MINI POCKET BOOK (single 12 x 12 sheet)

To make this little book, you will need a single 12 x 12 sheet of paper or light cardstock. You can use plain and decorate as you choose, or, as I have done with my finished book, use a sheet of double sided cardstock. I used a Scor-Pal for my scoring, but you don't have to have one of these. The pockets in this book are large enough to hold ATC's or photo's of a similar size.

Step 1. Score your sheet at 6" then turn your card over and score at 2" from each edge. (2" and 10" if measuring from left). Try to score so that the valley scores will be on the outside when you fold your pockets up.


Step 2. Turn your card a quarter turn and score at 3", 6" and 9" (again measuring from left).


Step 3. Now, put a strip of narrow DST (or glue) along the short edges of the four corner scored rectangles.


Step 4. Fold up along the original 2" and 10" scores and stick down.


Step 5. Now, you will make your ONLY cut. Cut from one end up the original 6" score to the top 3" score line.


Steps 6 & 7. Accordian fold each side as shown, and then, making sure the pockets are on the outside, fold over and glue the parts marked A1 and A2 together back to back.


Your book is nearly complete now, but you will see that the back (where I'm holding it) is open and floppy, so you need to bind it.


There are various ways to do this, but I've given you 3 examples.
First, you can use a stitch binding. Follow the instructions in the Domino Book tutorial allowing for the different number of pages. (apologies for this naff pic).


Secondly, you can use your Bind-it-All which works really well. A word of warning though. If you have the original blue machine, (I don't know about the new one) the book is too thick to punch in one go. Do the centre folds first and then making sure you're punching in the same direction, do the outside folds. You also, cannot turn the back round as per the usual instructions so your wire ends will still be on the outside. Twist them to the back and it looks absolutely fine.


The third option, and my favourite, is to simply glue the open backs together so you have a solid little booklet with no openings at the back or the tops/bottoms of the pages. After I'd stuck my pages together I decorated the book with a few stamps, some understated embellies and glued a strip of ribbon right around the book for a fastening. I printed off 8 photographs of my granddaughter to go in the pockets and gave it to my daughter to carry in her handbag.




So there you are. I hope you like it. It's a lovely little book and has all sorts of uses. Try it yourself and experiment with different closures and bindings.

WAXED PAPER IN YOUR CUTTLEBUG

You can make your own backgrounds by embossing waxed paper. You may have to experiment with your card as some work better than others.

1. Load up your cuttlebug as normal and using a sheet of waxed paper in your folder instead of card, emboss it. (you may need a shim to get a good impression).


2. Heat a DRY iron to hot. If you have a steam iron, turn the steam off. Put the wax paper onto your chosen cardstock and cover with a sheet of scrap copy paper. Iron over this until you see the wax pattern appear on your scrap.




3. Quickly peel the wax paper off your card and then cover your card with a DYE ink of your choice. I like my distress inks. If you have a good card, you should see the design appear.


4. When your card is covered, take a piece of kitchen towel and rub off the excess ink.


You now have a background to use that will match your chosen embossing folder.

POCKET TAG BOOK

This little book is made from one A4 sheet of paper. Using just one sheet makes a lovely little gift, but you can use more than one and make multiple pages for something more substantial.

STEP 1. Fold a sheet of A4 paper in half, open it, turn over and fold each edge into the centre.


Step 2. Fold the 4 corners in to meet the valley folds.


Step 3. Now fold the outsides in to meet the middle.


Step 4. Turn the paper over and fold the bottom up – making sure you leave a bit at the top about ¼ inch deep.


Step 5. Fold the ¼ inch over and tuck into the corners. You may glue this if you wish, use DST or just leave it loose.


Step 6. With the folded over top inside, fold in half, and your tag pockets are complete.


I like to make a template and mark each part. This means that when you make your proper one, you will know exactly which pieces are what for decorating. This is especially useful if stamping and need to work on a flat sheet of paper.


Decorate as it is or make a cover from card. You will have four sloping pockets and 2slit pockets down the side. If you choose, you can also make extra internal pages. I attached my pages with brads down the spine, but you can use ribbon or another type of binding.

PIANO HINGE BOOK

To make this book, you will need card, wooden barbeque skewers and thin cord or waxy flax. This tutorial uses waxy flax.

First of all, decide what size book you want to make and how many pages you want. This one is 6 x 6 which is easy to do, using 12 x 12 card. You can make the book any size you want though.

Step 1. Cut your card to the height you want and double the width. If using 12 x 12 card, just cut each sheet in half. Fold your card in half and using a bone folder, make a nice crease.


Step 2. Score your card ¼ inch each side of your main crease and fold along these score lines, again using your bone folder to crease them.


Step 3. With each page folded in half along the centre crease, measure along in ½ inch increments and then cut down on each mark to the ¼ inch crease.


