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Little Folded Books - Accordion to Me!
by Cindy RolandStamping Deck Cruise Director
Happy New Year's everyone! It is a whole new year and a whole set of new adventures for us to discover. This month we are down under in the land of Kiwis and the homeland of one of our dear crew members, Wendy Pettifer. We are in New Zealand! I have never been there but friends of mine have been, and they all comment on the laid back lifestyle and the never ending kindness of the people there. That sounds like an ideal place to be, doesn't it? Well, I can hardly wait to get out and about in their summer (yes, it is summer down here!) climate and do some sightseeing, so before we go let's go into my quarters and do some creating.
We are making tiny accordion books today. Once you see how easy they are to assemble, you will be making them for all your friends and family. What is fun about these little books is they can be used as memory books with photos and journaling, stamped art books and journals, altered art books and they can be left plain and given as a gift to one of your creative friends to create their own memories in them. You will want to make many of these, so while you are learning to make it, you might as well make more than one.
This is what you will need to get started with the basic book:
- The pattern we will be using will be for a 3 inch square book, other sizes and shapes are easily adapted to this basic supply list and pattern.
- 2 - 3" x 3" square book boards or chip board (something sturdy that will hold up)
- 2 - 4.5" x 4.5" pieces of scrapbook paper or handmade paper to cover the book board with
- 1 - 12" length of ribbon for closure, that will compliment the paper you have chosen for the book cover
- 2 - 12" x 2.75" strips of heavy duty cardstock for the pages of the book. Do not use lighter weight cardstock as it will not hold up to being scored and folded numerous times. You will want this to last for many viewings.
- A paper trimmer, scissors, stylus tool and/or bone folder for cutting, scoring and folding your pages.
- Double stick tape (strong) and glue stick or paper glue to hold the assembled pieces together.
First step is cover your book boards with the pre-cut 4.5" pieces of paper using a glue stick or paper glue. Make sure that the corners are trimmed and neatly folded, then set aside. Now, take the 2 strips of 12" x 2.75" cardstock (make sure they are perfectly even strips and exactly the same size) and lay the first one onto the side of the paper trimmer, (remove the cutting blade from the arm or push it to the opposite end of the arm for now) measuring up 2.75" (2 3/4 inches) on the ruler section where you line up your paper. Use your bone folder (my preference) or a stylus tip and run it into the groove of the paper trimmer (where the blade would slide normally). You have scored your first section.
Do this on each strip every 2.75 section until you get to the end of the paper and you will have some excess, trim this off and you will have 2 strips each with four 2.75" square scored sections. Now you will take the two strips of folded cardstock and join one end to the other. Take the end of one piece and slightly trim about 1/16" off of this section and do the same to the section that will be attached on the next strip. Use sturdy double sided tape to attach the two slightly shortened sections together. You should have an accordion folded paper strip approximately 20" long.
Take the two covered book boards and turn them front sides down making sure that they are positioned properly with tops and bottoms (if you have paper on them that makes a difference) going the right way. Take some good double stick tape and lay a strip of it across the back book board and then lay your ribbon on it evenly. Now take the accordion folded cardstock and more double stick tape and secure the ends to both the front and back of the book boards.
Fold the front down to the back and tie the ribbon and trim the ribbon accordingly to fit. Now you have a completed accordion mini memory book. It is that easy!
If you are going to be decorating the book yourself, you may want to decorate the folded pages before you attach them to the front and back covers. Especially if you are going to use stamps on the pages, it makes them a little easier to decorate. You will be amazed at how much you can put into this tiny little package. These would make great little gifts to personalize and will be treasured by anyone who receives one. If you prefer, you can make the book shorter and use only one strip of the cardstock, or you can increase the pages by adding an extra strip. They are very versatile. Have fun experimenting with different sizes and shapes too. Once you get used to making them you will be able to adapt them to any size and shape.
I have made up a tiny little altered book as an example. I used various images and odds and ends and inked the edges of the book to give it an aged vintage look. Here are the front and back covers:
These are the inside pages:
Rather than putting the supplies on each individual pop-up, I've listed them all here:
- 3 inch book board squares (Magenta)
- Collage images: (Altered Pages); (Melissa Frances); (Paper House Productions)
- Fibers: (Fibers by the Yard)
- Embellishments: (Making Memories); Tim Holtz Do-Dads (Design Originals); Life's Journey (K & Company); (Heidi Swapp)
- Paper: (K & Company); (Making Memories); (Miss Elizabeth); (Club Scrap); Tim Holtz line (Design Originals)
- Stamps: (Sunday International); (Tuscan Rose); (Art by Moonlight); (Vickie Enkoff); (Hearts in Touch); (Non-Sequitur); (Starving Artisians); (Olive Whimpole); (Stampers Anonymous); (Club Scrap); (Ma Vinci's Reliquary); (Paper Artsy)
- Glue: Double stick tape, O So Sticky (Penny Wise Art Supplies); UHU stick glue (Saunders)
- Burnt Sienna, Yellow Ochre, Bisque Colorbox Fluid Chalk inks (Clearsnap); Tea Dye, Vintage Photo, Walnut ink, Tim Holtz Distress inks (Ranger Crafts)
It is amazing how such a tiny little book can make such a big impact for a special person on a special occasion.
I hope I have encouraged you to try making one of these little jewels for someone special and that includes yourself. They are fun to make, easy to make and who wouldn't be happy having one of them to call their very own.
Next month we are off on another leg of our continual journey, we will be heading off to New Guinea. It sounds like fun to me! Please come back and see me then. As always, if there is anything you would like to ask me, please drop a line here anytime. I always look forward to your mail. In the meantime, happy sailing and enjoy the journey.
Cindy Roland
cindyrolands@ssreflections.com
Stamping Deck Cruise Director
Reflections Publishing Group, LLC
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