Photo corners, brads and eyelets are best of all. Also: buttons, tiny envelopes, ribbons etc - whether using new or vintage images. Mounting your image to a layer of card or paper is a good idea, as it adds strength as well as emphasis to the overall effect.

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How to stick pages together

When working in most altered books, it's a good idea to stick at least 2 or 3 pages together, to give a stronger and more rigid surface to work on (these books tend to take a lot of abuse!). Nothing is more tedious than sticking pages together one by one, especially for a block of pages (you may wish to cut a niche, tear a hole, wire the edges to attach tabs, etc) as the more pages you stick, the more they are likely to wrinkle and distort. Plus, they take forever to dry.

Here is how I do it:

1. Always glue in the direction the book wants to close (ie: left to right) so even for a spread of pages facing each other, do one set first, then the next - don't do both with the book laid flat. This places unnecessary strain on the spine and the pages don't lie as flat as they ought.

2. Place scrap paper below the bottom-most page that you are gluing.

3. Use PVA or similar (see below) and an old credit card, which will spread the glue evenly and thinly - much better than a brush! Glue sticks are not a good idea as they tend to dry out and pages become UNstuck over time.

4. Spread the glue from the spine to the outer edges; the excess will go on the scrap paper.

5. Smooth the next page (the one above) down onto the glued page - smooth with a cloth or another old credit card. This ensures a good bond, and any excess glue will go onto the scrap paper - throw this away immediately. (Old gluey pages have a habit of attaching themselves just where they aren't wanted).

6. If you need to glue more pages, repeat the steps above.

7. All the pages are glued - you need to dry them, and you want them to be flat - so sandwich the pages in this order:

   Unglued pages - wax paper or freezer paper - blotting paper - glued pages - more blotting paper - wax or freezer paper.

8. Leave the book closed overnight. In the morning the pages will be bone dry and perfect! If your pages were very sticky, you might want to replace the blotting paper after the first couple of hours - these wick away the moisture and can be dried out and used again. If you don't have blotting paper, use kitchen roll - but it will get very soggy.

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How to stick a block of pages together

1. Select the block of pages you want to cut a niche into.

2. Secure with clamps or bulldog clips.

3. Slather a very generous amount of glue around the exposed 3 edges (top, side and bottom) and work the glue in with a finger or a paintbrush, so that a little goes in between the page edges where possible.

4. Place a piece of non-stick paper (freezer paper, waxed paper etc) between one side of the glued block and the other pages, then another piece on the other side of the block, so that the glued section is sandwiched between the non-stick paper.

5. To speed up the drying process, I then put blotting paper behind the non-stick paper, so the entire sequence is like this.... book pages, blotting paper, non-stick paper... glued block of pages...non-stick paper, blotting paper, book pages.

6. Close the book and weigh under something heavy (more books?) and leave overnight. Take the blotting paper and non-stick paper away, and you have a perfectly glued niche which is very firm and easy to cut into. The edge is rather like that of a Post-it Notes pad.

To see a photo gallery on how to glue a block & cut a niche, go here.

I recommend any of these: ordinary PVA (white glue), PPA (from US ArtQuest), gel medium (matt or gloss - Liquitex & Golden are the best brands). Once dry, you can overpaint the edge with metallic markers or acrylic paints if you don't like the look of the white paper. DO NOT stick all the pages together, one by one - it is totally unnecessary.

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How to cut a niche

1. Place a cutting mat under the page block you just glued.

2. Mark the section you want to cut.

3. Use a metal-edged ruler and a new blade in your craft knife (most accidents are caused by plastic rulers and/or blunt blades).

4. Always cut towards yourself, and never try to cut sideways. Always turn the book around (not yourself - more accidents happen that way...).

5. Cut shallow cuts at first, then keep cutting into the same place. You will  go deeper and deeper, without any strain. Turn the book around and cut all the sides of the niche, and remove excess paper as you go. Once you have got to a
   certain depth, you will find you won't need the ruler any more, as the side of the niche itself will guide you.

6. When you have finished cutting the niche, it is your choice whether to add more glue (as for the outside of the page block) to strengthen the inner block, or to finish by lining with paper, stitching with wire etc.

To see a photo gallery on how to cut a niche, go here.

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