Masculine Flip Fold Album

Hello everyone.  Welcome to my crafty place.
Hope you are having a wonderful day.

I'm here to share with you the Masculine Mini Album I created for my Guest Design spot over at Mini Album Makers Challenge blog.  I had been wanting to create a masculine style mini album for a while and thought that this would be the perfect project for this post.
On the MAMC post, I shared the first half of the album and also shared how it was created.  In this post, I will show you the completed Album.  If you'd like to see the tutorial as well, HERE is the link.
This will be quite a long post so you might want to grab yourself a cuppa.

The outside of this album measures 5.5 x 6.5" and the inside pages are 4.5" x 6".  The spine is 2" wide.

The papers I've used are a mix from Studio Light's Industrial 2.0 paper pad and Kaisercraft's Factory 42 paper pad.

 The inside cover and the first page set.
I haven't done much embellishing in this album but I have added  a few cogs here and there and a little bit of washi tape as well.  I have also stamped some splatters and coffee stains, added a little stenciling and inked the edges of all the papers with Ground Espresso Distress Ink.

I created two sets each in two different styles of  pages.  So, there are 4 page sets in this book but, as you will see, there are a lot of places for photos, etc.
This page set opens up firstly to the left as seen above ..

.. and then the page on the right lifts up to reveal a folded card ..

 .. which is tucked into a side opening pocket attached at the back.

You may notice that I've added a few of Tim Holtz's Snarky Small Talk Stickers to this book.  If you'd like to see them properly, simply click on the pictures to get a larger view.

This is the back page of the first set and the first page of the second.
I have used a stacked hinge to bind my pages to the spine and have left a gap of about .25" in between each set so that the pages will sit nice and flat when opened.

The back page of the first set has a double belly band which is held down by some magnets ..

.. and opens up to reveal another photo mat.  All of the above mats and pages are attached to, and held by, a single hinge.

The second page set opens out to the right, and there is another underneath which opens out to the left.  It also has a folded card tucked into a pocket which is attached at the back of the set but this pocket is open at the top..

The back of the second set and first page of the next.

   This little flip up opens to reveal a double photo mat (or journaling spot).

The next two page sets are the same design as the first two but, of course, I have used different papers (from the same paper pads) to decorate.

  

The little flip up here is the same as the one from the second page set but I have changed it a little in that it opens up first and then flips up.  The first one flips up first and then opens.  I'd like to say that it was deliberate but I didn't realise that I actually put the papers on the wrong sides .. LOL!!

I can actually still flip it the right way but I wanted the dark grey papers showing on the outside of it as it is a nice contrast to the papers underneath.

The cover is made of chipboard.  As you can see I used a piece of hessian style material to cover the spine and, although the material is glued down, I added the brads for some extra interest and strength.  After all, this is a man's book and is going to get some rough handling!  LOL!!

I used a piece of corrugated board under a chippie frame by Little Birdie and a word strip by Scrapmats, to decorate the front of the book.  The frame was heat embossed with a mix of black and bronze embossing powder and the word strip was edged with Ground Espresso Distress Ink.

The chippie decorating the spine is also by Little Birdie and was heat embossed similarly to the frame on the front.

This book is fairly plain but I really enjoyed working it all out and creating it.  Between this book and the Junk Journal I created a while ago (you can see that here) I rediscovered my love for making books and I am itching to go and make another.  Hopefully, soon.

Sorry that this is such a long post but I hope you managed to stick it out to the end and that you enjoyed seeing my little album.  If you need some inspiration for your own Album making, pop on over and pay a visit to the Mini Album Makers Challenge blog.  The DT ladies create the most amazing books and I'm sure you will find plenty of inspo there and, if you enter the Challenge, you will have the chance of doing a Guest spot as I did.

Happy album crafting everyone!
Take care and God Bless

Photo Folio - Step by Step Tutorial - Part #2

Hi there everyone!!  Hope you are having a spectacular day!!

