Develop your creativity with collage

Scrap booking is definitely a creative hobby or activity which keeps you busy for hours resulting into a nice piece of art. Collage is a bit similar to scrap booking as it is also a mixture of few mediums. Collage can be learned very easily as there are not very definite rules or boundaries to adopt this hobby. You can develop your creativity by involving yourself for this creative pastime.

A 'collage' is a work of formal art, primarily in the visual arts, made from an assemblage of different forms, thus creating a new whole.

A collage may include newspaper clippings, ribbons, bits of colored or hand-made papers, portions of other artwork, photographs, a piece of moss or even a dead mole and other found objects, glued to a piece of paper or canvas. The origins of collage can be traced back hundreds of years, but this technique made a dramatic reappearance in the early 20th century as an art form of novelty.

Definition from 'WikiPedia'

Useful links and sites:

* 'Collageart.org' is a rich source of useful links and information about collage related sites, collage artists, exhibitions and more.

* 'Creative spotlite' offers collage tips and ideas.

* 'Collage tips' from 'Stuff that stuck' which provides information about the medium of collage. You can learn the meaning of collage as wells as a variety of technical & “how to” issues associated with it. They also provide references and resources for learning more about this terrific medium.

* A nice post 'Collage Stamp art'

* How to Make a Collage

* 'Kicking the gourd' is a nice blog with some collage works. I have taken the facing picture from this post: 'Composition Collage work'

* 'Collage Clearing house' has some awesome collage work. The right side bar of the blog offers many collage related site links.

Free Automatic Photo Collage Maker

* Create picture collages in less than a minute with just a few mouse clicks
* Photos are automatically and intelligently placed using a very fast patent pending method
* Use photos on your computer or from the web to make collages
* Adjust the collage size, size of the photos, number of photos, and spacing between photos
* Change the background, the colour of the border, and more
* Save as JPEG, PNG, or Photoshop PSD
o If you don't like the collage, save it as a PSD and edit it yourself in Adobe Photoshop or GIMP!

It is Free for personal use with no trial periods, ads, spyware, viruses, trojans, or stds
# Works on Windows, Mac OS X, Linux, and more! in many languages

* 'Download link'

Weird and strange news around the net

Just entering the keyword is sometimes enough to get in touch with the resources an links for that specific topic. But there are many blogs or sites which may not get the place at few first pages of search engines. There are lots of sites with good stuff which are not visible at first sight. As I search for many useful links at many blog directories or sites with useful links. Many blogs have useful resources or blog roll section where you can check for related sites. This post is about weird and strange news around the net. There are few links but I have selected only sites with good stuff.

"Strange Asian News" scours the internet for the weirdest, strangest and most wacky news from Asia.

Front page offers navigation to weird news from 'Asia, China, Japan and Europe', so you can search or browse through

- Japanese Restaurant has Monkeys as Waiters

- “Money Bath” in Taiwan

- Amazing Digital Cloud Skyscraper

- Military Themed Restaurant Opens in Lebanon

More weird news links:

* Weird news at 'Metro.co.uk offering funny and bizarre stories in news.

* 'That's weird.net'

* 'Weird news section at 'telegraph.uk

Discover online free crafts tutorials at 'Totally Tutorials'

World wide web offers links to many online directories, online forums/message boards or blogs dedicated to crafts only. These online tutorials are a good way of getting ideas, tips to adopt these projects or create new stuff or projects. Not only text sites but video sites like 'YouTube' has many videos relating to crafts, or do-it-yourself activities.

'Totally Tutorials' is a blog with a lot of craft tutorials, patterns, recipes and more. There are many how to and do-it-yourself projects, ideas and tips which are very useful for the people having a passion for art/craft activities.

Readers are encourages to submit their articles.

Related links:

* 'Craft site directory' a guide to arts and crafts links on the Internet.

Recycle your books into work of art

You have heard about recycling many products like paper, plastic, wood, clothes etc. But there is a creative way of recycling your existing or old books (which has a little resemblance with scrap booking) and it is called 'altered book'.

An altered book is an existing book that is awaiting your hands to glued, paint, collage, rubber stamp, cut and tear and transform into a piece or work of art. Yes! by using some techniques, idea and tips you can create crafts with easily available material around you own home. Let's get more information about 'altered book':

Definition from 'Wikipedia' is:
'An altered book is a form of mixed media artwork that changes a book from its original form into a different form, altering its appearance and/or meaning.

An altered book artist takes a book (old, new, recycled or multiple) and cuts, tears, glues, burns, folds, paints, adds to, collages, rebinds, gold-leafs, creates pop-ups, rubber-stamps, drills, bolts, and/or be-ribbons it. The artist may add pockets and niches to hold tags, rocks, ephemera, or other three-dimensional objects. Some change the shape of the book, or use multiple books in the creation of the finished piece of art.

Altered books may be as simple as adding a drawing or text to a page, or as complex as creating an intricate book sculpture.'

There is a very specific definition of making altered book at 'Kaboose.com'

An altered book, according to the International Society of Altered Book Artists, is "any book, old or new, that has been recycled by creative means into a work of art." Altered book artists change a book by cutting or rebinding; covering pages with collage, drawings, or photographs; stamping images on the pages, and highlighting particular words or images, while covering others. Different than a
scrapbook, altered books are preexisting books that are complete in and of themselves, not journals or blank bound volumes. Take, for instance, an old children's board book or a dusty garage-sale find and personalize it by adding your own thoughts, images, and art.

"Scrapbooking is using photos of your family and journaling a particular event" or time, says Aileen Roberts, a California-based mixed media artist.
"Altering books is not the same as scrapbooking. Most altered book artists are using the book as their canvas and altering it into an artistic statement just like you would a canvas or a sculpture."

Book Safe - Altered Book. You can turn an ordinary, hard-covered book into a safe to hide your valuables and little treasures. Not only are these books a useful addition to your own book shelf, it also makes a great gift!
'Book safe project'
'Altered book safe' is a great way to hide things on your book shelf Or in your school bag or locker.


Useful links:

* 'Getting Started with Altered Books and Other Altered Art' at 'Creativity Portal'

* Altered book: Craft, patterns and tutorials at 'Craftster.org' forum.

* Few article about 'Altered books' at 'Suite 101.com'

* 'Arts and Crafts : Techniques Used in Making Altered Books'

* 'Altered books ideas and tips'

* Few links at 'Craft Site Directory'

* 'Altered Books at 'Incredible art lessons' at 'Squidoo'

* 'Artful journey' wife, mother, teacher, writer, and artist trying to live a creative life. I make all kinds of altered books and collage art, and I write about the process as I go along.

* Making Altered Books :: Art in a Child's Hand

* 'Art ezine'