like to accomodate both.
I’d like to swap original artwork. Call me an art snob, but I truly loathe swapping copies of dimensional pieces. I’d like the real, honest to god collage to hold in my hands, not a picture of it, no matter how artfully embellished.
I’d like the artwork to be mailed directly from artist to artist, because it’s more personal that way, and also less of a pain in the butt for whoever puts the project together (and we’re assuming for the moment that person is me).
I’d like everybody to bind their own books when they’re ready. I might swap 20 pieces of work, and decide that my book is finished today. Tomorrow, I might swap 5 pieces, and then a month from now, another 5—gee, that second book might not be ready to bind for six months or so.

So one night, I’m wandering around my completely trashed computer room, making excuses not to clean it, when I find this. Somebody gave me this little book for Christmas three years ago. It’s just a little dollar store photo album with plastic pages, and a fabric cover. I didn’t toss it because it has a sort of charm—but I also have no intention of using it as a photo album. It’s just hanging around, bare and lonely. Hmm, maybe I should turn it into a little collage journal…

Over on the Gluebooks group, we’ve branched out a bit. We started just gluing things into journals and spiral notebooks. Then, Swap Goddess Kathleen threw the idea of doing glued artist trading cards out there, and we started swapping GTCs (glued trading cards). When Kathleen suggested swapping gluey postcards for Valentine’s Day, they were all for it. The glue monkeys are up for gluing anything that doesn’t move—now that we’ve started cutting and pasting, you can’t stop us.

(Are you seeing where this is heading?)

One night, while emailing back and forth with Kathleen, I put together this idea:

Sign up in groups of five. If you want to do more collages, sign up in a second (or third, or fourth) group. This way, those who think five is reasonable can play, and those who like to swap in multiples of 20 can also feel satisfied.
Make an original 4 x 6 glued collage for each person in your group(s). No copies. Go find a pack of large index cards (which are conveniently already cut to 4 x 6) or some cardstock, and get to gluing.
Mail your collages directly to each person in your group(s).
Bind your book whenever you feel it’s full and ready. If you want to mount your collages into an existing book or journal, great. If you want to go to the dollar store and get a little album like I have, that’s great too. Declare your book finished at 20, or at 60, or 100 collages. Like all things gluish, it’s up to each artist to decide when her book is done.

So now I have this little book started, with collages that I’m posting in the gallery. Some of these collages may go to new homes, and some are staying here—and eventually, I hope I’ll end up with dozens of collages from other crazy people who think this is a good idea. What could be better than that?

Discovering Gluebooks

Lisa Vollrath — Sat, 11 Sep 2004 15:34:07 +0000

I have a guilty secret to share: I don’t keep a journal.

Periodically, I’ll start a journal, with every intention of working in it once a day, or once a week—and then it turns into once a month, and before I know it, I’ve set the book aside for a year and a half. I must have half a dozen journals here with just a few pages worked. They’re sad, really.

Part of my problem is that I hate to write. I know that sounds stupid coming from someone who writes articles every week or so. I do have a lot to say, I just don’t enjoy the physical act of putting pen to paper. My penmanship is just barely legible. I dislike the look of my own handwriting, which I think makes me completely normal—I read somewhere that over 80% of people polled said they disliked the look of their own handwriting.

Clearly, your average art journal, with its lovely balance of artwork and written word isn’t for me, and may never be. However, I’ve found something that has possibilities for someone like me: gluebooks.

I came upon the word gluebook in someone’s blog, and I wasn’t sure if I was reading a real term or a typo. As always, I jumped over to Dogpile and did a search on the word gluebook. I found a few sites, mostly based in Europe, that had images of books on them, and a little bit of writing about them—very little, actually. I experienced this same thing a couple of years back with decos. There were a handful of sites with images of decos, but not really anything giving a written description of what they are, so I pieced my own description together from the visuals. Well, here we are again…

OK, here’s what I learned in my quest for the definitive gluebook description:

Gluebooks are basically collage journals. They do incorporate other types of artwork like drawing and painting, but for the most part, the basis of the gluebook is—surprise—gluing things to the pages. Everyday things, mostly—flyers, receipts, tickets, fast food fallout. These things are the building blocks of the day’s artwork. The visual becomes the description of the day, rather than the written word. There tends to be only minimal writing done in these books, but visually, they do tell a story.