Step 4. Now, holding your card, push every alternate section inwards. You are making valley and mountain tabs.




Step 5. When you have done all your pages, put them all together and then turn every other page so that your tabs alternate down the spine. i.e. valley, mountain, valley, mountain. Lay your pages in a pile as you want them to appear in your finished book.




Step 6. OK, so far so good. Now, take the first 2 pages and hold them firmly together. Take one of your skewers and thread it through the mountain tabs, doing one tab from each page alternately to the end of the page. Repeat with each pair of pages and then check again that your pages are in the correct order.




Step 7. You’re going to bind your pages now. Take your waxy flax and leaving a bit of an end, weave in and out and around the skewers, pushing each ‘row’ into place as you go. Weave a minimum of 4 rows, but 6 or 7 is better. You can see that a thinner cord is better for this. Finish weaving at the same skewer that you started with.


Step 8. When you have finished weaving, tie your ends into a tight knot (I use a double reef knot). You may want to cover the knot and/or the weaving with a clear glue to make sure it’s secure. Cut and trim your skewers to leave approximately ¾ to 1 inch at each end. If you’re absolutely sure of your finished size of book and weaving, you may cut your skewers to size before you start.


Step 9. Now you can decorate your book in any way you please. You can hang beads or charms from the cord if you want, or trim close to the knot and leave the ends undecorated.

POCKET PAGE BOOK

Instructions for making this little book. No fancy pics this time, just basic diagrams but there is a picture of a finished book at the end of the tute.
You will decorate as you go but it's up to you how you do this.

Take a piece of A4 card and leaving the length, cut a strip 4 inches wide. Measure in 4 inches from one end and 2 1/8 inches from the other end and score down these lines.


Fold over so the longer side overlaps the shorter.


Cut 4 pieces of paper (more if you like) 7 inches by 5 1/8 inches. Score 1 6/8 from one side and 2 1/8 inches from the other side. Cut a semi circle from the centre piece. Also, cut 2 pieces of CARD 4 inches by 1/2 inch.


Fold these papers over so the longer side overlaps the shorter side and stick down. These are your pockets.


Now, take the bottoms of the pockets (tuther end to semi circle cut out) and making sure they're centred, attach them (glue or DST) in between the two long bits of card.


Now attach the stiffening spine into the book along the crease of the larger front.


Attach a fastener of your choice to the book and make tags to go in the pockets.


I made this one by separating the edges at the folds, using some card as a stiffer cover and fastening each side with a bind-it-all, but the basic instructions are just the same. The fastener was a small magnet.




After I'd made this book, I started looking at it in different ways. I liked the way the cover folded over, but wanted something different. I altered the way the cover was made by cutting at the folds and adding spines which made the book wider and then I made a notebook to attach inside and a pocket on the right hand side. It was a gift for a racing friend of mine and had a years racing calendar printed out and put in the pockets and the notepad was for his betting notes.

TRIANGULAR PAGE BOOK

A bit different this one, but quite nice.
Take two pieces of mountboard or heavy cardstock sized 6 1/8th x 3 inches. Cover these with paper of your choice, but make sure the paper is large enough to fold inside. (I glued 2 bits of card together for each cover to make them stronger). Mitre your corners and stick it down.


Cut a piece of black paper (or colour of your choice) that is 8 x 2 inches. Mark a line 1/2 inch in from each side. Place your book covers, insides facing, centrally and against the lines. Glue in place. This will be your spine.


Fold the overhang to the inside and glue in place. Rub gently with a bone folder to crease the top and bottom edges, and down the edges of the book covers.


Now, to make your pages. Take 8 or 10 pieces of 6 inch square paper. Fold 4 (5) of them in half, with the right sides together. Put aside.
Take the other 4 (5) and fold in half with the wrong sides together. Open these up and with the wrong side facing up, fold diagonally corner to corner, and then the other corner to corner. Make sure the creases are sharp and then push them together to give you triangle shapes with the folds inside.


Open these out and decorate how you please. Stamp, or stick images, text, anything you like. Be careful if you choose anything bulky as it will interfere with the folds. (You can decorate them before you fold them, but if you use heat embossing, be careful it doesn't crack when you fold. By folding first, you can see exactly where you can place your deco's.)
When you have them decorated, fold them up again then attach and glue one each of the triangles into one each of the sheets that were folded right sides together. Make sure that you line the edges up carefully. When all the triangles are glued inside the pages, glue each of the pages together.


If you want to attach a fastening to your book, do this now. I opened mine flat and attached a cord right across the centre. Now, glue the pages to the front and back of the book. Place them centrally, but also make sure that the book closes.


If you want to put any more embellishments on the covers, you can do that now. Your book is finished.