Recycled recipe book

My old recipe book started falling apart. Not structurally but the paint finish started coming off. It was driving me crazy so I needed a new solution.

I scavenged the 3-ring binder mechanism from the old one and combined it with the cover off an unwanted cookbook.

Altered binder

Finished another project... I've been in a bit of an art slump but am finally getting back into gear. A while back I made myself a new address book binder so I had the old boring black one left over. After some gesso and lots of paint, papers, paints, inks and rubber stamps... this is the result.

Like many of my projects, I have no plan for it...yet. I think it might make a very nice project journal since I can take pages in and out and rearrange them as I please.

Latest projects

I've been busy messing up my nice clean and organized art zone.

First I made this clock for my Mario Bros. obsessed son. He was so funny when I gave it to him...he smiled so big and then did a fake pass out to show his glee.

My next project was a new address book. Our old one was your basic boring black faux leather. I found a REALLY ugly binder at a garage sale that would fit the bill as soon as I spruced it up a bit. Now I can keep my book out on the counter instead of buried in the drawer.

Favorite art piece question

In Art Techniques yahoo group, the question was posed; What is your favorite art piece you've created? I was very surprised when I looked back through my photos that my favorite pieces were all created within a couple weeks of each other and even more surprising to me...they were created in 2005 when I just started on my artistic journey. Admittedly all the pieces are all very similar in coloring and design elements...but that makes sense since they were created so closely together. I can't choose my favorite...the collage hangs in our living room, the clock sits on my desk and the binder keeps all my "important things" also on my desk.

I'm so glad that this question was asked! It gives me a whole new direction to go. I need to go back to collage and maybe work more collage into my altered books and ATC's.