Jeff's Altered Books

I'm not as acquainted with the world of altered books and scrapbooking, so I don't always know the correct techniques and terminology. On this page are samples my Halloween altered books from 2005 and 2006. It's a lot of fun trying to capture certain moods with different techniques. I guess that's one of the things I love about the art. Basically an Illustrator at heart and by trade, this is something of a new adventure for me.

I suppose it's the artist in me, but I've always loved gray skies. Most people think I'm crazy, but the gray light has its own special ambience which makes me feel extremely creative, and brings out the best in me.

On October 30th of 2005, I took this picture overlooking the Columbia Gorge from the Bridge of the Gods which is only about 30 minutes from our house. It was late afternoon, and the sky had grown progressively darker, perfect for a pre-Halloween eve.

Terry and I were on our way back home from an antiquing trip in Carson, Washington. We were both wonderfully inspired to get down to the business of working on our "All Hallow's Eve" book. We'd gotten some great old vintage cards.

It was a very good day.

"Old Crones"

I started with a transfer onto a scrapbook paper background. I then tore around the edges, and re-pasted it onto the same paper. I used an inking pad to smear around the holes that were cut out with an exacto knife.

"31"

Out of all the altered artworks I have done, this one remains one of my favorites. The top pic of the stagecoach is from an old "Twilight Zone" comic book from the 60's. Toward the bottom is a found postcard. I used matches to burn around the edges. I again used the black mesh and some green corn-stalk raffia to form a sort of arc around the left side. The type is all stickers as is the little black cat at the top.

"Demon"

I did a transfer onto scrapbook paper, then used these crazy things known as glue dots to adhere the black mesh over the top. I cut the mesh with an exacto, then used glue dots again to stick the black string around the edges.

"Red Leaf"

I used special scrapbooking papers, old postcards, and a few real leaves collected in Stevenson, Washington on one of our antiquing jaunts. The moon and bats are 3-D stickers, and the Halloween letters are stick-on.

"Spook Stories"

This one features a lot of great 3-D stickers such as the haunted house, fence, pumpkin, and devil faces. I used more stickers for the type and used a series of scrapbook paper backgrounds.

"Halloween!"

Using a found photo, I glued it onto a special scrapbook paper background. The ghost and black cat at the top are from a piece of cloth found at Craft Warehouse. Again, I used the black string and corn stalk raffia to garnish the edges. The bottom type is a sticker, and the top "Halloween" type was done in Photoshop.
Font: Colonna MT

"Ghost Bride"

This one is an ink drawing done on scrapbook paper background. From there, it was scanned, and enhanced in Photoshop.

"Witch"

I did an ink drawing on scrapbooking paper, then used a sanding block to get the highlights on the upper left. I then scanned it into Photoshop and set the type and added the blue brush-stroke swatch to accentuate the type.

"The Upstairs Room"

For this one, I used a piece of cardboard for the backing, folded it several times, then ironed it flat. I then smeared different colored soft pastels, then did some scribbling with white and blue Prisma Pencils. From there, I glued down a real leaf preserved from the autumn of 2006 and added a picture.

"The House"

My first attempt at a gel transfer. It actually didn't come out too bad. I consider it a classic case of beginner's luck. I then ironed it to flatten, and glued it down on a special gray scrapbooking paper. The black background is the photo album backing.

"Spook House"

This page was created with construction and scrapbook paper cut out freehand and glued in place. I used Blue and white Prisma Pencils on sky and the ghosts. The orange pumpkins and floating leaves to the left are 3-D adhesive stickers.