Book Page Art

On Valentines day, Shanti, a friend, and I, did some crafts. I made a Daughter of Smoke and Bone bookmark (which I currently can’t find- it’s probably been swallowed by the bookmark monster) and I made this bookish art. Later it occurred to me that other members of the blookunity may be DYING to do something with all those book pages they don’t want, and I knew a how-to guide was in order. Since this was an afterthought, some of the photos aren’t very accurate because I had already, say written the quote. Also, this kind of how to guid is super-flexible to a LOT of adaptation.

Book Page Art

This is what I did with Passage To India

Materials:

• An unwanted book page or two (I used one from a destroyed  well-loved Harry Potter 5 that had already fallen out. I think we have two copies of that book… On the other side I used a piece of Passage To India, which I got for free and probably won’t read again. I tried to quell the feelings of guilt.)If you live in places with good second hand/thrift/op shops, they often sell books for super cheap. The only problem is they’re often the sort nobody would want to read, so they’re perfect for art like this.
• Paper glue (i.e, a glue stick)
• PVA glue (the white stuff that comes in a bottle) (optional)
• A base- a piece of card, say, or paper that you can stick the page to. I used a chunk of cardboard that had washed up in my room.
• A paintbrush(optional)
• Some kind of embellishment, such as a heart (Get in the Valentine’s spirit, right?) (optional)
• A favourite quote from a book (if it’s the book you’re ripping up, that’s good) (optional)
• Pens for writing aforementioned quote (guess what? optional too)
• Miscellaneous pieces of paper/card (like what I used for the brackets surrounding my quote)

Steps:

1. Get the book page, the base and the paper glue. Rip pieces from the book page one by one and glue them in their relative position (I recommend starting from the corner and making your way out.) You can rip the page up first, then glue it, but doing it one-by-one helps you to know where to put each piece. For a different look you could cut the book page into pieces instead. Personally, I prefer the rougher edges, but just do whatever you prefer.
2. Mix the PVA glue with a little bit of water in a small bowl, then paint this mixture over the base. This will help any miscellaneous pieces to stick and give your creation a pleasant shiny appearance.
3. Read or take bookish photographs while you wait for your glaze to dry. If you want you could make embellishments to glue on the page or find some really awesome quote.
4. It’s time to be creative! Stick embellishments on top of the ripped-out page, or write an amazing quote and glue that on. Stick stickers! Write some bookish message like ‘read’ or ‘my book ate my homework’ or ‘#1 Library fan’
5. If you’re sure you’re done, you can paint another layer of glaze on top of all the interesting things you just stuck to help them stay stuck and again, give a nice shiny ‘finished’ appearance.
6. Clean up. (I know, it’s terrible). Rinse out your paintbrush (because trust me, you don’t want dried glue on it next time you want to paint something.), put lids on pens, put your pieces of paper away.
   

   
7. Decide where to display your amazing bookish creation. (Which I still haven’t done, actually)

Could you bear to rip a book page up? (I felt guilty too. But I was still pleased with the  result). Do you think you’re going to try this? What’s your favourite bookish quote? What did you do on Valentine’s day?

How to Read While Walking (a beginners guide)

As bookworms, its very important to read whenever and wherever possible. Books require commitment, and then they reward you greatly. How could could you waste anytime. So here I present the beginners guide on how to read while walking. There is an easy way, also known as audiobooks, but who would take the easy way out ? (answer: People who like to read while running, like, me) Don’t trip over. Don’t run into monkeys. With this guide you can read while walking and never get into trouble. Bonus: If you read while walking, everyone knows that you’re clearly a committed bookworm

-Shanti

 

Step One

Acquire a book. It doesn’t matter how you get it, by foul means or fair, but you need something that is worthwhile enough to spend your precious walking time on.

Step Two

Find somewhere to walk. The trick to reading while walking is that you need somewhere to go. ( I guess you could read while on a treadmill or elliptical machine or something, because I’ve done that, but it’s much more interesting to actually go somewhere)

Step Three

Develop the double focus. This is probably the hardest step, and until you’ve mastered it, you’ll probably still need to glance up occasionally. It helps to practice this on a route you know well, like the way to school, so that you don’t get lost. The trick to the double focus is essentially being aware of what is on the ground while reading what is on the page. You need to be alert, in order to avoid tripping over (or, in my case running into packs of vicious monkeys) SAFETY WARNING so I don’t get sued: Reading while walking can be dangerous. You need to be alert. Please, please, please be careful

Step Four

Hold on tight. Sometimes things happen. Sometimes you trip over. Sometimes there are surprise stairs. Sometimes you siblings or friends want to talk to you. Sometimes feels try to knock you sideways. Hold on TIGHT to the book. Do not let go of it. There is nothing worst than lost books.

Step Five

Practice. Keep reading while walking . You’ll be amazed at what you can get read. Never let feelings of despair push you down. You can do this!

Do you read while walking? Or do you take the audiobook path? Is this too dangerous? Where do you like to read- in a still place or a moving place? Tell me in the comments!