Altered Book Stack

I decided to alter a stack of books. This project is a little bit steampunk, a little bit grungy, a little bit vintage and a little bit romantic! You may notice that this altered book stack uses REAL books!! I always search garage sales, thrift shops, etc, for books that are, in essence, falling apart...ready to hit the dumpster...because then I can use them  for altering projects (whether it be a few of the book pages, or the entire book itself) without feeling guilty! Because face it, if they are falling apart, what is going to happen to them? Like I said earlier, they are probably ready to hit the dumpster. Anyhoo, so I pulled three of my books from my stash, and went to town, tearing off the covers (I really wanted the raw edges of the spines to show). Then I took the Prima distress tool and began distressing all around the edges of the pages. I used some different colors of brown distress inks from Prima and Tim Holtz to add a vintage feel to the edges of the papers as well! I used tons of products from SaCrafters Zibbet store (product links below), lots of product from Prima and Tim Holtz, some wonderful 7Gypsies pieces, a few steampunk items such as real gears, real clock gears, a lightbulb, some chain and a real working clock! Added some beautiful trims from my stash and would you believe it....there is not a single flower on this entire project! How on earth did I manage that? Some things I did to the altered book stack: I printed our wedding picture on a transparency and laid it on top of some rolled up sheet music. I used a 6x6 stencil from SaCrafters with some modeling paste mixed with some black acrylic paint and added that to the left side of my photo and down at the bottom. I also wanted my book stack to have "tabs" coming out from the side pages and "bookmarks" coming out from the top portion of the books. I have a few elements that I carried around the project...clocks/clock gears, the numbers '2'&'14' and music in the form of music sheet paper, a resin angel playing an instrument and a metal music note. Everything is lifted up with the beauty of Tim Holtz metal corner "feet"! Here's some pics:

Direct Links to Products used from SaCrafters zibbet store:
6x6 Forever Friend Script Stencil: http://www.zibbet.com/SaCrafters/artwork?artworkId=1180402
Chipboard Clockface:  http://www.zibbet.com/SaCrafters/artwork?artworkId=1080610
Chipboard Title Sentiment (The Moment In Time): http://www.zibbet.com/SaCrafters/artwork?artworkId=1061227
Chipboard Clock Gears: http://www.zibbet.com/SaCrafters/artwork?artworkId=1079295
Wood Pocket Watches:  http://www.zibbet.com/SaCrafters/artwork?artworkId=1268853
Wood Label Sentiments set 1:
http://www.zibbet.com/SaCrafters/artwork?artworkId=1220178
Wood Alphabet low cap "x": http://www.zibbet.com/SaCrafters/artwork?artworkId=1173022
Wood Alphabet low cap "o": http://www.zibbet.com/SaCrafters/artwork?artworkId=1173015
Wood Heart Charms Sentiment Set 1: http://www.zibbet.com/SaCrafters/artwork?artworkId=1234294
Wooden Windows (4 pieces): http://www.zibbet.com/SaCrafters/artwork?artworkId=1116165
Bronze Door Hanger: http://www.zibbet.com/SaCrafters/artwork?artworkId=1240079


Thanks for Stopping By!
Hugsies!