Clearly, this is a type of journal for people who, like me, don’t want to write, but do have something to say about their day.

I started a gluebook of my own, and realized that it seemed familiar to me—and then I remembered that a while back, I started a throw-away collage journal. I even wrote about throw-away collage. I just never connected the journaling part—that the artwork I was making was a reflection of what was happening that day. Gluebooks are an ongoing throw-away collage exercise with a purpose: to illustrate today through everyday items and imagery.

One of the things that jumped out at me about this type of collage work was the use of contemporary images. I’m growing bored with the constant barrage of vintage everything used in collage. I really love the idea of working with modern found objects. In some ways, I’ve come full circle, since when I first started doing altered books, I used images from magazines and ads. Here I am again, looking at those same images in a different way.

True to form, I’m excited enough about this type of journaling to start a group dedicated to it: Gluebooks. If you’d like to exchange ideas on this concept, join up.

An update, a week later:

So far, 165 people have joined the new Gluebooks group. A lot of the discussion has been about defining gluebooks as an art form, and about breaking through barriers to creating. As a group, the feeling is that gluebooks are a healthy way to express everyday thoughts and feelings without taking on the burden of learning endless techniques. All that is required is a book and some glue, and whatever is available to be glued down.

Over the course of the past week, certain questions have recurred:

What exactly is a gluebook?
A gluebook is a type of journal, created by gluing down everyday items such as magazine images, labels, tickets, cash register receipts—whatever paper inspiration falls into the artist’s hands.

If I draw, paint or rubber stamp in my gluebook, is it still a gluebook?
The art police will not come to your door if you choose to use other media in your gluebook. Clearly, since it’s called a gluebook, the basis is that something is being glued. How it is embellished or augmented beyond that is up to each individual artist.

What kind of book should I use for my gluebook?
The answer to this is as varied as the artists who create gluebooks. Some folks are using blank spiral sketchbooks. Some prefer composition books. Others are using whatever blank journals they have at hand. Simply choose a book that is a comfortable size and shape for you, and dive in.

What techniques should I learn before starting my first gluebook?
There are no techniques required. Simply grab your favorite glue, and find something to glue down. Pull things from your newspapers, magazines, junk mail—-everything is gluebook fodder. This is the antithesis of almost every paper craft—there is nothing to learn. Just express yourself.

What’s the difference between gluebooks and altered books?
Gluebooks are basically a type of journal, and usually begin with some sort of blank book—however, if you choose to do your gluebook in a printed book, that’s your own creative choice. Unlike altered books, there are no techniques involved in gluebooks, and no basic supplies required other than some glue and something to be glued down. Which glue, and which things—those are all up to you.

Throw Away Collage

Lisa Vollrath — Fri, 02 Jan 2004 01:08:27 +0000

Like many artists, I fall into habits when I’m working. I’ll find myself grabbing the same colors of paint or paper, or the same rubber stamp, even though the selection laying around in my studio is pretty diverse. What’s a girl to do when she finds herself headed for a creative rut? One of my solutions is to do some throw-away collage.

Fellow artist and all around fun girl Jane Dickinson of Art By The Yard introduced me to this concept a while back, and it’s been great for forcing me to look at things with fresh eyes. There’s no big investment involved here: just a pile of junk mail, which is plentiful at my house, and a glue stick. Pens and paints are optional, and I tend to do most of my throw-aways without them.

The goal is to create a collage from the pile of trash in front of you. Don’t think too much, don’t plan—just dive in and start gluing. One of the tricks I’ve learned is to hold each piece of junk upside-down, to see its colors and shapes rather than its message. I also give myself additional challenges, such as having to use a stamp I haven’t tried yet, or a paper punch that’s been hanging around unused, which is how the stars in this collage were born.

I keep a small, portable throw-away collage journal, which travels with me anytime I go on a trip. Hotel rooms are a wonderful place to do throw-away collage. I’ve also done throw-away postcards, and sent them to other like-minded artists. No matter where I work, or in what size, I always come away from the collage with a fresh perspective, looking at my materials in a whole new way.

Go grab today’s mail and make some throw-aways of your own!