 Well, as promised, I am back to share the second and final part of my step by step tutorial for the little photo folio I made for some gorgeous friends of mine.  I had planned to post this by the end of last week but, you know what they say about the best laid plans of mice and men??  Well, I'm not a mouse and certainly not a man , but mine didn't just go awry, they ran out the door screaming!!!!  Between problems with Blogger, feeling ill, losing our electricity for almost a day then losing our internet for another day ..  life definitely did not go to plan!!  Anyways, I am finally here to share this tutorial.  If you haven't seen Part 1, and you would like to, HERE is where you can find it.

Hope you're all set for another Mega post!!

So this part is about making the cover and putting the folio together.

As I explained in Part 1, for the cover you will need 1 sheet of A3 size cardstock. It can, of course, be made with 12 x 12 sheets but, with the A3 size, it can be made in one piece. 

The Cover

Following the diagram, cut the cover from your chosen cardstock.
Solid lines are cut lines and broken lines are score lines.

Note:  If you are using 12 x 12 cardstock simply cut the smaller sized side flap separately.  Just remember to add an extra 3/4inch to the side edge (making it 4 1/8" x 6 3/4") so you can adhere it to the cover.

I should explain too, that the top and bottom flaps are not as long as the ones in my previous folios.  These don't  actually meet in the middle as the other ones did, but I felt that wasn't really necessary anyway because they are only there to make the outside look neat when the book is closed.

Score 5 lines where shown on the diagram, 1/8" apart.

Lightly bend the cardstock on the score lines.  Don't crease them, they just need to be able to curve around the inside page set.
Round the corners and ink the edges if desired. 

Now the page set needs to be attached to the cover but, before doing this, we need to attach the closure.
If you have an elastic strap similar to the one used on the Tim Holtz Collection Folios (one with the small toggles at the ends which locks it into the book) then, obviously you can use that.  After you have covered the book with your chosen papers  you can simply punch the holes through and insert the strap.  Unfortunately, I wasn't able to lay my hands on one of these so I had to make up my own version.

Attaching the Closure

As indicated on the diagram ( X marks the spot!  LOL!!) Place your ruler about 1/2" below the scored lines at the top, then find and mark the center.   Do the same at the bottom.

Turn the cover so that the smaller flap sits at the top.  Place your ruler about 1/2" below the scored lines, find the center and make a mark 1/2" on both sides.

Punch holes where you made the marks.  This is where the elastic closure will go through.

 

 On the previous folios I made, I added eyelets where the holes were punched and then simply glued my paper over the top leaving a hole over the eyelet, which didn't look as neat as I would have liked.  This time, I actually managed to glue the paper down first and then added the eyelets but, it's not as easy as it sounds because of the way I have to add the elastic.  Are you confused??  Not surprised.  All this is really quite easy to do, just a little difficult to explain.  Hopefully, if you take it one step at a time, you will see what I mean.
Anyway, chose the paper you wish to add to the center section of the inside of the cover and cut a piece 41/4" x 61/4" (this will actually end up glued down over the top of the base of your page set).  Ink the edges and cover the back with double sided tape.  Place it about 1/8" from  the score lines on the right side of the center section of your cover but only remove the backing of one line of tape.  You need to adhere the right side only, making sure it covers the holes made previously.  You will then need to re-punch those holes out from the back, using the ones already made in the cover as a guide.

Do not remove the rest of the backing on your double sided tape as yet.

Turn the cover over and adhere your chosen paper to the center section.  This is the back of the book.

You will now need to punch out all four holes through that paper on the outside of the cover.  Turn the cover over again so the inside is facing you.  Re-punch through the hole at the top and at the bottom, while holding the inner lining out of the way.  You can then re-punch the holes at the side through all of the layers.

From the back of the cover, add eyelets to the side holes through both designer papers.  Then add eyelets to the holes at the top and bottom but make sure you do NOT go through the liner on the inside.

Here is how it looks from the outside ..

