Small square mini book

This is another mini book from a tutorial by Cal Summers in the FaceBook group Paper Scissors Story. It’s the most complicated one I’ve done so far, but the instructions were so clear that it was easy to make, just a little fiddly in places. (I came close to glueing my sleeve to the front cover at one point. I should not be allowed to play with double-sided tape.)

I used papers by Scrapmir, which is a brand that I hadn’t come across before. The example for the class used Peaches and Cream, which is very pretty but I had my eye on the Blue and Blush collection, which was terrific value as it included die cuts, envelopes, chipboard and frames. Lots to play with, plus some of the papers and embellishments had gold on them. I added some gold mirror card and some G45 flowers, also from Scraplab, and I was all set.

The example had a lovely shaker pocket on the front, which I was looking forward to doing. It was square but once I’d seen the lovely round frame in the pack, I needed to do a round one. Possibly not my brightest idea. All I’m saying is that cutting circles in two pieces of 2000 micron chipboard is not as easy as doing straight lines. I’m really chuffed with the result though.

I used one of the round die cuts under the shaker pocket and have three different colours of sequins in there, which Cal matched up for me. I made a bouquet of the G45 flowers, tied it with ribbon from my stash and added a few sequins round the bouquet. (they’re just peeking out to add a bit of shimmer.)

The back and spine have patterned paper on that matches the paper on the front. It’s matted on black and then gold.

Inside are four pages held in by hidden hinges. There are two styles of page. The A page has flaps and pockets on both sides. The B page has a belly band holding a folded piece of card with pockets, and then stacked pockets on the other side. I laid mine out as A B B A. The inside covers have a flap and pockets too.

These look quite plain as I haven’t decorated them yet. I’m going to do that as I add the photos, which will be done monthly, next year. We’ve rejoined the National Trust and intend to visit at least one place per month and this mini book will be a record of that.

I’ll show you a couple of the pages now, but I’ll probably post the finished pages through 2020.

I loved making this one and I’m so happy with how it turned out. I’m learning loads by following the tutorials and can’t wait to do the next one.

 

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Loaded pocket minibook

This was another tutorial by Cal Summers, on the FaceBook group Paper Scissors Story, and I couldn’t resist it. This one is a very simple construction compared to the mini books that I’ve been making, but still very clever how it’s made. Mini books have really evolved since I used to make them ten years or so ago.

The tutorial used Christmas papers and this would make a smashing Christmas card for someone special. I wanted to make a sort of thank you card though, for a friend who has been very supportive over the years.

I used Graphic 45 again, which is fast becoming a favourite brand, especially for this type of project. The collection is Imagine and is a bit steampunky with balloons and clocks and butterflies. It’s very pretty and has some lovely sayings in with it. Cal has some gorgeous Graphic 45 collections at Scrap lab.

This is the front with lots of layered fussy-cut elements. It opens up to reveal this. There are a couple of pockets which are stuffed with various elements, such as tags, a concertina book and a card.

It didn’t take long to make and I really enjoyed the process. Fussy cutting is very soothing, I find.

 

Basic beginners mini book

This is another mini book from a tutorial by Cal Summers in the FaceBook group Paper Scissors Story. It’s actually the first one that I made but as it was a birthday present for a friend, I’ve not been able to post it until now.

My friend has a couple of dogs plus she fosters cats for Furbabies cat rescue, and I thought it might be nice for her to have a memento of the cats that she’s fostered as well as some pics of her dogs. I used some very old SEI paper plus die cut cats and some pet-themed shapes cut with the Silhouette. I also used a couple of stamp sets, one cat themed and one for journalling. Apart from a few ribbons and beads, that’s all that I used to embellish it.

I had a few photos of the cats so I added those and there are a few pages left bare for cats she might foster in the future.

This is a couple of photos of the book before adding embellishments and photos. There are pockets, and tags that pull out and flaps that open out so lots of places to put photos.

This is the front cover once embellished. The title is some chipboard from my stash that I painted. The paw prints are done on the Silhouette.

The spine, with a charm that I made from some beads in my stash. The inside covers open out and I made simple mini books to go inside. There’s one for each of her dogs. And these are some of the inside pages, with some of the flaps/tags showing.

First there’s Esme. Next is Misty. This is Milly. And Delilah. And finally Dermot. I loved making this as most of the techniques were completely new to me but the tutorial was very easy to follow. Best of all, my friend liked it 🙂

Foldover mini book

I do love crafting and love it when I come across something different to try. This time it’s mini books. I’ve made mini books in the past, but only very simple ones. This time I’ve found a FaceBook group with brilliant tutorials for really complex-looking books. The group is run by Cal Summers, who does the tutorials, and is called Paper Scissors Story. Everyone in the group is so friendly, supportive and talented. I’ve made a couple of mini books so far, one of which was very simply decorated and this one where I’ve used the most delicious papers from Graphic 45. The collection is Lost in Paradise which was perfect as I wanted to use it for some of my favourite photos from Disney’s Kilimanjaro Safari. Cal also runs an online store – Scraplab – and she got some of the collection in for me as I’d fallen in love with it. She has a lot of Graphic 45 in her store as well as lots of other goodies and the customer service is brilliant.

This is the front of my book. I used a photo of one of the Safari signs with some fussy-cut embellishments. This is the back. I printed out strips with Jambo and Kwaherini on for the front and back covers. It’s what they say at the start and end of the Safari. I also printed the names of the animals for inside the book.

When you open it, this is what you see. There is a pocket on each side with two tags in. I’ve used the tags for general Safari photos and used two very appropriate pieces from the cut apart paper to sit on top of the pockets.

A pic of the pockets with tags partly out. The pocket pages open out to reveal this. More pocket pages on the two inside sections. The pockets are tiered and I loved how they were constructed. This is them with the tags partly out. On the outer section are waterfall pages. Again, I loved how they were constructed. It was so simple but it looks great.

This is with the waterfalls opened out. A few of my pages are slightly wonky where I haven’t scored and folded the card accurately enough but I was getting better at that as I worked. It’s not bad enough to be a problem so I’m really happy with this book. It’s a lovely reminder of one of my favourite places on the planet and I really enjoyed making it.