Scrapbooking - Altered Books

Altered art has become a popular craft form all on its own and making altered books is at the top of the list. It is reasonable that scrapbook makers want to use the altered book concept and make their own by incorporating their family photos, scrapbook paper, and embellishments.

There are a bunch of websites that go into altered book scrapbooking. Type 'altered books' in a search engine on the web, such as Google, to find lots of information and ideas. We are just touching lightly on the overall technique and have made a few suggestions.

Altered book supplies:

• Glue
• Scissors
• Craft knife
• Ruler
• Stamps & ink (optional)
• Paints & brushes (optional)
• Bits and pieces of scrapbook paper

You can use hard back, paper back, a composition book, children's board books, little mini gift books, and of course used books. Poetry and inspirational books are popular. Cover the pages with scrapbook paper and embellishments but still leave some of the inspirational poems and prose uncovered.

If you do not have your own or do not want to use your own, purchase old used books from garage sales, flea markets, and thrift stores.

Make an altered Board Book (Instructions to make an mini album from a child's board book)

Instructions for Making Altered books:

Once you have your book and supplies collected it is simply a matter of getting creative by adding photos, paper, and embellishments as you would to a blank scrapbook album:

• Rip out some pages or edge of pages. Leave some as they are.
• Get artsy and paint a picture.
• Glue or tape on patterned paper pieces.
• Layer several scrapbook paper pieces for a textured look.
• Include photos and/or magazine and newspaper clippings.
• Add texture by roughing up some pages using an emery board.

You could create a journal, a diary, a recipe book, a blank scrapbook where the recipient can add their own stories, or a mini album scrapbook for a small child. Whatever you create will be worth the effort so give altered art books a try!

Altered Book Techniques:

A few basic techniques and ideas to create altered books include but are not limited to:

• Ripping and tearing pages or edges of pages.
• Cutting into the middle of some pages - you can create frames this way.
• Folding pages - to create a pocket or to add texture and design.
• Painting pages - dilute some paint and paint over a page. You will still see the words through the paint, and it lends a personal, artsy look.
• Select a few words on the page and highlight them by completely covering the rest of the page with paint or ink, or use different colored highlighter pens.
• Use a pen, pencil, paint, or marker to draw boxes around blocks of text or single words. This is especially nice when creating a journal or diary.
• Stamping.