Fab Friday - part 2

OK, squeaking this one in. It is 11:47 PM, but it is still Friday! ;-)

As promised, here's a short tutorial (with photos) on how to make the mini book that I showed you last week.

Cover: cardstock cut to 3 1/4 by 6 3/4 inches

Pages: cardstock cut to 3 by 12 inches - then score at 3, 6 and 9 inches. Make mountain & valley folds like this:

(To do this the "correct" way, you should score your paper and 3 and 9 inches, then flip it over and score it at 6.)

Depending on the thickness of your cardstock, you will need 4 - 6 strips to create your pages. (The thicker the cardstock, the fewer pages you'll need.) Next, adhere the strips, overlapping the last page like so:


When you're all done, you'll have a strip like this. You'll have one extra "page" (square) leftover - just cut that off. (Trust me, when you finish your strips you'll see what I mean.)


Next, glue the pages together along the spines to form pockets. Be sure to leave the first and last pages as single pages - do not make them into pockets. (Don't ask me how I know this...)


I had bought these "Zips" at a scrapbook store a while ago, and they were quite handy for this. They're very narrow and hold immediately.


If you are going to use ribbon to tie your book shut, be sure to glue the ribbon to the inside of your cover BEFORE gluing in your pages. (Again, just trust me on this one! lol!) You can choose not to use ribbon and not have an enclosure for your book. (See last week's sample book to see what the ribbon ties look like.)

The width of your spine will depend on exactly how many pages you use, so I don't have exact measurements. Just wrap the cover around your complete pages and press until you get decent creases. (I used my Scor-Pal to go over these creases to make them crisper.)

This is what your book will look like from the outside:


And on the inside:


The fun of these little books is, of course decorating them and making tags to insert into the pockets. My tags are 2 1/4 by 3 1/2 inches. (My apologies for this photo - I wasn't taking my pictures in my usual location.)

And here's a picture of the front cover:


For my images, I chose the adorable Coco from Digistamp Boutique. He's just the sweetest! Sally-Ann will be coming out with some other Valentines inspired images, as well, so be sure to check out the store regularly.