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Project Planner: Altered Book Page

How to Fix Book Pages Together For a Niche - Book Craft Art Project

Mar 7, 2008 Jenn Greenleaf

When working with altered book, it can be difficult to affix pages together to carve out a niche. Follow these steps and you can achieve this goal.

Altered books can be a lot of fun to create, as well as to look through. Interesting pockets, pullouts, hiding spots, and niches make them even more appealing. We are going to discuss how to affix pages together in order to carve out a niche in altered book pages.

Rather than gluing each individual page together, it is best to clump a grouping together and glue around the edges. The reason for this is because, when attempting to carve out the niche, the blade will not be able to penetrate the pages because they will be too hard. By gluing around the edges, blades can penetrate the pages without any problem. For this project, you will need the following:

A book to alter
Gel medium
Rubber gloves
Waxed paper
Cutting blade
Straight edge ruler
Emery board

Here are the steps necessary to complete this project:

Step one: clump together between 50 and 70 pages
Step two: put the rubber glove on your hand, dip it into the gel medium, and rub it along the edges of the pages that were just clumped together.
Step three: place a piece of waxed paper between the pages before and after the clump
Step four: close the book and set it aside for 24 hours
Step five: when the clump of pages has dried, use the straight edge to guide the cutting blade while cutting the niche. It will be necessary to repeat the cuts several times until all the pages have been cut through. Plan on at least fifteen minutes for cutting.
Step six: place another rubber glove on and rub more gel medium along the edges of the niche that has just been cut.
Step seven: replace the waxed paper, then set the book aside to dry for 24 more hours.
Step eight: when the gel medium is completely dry, use the emery board to smooth out edges of the niche, as well as edges of the book’s pages.

From here, the options for altering are limitless. You may choose to gesso over the pages to block out the text and create a canvas-like surface. A watered-down white acrylic paint will also work if you do not have gesso medium. If this choice is made, it will be necessary to replace the waxed paper during drying time and allowing another 24 hours before working the pages again.

What is placed behind the niche or “in” the niche is completely up to you and dependant upon the theme of the project.

The copyright of the article Project Planner: Altered Book Page in Mixed Media Arts is owned by Jenn Greenleaf. Permission to republish Project Planner: Altered Book Page in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.