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Instructions
for folded,
altered
books
Our
local book arts
group had a
holiday party
that
included
book exchange. I
got my book idea
from Pat
Buckley.
It's based
on something she
called "Reader's
Digest
Angels".
Start with a small
paperback book,
something roughly the
size of the Reader's
Digest. After removing
the covers, fold each
page in exactly the
same manner so that you
achieve a more
sculptural looking book
form. I've made
altered books like this
before, from small
leaflets found at used
bookstores, garage
sales, etc. For
some, I folded the
entire page in half
lengthwise.
Continue folding until
you run out of pages.
For the holiday book, I
folded the top right
corner of each page
down to meet the
spine. For this
book, the folds added
enough bulk to the book
so that it stayed open
in a circular
format. For many
smaller books with
fewer pages, a half
circle is what the
folded pages will
support. No
adhesives are necessary
for the book to hold
its shape. Please
note the tips below for
selecting a paperback.
There are endless
variations that you can
do with this technique.
Okay, maybe not
endless, but certainly
a lot!
In the Reader's Digest
version, each page is
folded twice, a
styrofoam head is added
and the whole thing is
spray painted
gold! I guess
that's an option, but I
love the way that the
text looks on these
folded, altered books.
Tips for choosing a
paperback and folding
the pages:
1. Choose
something that is of a
reasonable length -- no
James Michener
novels!
2. It adds to the
look of the altered
book if the pages are
discolored or
have colored
fore-edges, heads or
tails, but make sure
that the
pages are not
so brittle that
they crack when you
fold them.
3. If you
want a completely
symmetrical book, be
careful to fold
each page
in exactly the same
way. Small
differences in the way
that the pages
are folded will
show.
Asymmetrical folds look
cool also.
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