My first altered-book Round Robin!

I'm so excited! I just started working in my own altered-book to be included in an altered-book Round Robin! Five other artists have signed on for this adventure. So, that means that each of our books goes to one of us to work in. Then, we send it off to the next person on the list to do the same. In about six months (hopefully less!), we'll get our books back, now as works of art!

I've only done some techniques in a book before... I've never actually started working on one as a stand-alone altered book. So, there are many firsts here for me. I've also never done a Round Robin. It was a complete leap of faith....that I could figure out how to create the look that I'm after and that my work would be at all comparable to the other artists' work. Well, that's yet to be seen. But, I've already learned quite a bit, just doing what you see here.

I battle with myself about creating the time to play with my supplies. I've had accomplished altered/mixed-media artists tell me that "you have to make the time.. and just let yourself play!" It's so true! You can see how it's done, in a book, or a tutorial, but it's not the same as playing with those supplies yourself. Everyone's touch with the paintbrush is different. Some people don't even use paint! So, you really do have to figure out what works best for you... and what your "style" is. I'm still figuring that out. But, I know what I like, when I look at other artists' work.

So, the first picture, above, that says, "Victoriana".... that's the theme of my book. Anything Victorian. In a Round Robin, you can either have a theme for the whole thing... everyone agrees on the same thing... so, all books have the same theme. Or, (Oh, my gosh! I forgot to put my salmon into the oven!!!) each "player" (as we're called), chooses their own theme for their own book. So, when you get their book, you work in it with that theme in mind.

In this Round Robin, we have:

Magic

Hats, teapots and teacups

Questions of Love

There's No Place Like Home

Vintage Sewing

and mine, Victoriana.

So, that "Victoriana" picture, that's sort of my "title" page. You don't have to do a title page, but I chose to. So everyone will know what my book is going to be about before you start looking through it. :)

Then, there's a "sign-in" page. These are done in all sorts of ways. Mine includes my "Welcome" message, which has a few "rules" in it. Requests would be a better word, really, because I think they're all rather optional. :)

You can't really capture the depth of pictures like these in photos. The woman on the first page, in the corset, is actually raised off the page. She has a "shadow-self" underneath her. :) I also have more work to do on that page, but I ran out of time. I was already three days late sending mine out, so decided to finish that when I get my book back, later.
On the sign-in page, you can either just have space on the page to sign-in or you can have "tags"... (or any other number of ways to do it), but I chose tags. I love making these little tags! They're just office tags... but, they're a great way to practice techniques because they're small. It's not a big investment in time (well, I take that back. It all takes me a long time!) and you don't have to put a bunch of stuff on them to make them look great! Anyway, the people who work on your book choose a tag and put their name, where they live, and whatever else you request on the back of them. So, this last picture is just the tags, alone. All the coloring on them is Ranger Distressing Inks. They are so great to play with!! I love them! The coloring on the book pages is either glazing or acrylic paint. The first page is paint... the rest are glazed.

So, I'm now working on a book from a woman in Minnesota. Her theme is There's No Place Like Home. I won't divulge what I'm going to do with that, until later, because I don't want her to know, ahead of time, just in case she looks at my blog! :) We also have players from Arkansas, Maryland, Oregon - a friend of mine that lives near me - and British Columbia. Most of us have never done a Round Robin before, so that makes me feel better. :) I'm not the only one!