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Altered books - Nesting pages


When you have spreads that relate to each other somehow, for example thematically, it can look really interesting to fold and nest them in a way similar to the three spreads shown above.  You can fold or cut your pages into all different shapes as suits your theme or mood...the one I'm showing you is probably one of the simplest to accomplish.


Materials and Tools list from Part One


1. Although you can do your preliminary painting before folding or cutting your pages, I prefer to shape them first so that I can better plan where images and colors will look best.  For a 6 page spread (three spreads) like this one, you will need to set aside about 10 pages.  Leave the middle 4 pages alone for now, and glue the outer 3 pages on both sides together for added strength.  In my pictures above, the purple pages are each 3 pages adhered together.

2. For the next set of pages in (the larger of the golden brown pages), fold the outer corners of the page inward to meet in the center on the back side of the page and adhere them in place.  Do not fold the corners from clear in by the gutter, but leave a few inches unfolded.  You can make many more than 2 of these folded spreads by graduating the folds.

3. For the center spread, fold the corner in to overlap on the back, starting your fold right down by the gutter.  Adhere the folds in place.

4. Add paint, images, and text.  You can see that both sides of the folded pages are painted and decorated, but the sides without the folded paper lines are considered the primary face of the page.


Part One: Introduction to altered books
Part Two: Mixed text technique
Part Three: Blending in an image
Part Four: Nesting pages
Part Five: Adding tabs
Part Six: Making a frame
Part Seven: Slicing up an image
Part Eight: Foil lettering
Part Nine: Doors and other flaps
Copyright 2010 Cyndi Lavin. Not to be reprinted, resold, or redistributed for profit. May be printed out for personal use or distributed electronically provided that entire file, including this notice, remains intact.


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Comments

Jeanne Nelson said…
Thanks for sharing this great tutorial! What a great idea ... that I've just gotta try now! Wishing you a fabulous week.
Michelle said…
Great idea - this reminds me of what I used to do with my school homework diary; folding the pages to mark where I was up to. Will apply to art journals too!
Cyndi L said…
Thanks guys! Love to see what you all make...
Limarea said…
That's a very nice way of decorating the pages! My own journal (which I had such high expectations for, is now degraded to a test-journal LOL)
Cyndi L said…
Limar, it's so funny that you said that! Pretty much *all of my books end up being "practice" books! It's ok...there really are no rules for what an altered book or journal is supposed to end up looking like. Even when I start with a theme, it never turns out the way I'm expecting.
Cyndi, do you have a favorite paper glue for altered books or does it depend on the paper of each book to be altered?
Cyndi L said…
Eileen, it does depend a little bit upon the paper and the task, but my three favorites are acrylic gel medium (mostly matte), PPA which stands for Perfect Paper Adhesive, and glue sticks. PPA is a white glue with a very low moisture content. Most white glues like Elmers, YES, and Mod Podge have too much moisture and stickiness for my climate. Your mileage will probably vary since you're in Mexico, land of low humidity!