WOYWW #396: Altered Book (Happy New Year)

This is my first post of 2017! Happy New Year peeps! I didn't have much chance to create anything new over the holidays, as family time took priority, but everything is back to normal today and I even managed to alter a book cover yesterday so I have something to show you on WOYWW. This was the state of my desk-cum-dining-table last night:

I found this old book for just £1 in a bookshop in Tewkesbury on Monday while on a family outing. I've always wanted to alter a book and turn it into an art journal, but it was not easy to find one that was suitable. I wanted one that was cheap, old, with a hard cover, sewn signatures, non-glossy, yellowing pages and, more importantly, one that I had some sort of personal connection with. This one is a 1947 edition of Trilby by George du Maurier, who is, incidentally, the grandfather of Daphne du Maurier (the author of the famous novel, Rebecca). Here's a panorama shot inside the bookshop (click for a larger view):

This is what I did with the front cover. I'm not sure what I will put in this journal yet as I have half a dozen of them on the go already, but I plan to use it as my primary journal for 2017 and aim to fill it this year. It's a bit warped - I think it may have had some water damage, but it just adds to the appeal for me. 

For fans of Oreo, here's a shot of him waking me up during the holidays. I'm usually the first one to rise, but on this occasion my hubby was up first and let him loose in the house. We normally lock him in the conservatory for the night, otherwise he wouldn't let us sleep. (This would be a great photo for an alternative blog hop called What's on your Bedside Table!)

Thanks for visiting today! I will spend the rest of the week working on my new LifeBook pages as I didn't have a chance to get started yet. Enjoy your week - hope you'll all have lots of time to create!