I just spent 2 wonderful weeks at Lakeside, Ohio. Lakeside is a Chautauqua community on Lake Erie, owned by the Methodist Church. Chautauqua is a Native American word that means an annual educational gathering, often held outdoors and offering lectures, concerts, and theatrical performances. My husband and I have been fortunate enough to be guest artists there for 9 years. Guest artists who don’t own their own cottage live in the Artist’s House – the former parsonage. This year there were 7 other artists sharing the house with us. Dieann taught Paper Pierced Cards, LouAnn taught Decorated Flip Flops and Decorated Photo Albums, and Marilyn taught Crocheted Necklaces. Glass Etching was Peggy’s craft, Cass taught Painted Silk Scarves, and Jackie’s class was Kite Making. We were lucky to have Keith who taught Glass Beadmaking, and he provided the only other male in the house, which pleased my husband! Keith’s wife Amanda joined us, as well as 6-year-old Maisy and 3-year-old twins Hazel and Chloe. Although we taught at different times, we managed to find time to sit down together and teach each other our assorted crafts, as well as a few others such as beaded necklaces, rubber-stamping and origami.

Several other classes were also offered, including calligraphy, digital darkroom, stained glass, scrapbooking, silk ribbon embroidery, ceramics, watercolor, theater, violin, family memory videos, mosaics, knitting, printmaking and mandalas. I’m sure I missed some of them.

This year I taught Altered Books and Batik Garden signs. I have been cleaning out my collection of old books – mostly old Reader’s Digest Condensed Books, to use for the Altered Book class. It is open to anyone 8 years old an up, and students can sign up for one day or as many as they want. I have about 50/50 youth and adults. My class only has 5 rules.
1. Always ask an adult if it is OK to alter this particular book.
2. Watch the demonstration
3. Put away any supplies you use
4. The book is done when you say it is done
5. Have fun!

I have taught this class for 3 years, and it’s a great way to unleash creativity. Many of the students bring their books back each year to add to them. I do a short demo showing how to rubber-stamp, how to decoupage papers into the books or on the cover, and how to use stamp pads for a direct to paper technique. The center has a large supply of stamps, inks, papers, glue, paints, and assorted ephemera. During the year, I toss interesting papers, envelopes, stickers and anything else I think of into a box to be used for the class. This year I had 2 young boys who wanted their books to be all comics, which they cut out from the papers we were using to cover the tables. One wanted only Garfield in his book, and the other one wanted to pick and choose his favorites. So I guess I’ll be saving the funny papers this year, too – duh ! Didn’t even think of that!


Altered books make a great class for any activity because there’s no wrong way to do it – it’s such a personal thing. The adults have a more difficult time getting started – maybe because we’re so used to following rules? The kids jump right in! You can see from some of the photos that glitter was a huge hit!


My husband Bob taught Paper Casting again this year. He uses torn up junk mail and water, mixed in a blender, to make the paper. The kids make paper sheets in a deckle, and are allowed to add bits of glitter, flower petals, seeds and other things they find in the yard around the center. He also lets them use molds to create paper castings. Some of the students used their handmade paper sheets to make journals, or as a base for their calligraphy classes.

If you’re involved in any activity this summer that needs a creative activity, consider either altered books or paper casting – both are easy, inexpensive and fun!