Fab Friday Tutorial

Yikes, what a busy yet unproductive day! Took Ali to her clarinet lesson - with drive time, 1.5 hours. "Stopped' by work - left 1 hour later. Took Jess to her 1:30 doctor's appointment - he was running late, so we didn't get out until 4:00 PM. Went to work picnic - had a great time, but was gone 2 hours. I did walk the dog and color my hair. (Just would've been nice to remember before 10 PM that I planned to color it tonight!)

So, without further ado, here is my promised tutorial for making my mini-notepads. Excuse the photography - it was late so I had to use flash.

Supplies needed:
cardboard/chipboard
printed paper for covers
cardstock for matting image on front of notepad
paper for notepad pages (I buy copier/printer paper when Staples has it on sale really cheap)
adhesive (I prefer some kind of tape runner or other dry adhesive)
stamped image or other decoration
binding equipment (I use a Bind It All and o-rings)

1. First, cut your covers, printed paper and inner pages.

What sizes? Well, assuming your cardboard is an 8.5 X 11" sheet, cut that into quarters (4.25 X 5.5") for your covers. Your covers determine the size of everything else. General rule of thumb:
- inner pages should be .25" smaller on both sides (e.g., 4 X 5.25" for our 4.25 X 5.5" covers)
- the paper for covering your covers should be 1" bigger on both sides (e.g., 5.25 " X 6.5" for 4.25 X 5.5" covers)

2. Place adhesive on cover, then center on the back of the printed paper. Miter corners as shown below.

3. Use adhesive to glue down flaps. Then cover the back with a piece of paper (cardstock or printed paper, it doesn't matter) that is 1/8" smaller on both sides than the cover.

4. Punch both covers and all of your pages with your Bind It All or other binding system. I don't have a set amount of pages that I include. Your pad's thickness will be determined by what size o-ring (or other fastener) that you use. My pads are usually approximately 1/4" thick.

5. Assemble your cover and pages and bind them together. If you're using a Bind It All and have trouble remembering what order to put your covers in before you bind them, check out this great tutorial: Bind-It-All Basics Part 2. In short, put your pad in order of the finished order (front cover on top of pages on top of back cover), flip the back cover up on top of the top cover, then insert your o-rings.

If you're using a Bind It All, remember these 4 things:
- pull out the black "T" on the back of the BIA. It serves to stabilize it against your surface as you pull down on the lever
- make sure your using the right setting based on the size of your o-rings (that's what those white lines on the binding surface are for - they correspond to o-ring sizes)
- be sure to hold your o-rings flat against the surface of your BIA to help ensure that your rings close evenly/properly
- occasionally clean out your BIA (there's a little "hatch" on the side) because it doesn't punch well when it gets full

6. Next, add your desired image and any embellishments to the front of your notepad. Voila!

I used this cute little Olivia image from DigiStamp Boutique and colored her with Copics (of course). The dp is from the "Simply Delightful" stack by My Minds Eye. It's a great stack because it has so many different patterns and color schemes!

And don't forget that Sally-Ann is still running a 20% off sale at the DigiStamp Boutique site. The discount is good on all the images in the shop.

Lisa