Altered Books–A Great Place to Doodle!

October 24, 2018
altered books, Lori Kennedy

Good Morning, Quilters!

If you’ve been a follower for any period of time, you may know that I LOVE to doodle!

I will doodle on anything–from my newspaper to my husband’s important mail (oops!  only once…

…or twice)

BEST DOODLE PAPER

There are a lot of papers that are great for doodling, but I notice that some paper “feels” better than other paper.  (Maybe this is because I’m a quilter–and of course, we love to pet our fabric while we are looking at it!) For example,  I love the “tooth” of newspaper and the smooth surface of copy paper, but I don’t like the feel of cheap notebook paper.

OLD BOOKS

I love the feel of book paper and love the look of doodles over text–check out this Pinterest page for inspiration!

As I was going through some old books, I created a stack that are just not worth reading…

But…all that lovely paper….

COLLAGE ANYONE?

I tried my hand at a little collage to spruce up the book and make it my own.  I inherited my Mom’s stamp collection and had fun choosing a few for my collage.  I added a few watercolor cutouts and magazine photos.

I used PVA glue (great for bookbinding too) to adhere the cutouts and for a top coat.

Altered book, Lori Kennedy Quilts

Now comes the fun part–Doodling!

What about YOU?

Do YOU have a favorite paper or journal for doodling?

Have YOU ever re-purposed an old book?

Have YOU ever tried collage?

Do YOU save magazine photos for some unknown purpose?

We’d LOVE to hear!

Your Doodlin’ Seamstress,

Lori

PS…All tutorials, images and information are the property of Lori Kennedy Quilts at The Inbox Jaunt.  Please feel free to re-blog, pin or share with attribution to The Inbox Jaunt.  For all other purposes, please contact me at lckennedy@hotmail.com.  Thanks!

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9 comments

  • I remember as a child, I loved using a Bic ink pen to write in the Reader’s Digest. I know the “feel” you are talking about. I save magazine pictures these days to add to my stitched fabric cards.

  • Cindy Elia

    I recently saw the outside cover of a book turned into a purse having gutted all the pages from inside, adding so cute cotton, and purse handles. Maybe the best of both worlds, paper to doodle on and a new purse.

  • Yes I save magazines. I use them to make paper beads.

  • Perfect timing! A stack of old encyclopedias has been sitting by the door for weeks, I can’t quite throw them out, the illustrations are so beautiful. Being a person who is always drawn to text, it never ever occurred to me to doodle on top of words. But great idea:)
    And the idea of paper quality, I harp on that a lot, my kids say “mom,stop, that’s a good old days story” ha
    Pulling pages out of mags is something I do, randomly keeping some,and or tossing when they no longer inspire me.
    So this was a perfectly timed post, especially since my FMQ efforts yesterday were so sad looking..I dragged out your wonderfully inspiring book reread parts and said how in the world has she produced so many beautiful things, it’s truly amazing. Thank you for sharing your talent:)

  • Vickie A

    I love to doodle in old books, too. Dictionaries are my favorite.

  • Suz Kuhns

    love this concept. Have you ever looked at Joggles’ videos? She owns an internet shop out of Rhode Island and has wonderful ideas and tips

  • Donna Belisle

    and then..there is me, thinking that you were “talking” about inked stamps, to make your own stamps. Well, that just might be fun too.

  • Kris P

    Oh wow, those are amazing doodles, and you’re right- they look great over text. Unfortunately, my doodles look nothing that organized…. I will pass along the idea to my two amazingly talented daughters…

  • Laurie Stewart

    As originally a calligrapher turned quilter, my love of lettering goes way back to elementary school. One of my dearest friends gave me an antique store ledger journal. I could not bring myself to write over or decorate over the entries that were meticulously made long long ago but over half the book was blank paper with lines on it. Perfect tooth for the “feeling” part and perfect place to letter, doodle, cut and paste. Since then she has given me several that she has found antiquing along the way. Love these old ledgers and am always looking to find more.

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