These book sculptures are called Quartz because they have geometric shapes reminiscent of crystals and gems. These three are a cute bunch and the instructions are presented here on one page because they are made in a similar way. Once you’ve figured out how to make these book sculptures, you will be able to tweak the design to make a battery of different but related gems.
Start with a book; in this example, the book was a day-planner donated by Slingshot. Remove the front and back cover but leave the pages bound together. Without ripping off the pages, remove small bits of binding glue that may still be adhering to the spine of the book. Choose which of the three designs you wish to create and start folding!
Book Sculpture Instructions for Quartz & Gems
Design A
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 Fold the page in half from right to left. |
 Fold down the top-right corner so the top of the page meets the spine of the book. |
 Fold up the bottom-right corner so the bottom of the page meets the spine of the book. |
 Turn the page. |
 Repeat steps 1 through 4 until all the pages are done. |
 Repeat steps 2 & 3 (fold corners in). |
 Turn the page. |
 This is how it looks like when 4 pages are done. |
 Design A done. |
Design B
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Fold the page in half from right to left; then unfold. |
 Fold down the top-right corner so it meets the crease line made above (connect red dots). Be sure that the crease bisects the top-left corner (green arrow). |
 Unfold. |
 Fold up the bottom-right corner so it meets the crease line made in step 1 (connect red dots). Be sure that the crease bisects the bottom-left corner (green arrow). |
 Refold the top-right corner using the crease made in step 2. |
 Fold flap in half, right to left. |
 Turn the page. |
 This is how it looks like when 4 pages are done. |
 Design B done. |
Design C
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 Fold the page in half from right to left. |
 Fold the vertical edge of the page towards the right so it aligns with the folded-edge made above. This divides the page into 1/4. |
 Unfold. |
 Fold down the top-right corner so it meets the 1/4 crease line. Repeat on the bottom; fold up the bottom-right corner to the 1/4 crease line. |
 Turn the page. |
 Repeat steps 1 through 5 until all the pages are done. |
 Fold and unfold the vertical-edge to the folded-edge as in step 2 & 3. |
 This is how it looks like when 4 pages are done. |
 Design C done. |
In the third design (design C), only small corners are folded-in. Thus, this Quartz / Gem is not as thick as the other ones. It does not wrap-around-360-degrees. It only goes around half way. If you are determined to have it wrap-arond 360 degrees, then you can fold two books and glue them together back to back.
Buy Personalized Book Sculptures
Book sculptures or altered books are often created by modifying the pages of a book while the pages are still bound together. You can cut, fold, paint, and do all sorts of interesting things with the paper to create beautiful structures. The book sculptures on this web site are made by folding only.