ALTERED BOOKS - how hard can it be?

Last autumn inspired by a magazine article I purchased a couple of old, very boring looking hardback books with the intention of altering them.  They didn't cost very much and meant nothing to me.  I liked the idea of secret drawers and little compartments hidden within the pages of a book.  I read and re-read the article several times, found some matchboxes of the right size and shape for the drawers and time past by.

Last weekend I decided to make a start altering the first book.  I drew in the two areas that I needed for the drawer and the compartment.  Then it was time to pick up the knife and start cutting.  I cannot describe how painful it was to deliberately damage a book - it really felt wrong.  I don't know if this is just me, did the designers in writing books about ALTERED ART or for magazines feel the same way the first time and if I decide to make another one will it be easier making the first cut.



It would have been easier if I had remembered to cover the book before starting to glue the pages together and I think I made my home made MODGE PODGE a little to runny but on the whole it is going to plan. Starting from the back - I have stuck one group of pages together at the back of the book for some journaling, then carried on glueing pages togther around the matchbox and onto the compartment. I am going to have another page further foreward to decorate. The outside of the backcover has been covered, I just need to edge the cover before glueing down the back pages of the book and I think that I will cut a hole in the front cover before covering it.