Antique Albums for Handmade Journals

I was rooting around, the other day, and found a little book I started years ago using an old photo album. Back then, as so often happens, I had been at an antique mall looking for something entirely different when I rounded a corner and nearly fainted. There was an ENORMOUS stash of old photo albums in just bad enough condition that I could afford them and didn’t have to feel bad taking them apart.

My first foray into album alteration made a Beaded Botanical Compendium out of this tiny little book.

It goes something like this:

And it still has a long way to go…………….

Then, because I function much better with 4000 projects in progress, I grabbed another album and dove into Mary Ann Moss’s “Full Tilt Boogie”.

This is essentially a blank book, waiting for some painting/stamping/collage-ing/stenciling and happy memories. It is comprised of 13 signatures that each begin with my marbled papers, some colorful greeting cards, and loads of watercolor papers (that are boring, so I won’t show you.)  Until then, it looks like this inside:

If you’re interested in trying this, be sure to visit Mary Ann Moss at Dispatch from LA  for some great inspiration and online classes.