Altered art journal

I got this idea in the beginning from the journals at www.littleblackkitty.typepad.com/ but had NO idea how to actually make one-- bind it etc... so looked around, and found this altered art journal idea at artfulcollections.blogspot.com.
Anyways.... a lot of work, but the long and short of it is this- I found a book with a cover I liked at the Goodwill. Then, I glued every other page together with a regular glue stick, to make the pages stronger. Then, I did a bunch of different things.... I painted most of the pages, glued in other paper, glued in ribbon, lace, and doilies I liked, and even ironed in fabric I liked using fusible webbing.
On the cover I also ironed on a cute cross stitch picture I found at Goodwill, again with fusible webbing, and put a pocket in the front of the book, for pictures, pens, whatever.
The deal is that you can do whatever you want-- so come up with your own ideas.
This isn't really an "art" journal I don't think... but rather a journal of sorts, which could be an art journal if you wanted, but for me I liked the idea of painting and embellishing, but still leaving room for other stuff.... it's just nice to have some things already there to act as inspiration for the future.
I gave this to my sister.... though admittedly, after all that work, it was hard to say goodbye!
P.S. if any of you ever try this, WAX PAPER IS YOUR FRIEND! It is the thing to use to protect the pages you've already worked on as you begin other pages.
Leave questions if you have them! And as always... I LOVE comments and other ideas!!!! Thanks!