.. and this is how it looks from the inside.

Hope this is making sense so far.

Cut a 16" piece of your chosen elastic (I used hat elastic .. the thin round type) and thread it through the eyelets as shown ..

.. the ends will sit underneath your inside liner.

As I couldn't find the toggles which lock the ends of the elastic into the book, I decided to sew the ends together.

 To make sure it doesn't slide around too much, put down a line of glue and stick the elastic to the cover.

I also added some sticky tape for extra strength.

Now we're ready to put this book together.

Attaching the Page Set

Attach double sided tape to the back of the base page on your page set.

Before adhering the page set down just check that it fits comfortably underneath the inside liner.    Slide the base page under the liner .. the left hand side should sit about 1/8"  from the score lines on the left and your liner should sit flat over the top of the page set.  If you cannot push the set in far enough or, if your liner is slightly buckled, simply trim a piece off the edge of the base page.
 

When you are happy with the fit, pull the page set out again, remove the backing from one line of tape only at the loose edge of the base page and then carefully slide it back underneath the liner until it is positioned properly and stick it down.   

 
When you're happy with its position, remove the backing from the rest of the tape lines except for the last one on the other edge (by the sew line) as shown below.  Adhere the page set to the cover.

As this edge takes the brunt of the action when opening and closing the pages of the book I think it's a good idea to add a line of glue under the double sided tape for extra strength.

 

You can now remove the backing from the double sided tape on the inside liner ..

.. and stick it down.  There will be a slight bulge underneath from the elastic, but it's not really enough to be a hindrance.

Yayyyy!!

  Your book is now put together and the only thing left to do is create a pocket on the inside front cover, cover it all with your chosen papers and create the photo and journaling mats.

Inside Front Pocket

Following the diagram cut 1 piece from your chosen cardstock.

Score 3/4" from the edge on three sides as indicated on the diagram.

Crease on the score lines, ink the edges and cut off the bottom corner pieces as shown. 

Make sure when you fold the edges of the pocket in that the corners will sit flat.

 If you have rounded the corners of your cover, you will need to round off the bottom left side corner of your pocket as well.

 Attach double sided tape to the scored sections and adhere your pocket to the inside front cover.

Now, all that is left to do is create the photo and journaling mats.

I haven't drawn diagrams for these .. I will just give you the dimensions.

The photo mat for the inside front cover .. cut one - 4" x 6" 

The photo mat for the full pocket page .. cut one - 3.5" x 6"

The journal mats for the double pocket page .. cut two - 4" x 2.75"

The folded card which sits inside the half pocket page ..

Cut one - 6.5" x 6" 

Score at 3.25" and fold it in half.

 Woo!! Hoo!!  It is done!!!!!

You can now finish covering everything with your chosen papers.

I really, really hope this was easy for you to understand.  Putting this book together may seem rather complicated but, when you are actually doing it and taking it one step at a time, you will find it is really quite simple.   One thing I should tell you, due to it's construction, the pages do not sit flat when the book is open .. they actually pop up slightly but it is quite neat and flat when closed.

So, this book is now complete.  Right at the very beginning of this saga, when I shared the books made for my friends, I said that I hadn't as yet made my own.  Well, I still haven't yet made my own.  The book I made while writing this tutorial is also going to a friend.  She said she really liked it so I hope she wasn't just being kind because she is now getting one as well.  I will actually share piccies of it in the next couple of days ... Oh dear, perhaps I should not have said that considering what happened last time!!!!  LOL!! 

I am in the process of making another one, and that is definitely going to be mine!  (I think .. LOL!!)

Thank you so much for sticking with me through these huge posts and a special thanks to those of you who left me such lovely comments.  I really do appreciate your kindness and support.

If any of you end up using these instructions to make your own folio, and you have any problems at all, please just contact me and I will try to clear them up.  Also, please let me know if you've made one and send me a link .. I would love to see it!! 

Thank you so much for visiting and have a great day!!

Take care and God Bless.