My childhood home was full of books, whether it was the Winnie the Pooh classics my aunt would give me each birthday, or the books my mom would read to us when we were young, or the shelves upon shelves of “grownup” books my parents had in the living room. I’d scour the titles, touch the bindings, run my hands over the pages. I’d come home from the public library every week with a new stack of at least 10 books to read. At the end of every school year, the nuns had us erase any errant marks in our textbooks so they’d be ready for the next class and I went over mine with a fine-tooth comb, even though I never made a mark in them. I simply love books.
Then, one day, while searching newsgroups on rubber stamping, I happened upon a phrase I’d never heard of before: Altered Books. I learned that there was a whole new wave of art going on where I could rip, tear, write in, paint, glue, stamp, fold, and generally “mutilate” old books. I don’t remember being horrified by this thought, but I do know many of you might be. Even if you’re okay with making art out of a book, you may freeze up for fear of “messing up.” I am here to teach you the No Fear method of book altering. This month, we’ll discuss how to start, and over the next few months, we’ll focus on various techniques for altering your first book.
Choosing and preparing a book.
It’s flea market and garage sale season! These are my best sources for old books that are suitable for altering. You can find treasures for less than a quarter! Look for a sturdy hardcover, with a sewn binding, as opposed to one that’s glued. A sewn binding will hold up better against the wear and tear you’re going to inflict on that book. Make sure the pages are flexible, not dry and brittle. The thinner pages, say, of a Bible, are more challenging to work with, so stay away from those for your first book.
When you get your book home, it’s a good idea to razor out some sections of pages. As you add paint and embellishments to your book, the book will become more and more bulky and won’t close properly. My personal opinion is that a well-altered book shouldn’t close, but I do find that cutting out 4-5 pages with my craft knife here and there helps the book close a little better. I’m much happier with my ABs that have sections cut out. I get my craft knives for this purpose from the dollar store; get the kind with the blades that break off, so you’ll always have a fresh blade since they wear down quickly when you’re getting razor-happy!
Another standard method of preparing your book is to glue pages together to make them sturdier. I usually do this as I work on a book, but sometimes I glue the pages in chunks before I start altering. It’s a good way to get my mind moving and get started on a project. I find that if I’m in an impatient mood, I use double stick tape (either Scotch double stick tape or Scrapbook Adhesives EZ Runner) to glue my pages; if I’m more relaxed and patient, I’ll use gel medium or Perfect Paper Adhesive.
To theme or not to theme?
A book title may be the inspiration for a great altered book. I currently have one entitled “The Body Has a Head,” waiting to be altered and journaled with a theme about body image and self confidence. Your first book may not have a theme at all. In fact, I encourage you to get a book that will be your technique and experiment book. Any time you want to try a technique or just PLAY, this is the book you use.
How to start.
Although I fear sounding trite, Just Do It. When your fear of the blank page rears its ugly head, pull out your favorite color of acrylic paint and a foam brush and paint over the words. Sometimes, just the act of painting a page spread and glancing around at my supplies and papers gets my mind going and the next thing I know, it’s 10 pm and I’ve cranked out ten pages! When painting your pages, use a thin coat. It’s ok if you can see through it, because you’ll be covering the paint with other elements. If you want an opaque canvas, use 2 thin coats of paint, rather than one thick one. Let the pages dry well before working on them. If you’d like to paint a bunch of pages at once, put a sheet of waxed paper between the damp pages to keep them from sticking. I also put waxed paper behind the page I’m painting, because I get sloppy with the brush and might not want paint on other pages.
This project is what I call The Easiest Altered Book Page Ever. It requires no thought on your part. By replicating this project in your first book, you will get past the fear of starting a new book and you will have made your mark!
The next projects are just as easy. Get out some paint, papers, collage elements, a few embellishments, and you’re on your way! The book used in this article is actually a gift for a friend that I’ll be working on throughout the summer, so the page topics are tailored to our friendship and to her life. The book is a Daily Guideposts book from 2002 and one of the meditations was on cats, so one of the page spreads focuses on that theme.
And now, here’s my favorite part of this article. It’s when I tell you that the beauty of the altered book is that you can never make a mistake. If you feel you have made one, you can rip out the page, fold it, glue it or paint over it. In fact, I “messed up” on every single one of these projects, but you can’t see the “mistakes,” now can you?
