Altered Books Workshop

Scrapbooking and More with Found Objects

From the FIRST modern altered book: A Humument by Tom Phillips

Before You Begin:• Look for hardbacks or board books. Avoid

paperbacks.• Make sure binding is not broken or loose. • To make room for additions, “thin out” your

book by ripping out every 5th page. • To support additions, glue 2 or more pages

together using gel medium or a glue stick and brayer.

• Make sure not to use originals of photos!

Ideas for Projects

• Round-Robin Story • Book as Art• Poetry • Travel Journal • Political Statement• Storybook

• Shadow Box or Hiding Place

• Dream Journal• Nature Journal• Scrapbook

Books as Art

Swiss Army Bookby M. L. Van Niceon display at the National Museum of Women in the Arts.

From Altered Board Book Basics From Altered Book Scrapbook

Nature Journals & Memory Keepers

Gathering MaterialsFlash cardsOld game piecesOld picturesOld magazines and

newspapersLeavesOld calendarsCheap jewelryCookie fortunesOld wrapping paper

Food wrappersOld photographsSeed packetsFound notesTrading cardsMapsRibbonsPressed flowersTicketsTissue Paper

Supplies

• Anything used for scrapbooking• Xacto knife & cutting mat• Glue sticks/Spray adhesive/Double-sided tape• Gesso or gel medium & foam paint brush• Decorative edged scissors• Stamps and hole punches• Drills, fabri-tac, book binding tape• Pens, markers, colored pencils, crayons, paints

Techniques: Windows and Cutouts

Altered Art for the First Time by Madeline Arendt

From Alter This! by Alena Hennessy

Techniques: Shadow Boxes, Weaving, and Sewing

Techniques: Frames

From Altered This by Alena Hennessy

Other Techniques to Try

• Deconstruct a picture. Paint over it, age it with sandpaper, rip it and put it back together, etc.

• Try pop ups!• Create poems from found words. • Thread a ribbon on inside of the spine and tie

in a bow.• Alter photos using photo editing software

such as Photoshop to create different effects.

Other Techniques to Try (cont.)

• Create a “packing tape” image .(See Complete Idiot’s Guide to Altered Art)

• Make an envelope album by punching holes in a stack of envelopes and binding them together with ribbon.

• Create tabs for books with icons to separate out different parts of the books.

• Use only the binding of the book and drill holes to string thread, then add in your own elements like a spiral bound notebook.

Techniques

• Weaving (with overlaying cutout demonstrated with Xacto knife)

• Shadowbox• Drilling• Two types of pockets

(box lid kind and fold over kind)• Sewing or lacing