Creative Journeys: Creative Paper Concepts

Wednesday, July 8, 2009

Creative Paper Concepts - itty bitty booklet

I have a little treat for you today. A little booklet made out of an 8 1/2 x 11" double sided paper. The pattern is here. If you haven't noticed already, there is a new section on the left side titled Pages. I'll keep all the patterns and other groups of posts in there so that you can easily find what you need without digging through posts. Hope this helps.

I found this little booklet pattern on the web presented by a really important celebrity. But forgive my old brain, I cannot remember where or by whom it was posted. I'm ashamed, but that won't keep me from sharing this really neat idea. I make this quite often when I want to give someone a quick little remembrance of a special event.

When you look at the pattern, you will notice that after all the pieces that have an x on them are cut away, you end up with strange looking flaps. The short end of the long center piece are folded in first. then the shorter flap is flipped over the first folded edge and held in place with some adhesive. The the long narrow flap is folded over last. This creates a very useful fold over under which you will insert your little inside booklet. I have found that if i create a center booklet a smidge shorter, the outer cover actually allows for expansion and contraction (laws of physics) and the booklet holds together very nicely.

The back of the booklet does go under the flaps but the picture is loose on the right end and overlays the flap so that you can see the picture in it's entirety.

For the little booklet inside, cut 3 or 4 pieces of cardstock about 3 1/4" x 8. Then once you've "sewn" the center of the pages together in the center, you can trim the edges a bit at a time so that the booklet will close when you combine the two pieces.

I figured out how to hold the ribbon/cording closure in place using decorative staples.

As you will see, the pages are constructed very quickly. Something this little doesn't need a lot of embellishments. Some rub-ons, picture mats, and a few odds and ends are all that are in the booklet.