G is for GLUEBOOK

April 8, 2020
A to Z Challenge

G is for GLUEBOOK

Continuing with my theme of CRAFTING - today, I'm going to talk about 'Gluebooks'. I had not ever heard of glue books until a young lady introduced them to my Crafting/Swapping group that I adminned last year.

A glue book literally can be any type of book you want to use. It could be paper in a binder. It could be an old or new book that you convert over to a glue book. You might choose to use an old magazine. You can even use composition books. 

I'll be showing you several of my glue books in this post. It's funny, in all reality of things - when I went to pull the books I was going to show you, I've actually had glue books in place for years! Just never called them that. 

Gluebooks - what are they? One definition is, it's a type of journal, created by gluing down everyday items such as magazine images, labels, tickets, cash register receipts—whatever paper inspiration falls into the artist's hands. Another definition is a glued collage journal. Both definitions are correct. 

There really isn't a right or wrong way to create a gluebook. It's the creator's perspective of how they see things. 

I have several different gluebooks in progress now. I get my words, phrases, letters, pictures, and other random stuff - from everyday things that come in the mail. You know, those junk ads that usually find their way into the File 13 bin!!! I also tear and cut things from magazines, too. 

where I find things for my Glue Books

I look for things that can be put with other letters and phrases. For instance, see the image on the left and on top of the pile is the word, "Thanks" and something else written with it - I might take that and put in on the top part of a page I'm working on and then add to it...in fact, that particular phrase will more than likely end up in my Gratitude gluebook.

Inside cover of my Gratitude gluebook journal

The inside of my Gratitude gluebook journal is a work in progress. It actually started out as something else and after working on a few pages, I realized it was a book of things I'm thankful for, so I switched up the cover. The book I used for my Gratitude gluebook was an old devotional. On the bottom of the pages, are inspirational quotes for a particular day. I'll leave those in place as I use them as inspiration for the page I create. 

Here are two pages from my Gratitude gluebook. The one on the right has a Project Life card on it. I'm actually still working on that page. I'm going to add more color and a few things I've torn out of magazines. 

 Another one of my creations is...

This particular book is actually a watercolor book that has about 100 pages in it. It is bound with a metal wire and is rather large. In it, I use napkins, inks, colored pencils, colored markers, and torn out letters or phrases. I love crafting with napkins. Here are a few of my pages in this gluebook.

On the background of the next four pages, I used distress Inks. Then I placed napkins on the pages and added the extras. (words, a cluster of flowers, eyelash fibers, tags, etc.) The one that says "dream BIG", I incorporated washi tape.

 The page here I used several different quotes to make my page. I used colored pencils in the background. Looking at these pages, you can see there really isn't anything to it. If you think back to my post for the letter F (Franken Pages), I talked about using up scrap pieces of paper. Those could definitely work in gluebooks as well! Fill those pages with color by using scrap paper, then add a quote or a few letters to make a unique collage! Just have fun...after all, that's what crafting is all about. To me anyway...

On the picture above and the one here, I painted the pages using acrylic paints that were watered down. 

napkins and chipboard letters with painted background

napkin pieces, die cuts, distress inks, and scrap paper pieces

this is a Rice napkin

negative use of the doily

A gluebook that was started and sent to me was this next one. It is an altered composition book. I work in it from time to time...

 Another composition book that incorporated a napkin on the cover. This one too was sent to me. I'm going to write in this one and from time to time, add a few glued items to the pages.

The last gluebook I want to share with you to show another way to make them is one that was sent to me by a friend who lives in Washington State. She used a regular book and turned into a journal type gluebook. She started a few pages and I will finish the book out as I can.

Below is the cover, to the left of the book my friend sent to me. She covered the existing cover with a napkin, added the rosette, and a piece of lace and put the closure on it.

The page to the right here is a vintage greeting card. She incorporated it because of my love for violins. I was an accomplished violinist back in the day! I have crafted on a few of the pages in this Gluebook journal.

These are my gluebooks! So you see, they aren't hard to make and anyone could do them. Young and old alike.

I hope you will try your hand at creating one, two, or even three...I think I have 10 different ones just waiting to be finished. I don't work in them all the time, just when I feel like it. I find pulling out the bag of letters, words, and phrases I've cut out or torn out, grabbing one of my gluebooks, and sitting down to work on a few pages from time to time is very relaxing and therapeutic. We can all use a little relaxation these days, right?

Grab you a book, a magazine, some glue, and a paintbrush and start your very own gluebook.

G is for GLUEBOOK. 

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