Monday, March 26, 2012

shrinkage: noun

the amount lost when something is decreased or reduced, or when it shrinks

Altered Book Lover's class by Elizabeth

2. Create one double glued page using gesso. Document how it behaved when you worked with it.

Now I guess it might be considered cheating, but I knew the results I would get as I use vellum quite a bit and know that any wet glue will make the vellum curl and wrinkle. BUT I was planning an underwater scene so I used it to achieve that wavy watery feel.  So with confidence I applied my gesso and laid down the vellum sheet to be adhered.


Now one thing I didn't anticipate was the shrinkage. I very rarely want this wavy effect when using vellum so I didn't know about the waves and wrinkles pulling on the book's page. It actually pulled it in about 1/4". If you look closely you can see this and this picture also shows the wavy texture of the page better before I applied a technique that Elizabeth provided which was:
"If your pages warp and you can no longer place a weight over the closed book, simply cover the back side of your page with a thin layer of gesso. That may not eliminate the warp, but it will decrease it a great deal."


So I applied a thin coat of gesso to the next page, plus a piece of lace to the edge to hide the shrinkage and "glued" the next page to the back of the shrunk page. It did help to smooth it out some and I was again pleased with the results. Thanks Elizabeth for that tip!


So yes, I did learn a new technique when you have a real wrinkly page and you want to smooth it out a little. So, a smarty pants like me still learned something, even though going into this page I thought I knew what the results would be.

Old dogs, new tricks and all that.....:)

14 comments:

scrappymo! said...

Your book is shaping up...I love that seahorse charm!

CraftygasheadZo said...

Love your pages. I've finally bought some Gesso! I've seen being used every where esp. with books and alterations so I thought I need some! Zo xx

Ann B said...

It's a beautiful page Sandee a little shrinkage is a good price to pay for this.
I tried the four glues on my pages on Saturday and all of them wrinkled, guess it is just a cheap book, with cheap paper. Haven't done anything else with the pages yet but I did a gesso resist sheet and swiped it with Distress Stains - will show and tell later.

Mary Pat Siehl said...

great job and i love that tip--thanks for sharing!!

Redanne said...

Great pages and great tips. I must check this altered book class out once I have finished with Tim (4 days behind so far). It looks like all of you have had great fun.

Sherry said...

I love the waviness of the vellum. That is a great tip about the Gesso. Your sparkly corals (I think that's what they're called!) look fab and the hanging shells are a great touch too.

Princess Judy Palmer said...

Beautiful pages! I love your trick of adding lace to hide the shrinkage; it fits right in with your page. Love how the book is coming along!

scrappymo! said...

Hi Sandee
Little Miss C's blog linky is the last sentence of my post.
She made 4 cards but is going to show them one post at a time (every few days) cuz she can only make them when she has all my "stuff".
I walk her to school on Tuesdays but her Dad is usually home before school is over, so I don't see her after school that often.
She will save cardmaking for sleepovers at our house or if I go over there on a Saturday or Sunday.

She has 3 more horses coloured and one ballerina.

She does all the colouring herself at the table...she does not even need me to sit beside her. She just has the picture on the back of the wooden stamp to look at for colouring ideas. She only mastered colouring inside the lines 3 months ago!
She does need LOTS of directions at building the card though!!!

Bleubeard and Elizabeth said...

Not old dog, just old tricks! Note how the waviness was in ONE direction only. It tells the warp (as opposed to weft) of the page by how it reacted. That may even be how we get the word "warp."

I'm totally impressed with this spread, and you did NOT cheat. It's fun to anticipate an outcome, and even more fun to be pleasantly surprised when the outcome is unexpected. You are on your way to an amazing altered book!!

CraftygasheadZo said...

Thought I'd stop by again as I saw your comments re salt! The best salt is the coarse sea salt or rock salt, the granules are bigger. I've no tutorial that I followed, I just saw Sheena Douglas do it on TV and thought I'd try. The best effect are where the paint/water puddles as the salt draws the water and colour in. Just a case of playing. Some of mine didn't work as well, but I made cards with those that did! See you tomorrow I expect! Zo xx

Unknown said...

As a beginner I'm learning so many tecniques still, it's great to get so much inspiration via other peoples blogs. Thanks for posting so often, I'm off to become a follower, lovely blog and I'm going to learn so much from you aswell as drool over your lovely pics! SuzanneX

Jacqui Chimes said...

Lovely pages - I love how there's nearly always a way to cover up 'mistakes' - i mean creative experiments that didn't quite work!

Craftychris said...

Wow! fabulous. I have some Gesso but have not used it yet - I must start trying new things! xx

Karen said...

WOW! what a fantastic page!!!! I love your 'coral' and your tag is beautiful. This is going to be one stunning book my lovely x