At this point in the crafting cavalcade, you're probably wondering what my obsession is with books. Recipe books, scrapbooks, quotation journals, and now Altered Books. There's something undoubtedly comforting about a book, whether it's a childhood volume of fairy-tales, or an unexpected find at the local bookseller. Books engage us in a way that the electronic media never will. It's hard to imagine sinking into the bathtub with a really great webpage.

The idea behind an altered book is simple. Take an existing hardcover book and create new content through calligraphy, collage, painting, poetry, photography, and whatever else inspires you. Not only are you saving an old book from winding up in the trash bin, you're creating something personal. The scrapbooking industry is huge right now, but sometimes it feels a little superficial. Crafting megastores are filled with decorative papers, rubber stamps, and acid-free, archival quality scrapbooks. Once you've spent all that money, the tendency is to showcase what you've purchased, rather than what you wish to treasure - the memories. Salvaging a few old textbooks and rummaging through old family photographs is a low cost alternative to mainstream scrapbooking that places high value on the events you want to remember. Here are some ideas on how to get started.

What you'll need:
- A printed book or a blank art journal
- Paints (watercolours, inks, acrylics)
- Applicators (brushes, sponges, toothpicks, cotton swabs)
- Writing implements (ball point pens, paint pens, metallic gold or silver pens, coloured pencils, photo tinting markers, crayons)
- Papers and fabrics (old maps and postcards, ticket stubs, party invitations, magazine clippings, newsprint, vellum, ribbon, card stock, fabric scraps)
- Scissors, artist's knife, hole punch
- Glue stick, craft glue, double-sided tape
- Drawings, photocopies, laser-prints, instant camera photos
- Embellishments and decorations like beads, dried flowers, lace, charms

Instructions:
- There's no limit to what you can put together inside the book. Keep in mind the weight of the materials you are using. You may want to glue a few pages of the book together to be sure they can hold everything.
- Create a background for the page with paint before you add any items to it. Rearrange the items until you've got them where you want them, then glue them down.
- Double-page spreads work well. Try and have one focal point to avoid the design being too busy. (Why yes, I was on the yearbook committee in high school.)
- Glue an envelope into the back of the book to hold small items. Make foldout panels so your designs aren't bound by the dimensions of the page.
- Work with a theme that's natural for you: sports, travel, pop culture, music, gardening, cooking. Look for used books that have these themes - old cookbooks sometimes have thick pages that are great to work with.
- You don't have to decorate every single page. Leave a few blank, and get some friends in on the project by passing the book around.
- Don't expect to get this project done in an evening or even in a weekend. The slower you work, the better your art will be!